What Are We Fighting For ?

Most of the time Americans don't even remember we're still in the midst of two foreign wars. The wars have been going on so long that they don't even make the papers or newscasts on most days, and Americans haven't been asked to sacrifice to support the wars -- either through a draft or higher taxes (even though it's costing more than $2 billion a week).

But the real cost of those wars hit the headlines a few days ago, when 30 Americans (most of them Navy Seals) were killed at one time as the Afghan insurgents downed an American helicopter. That was too many deaths for anyone to ignore. The generals have announced that the insurgents who shot down the helicopter have been killed. They called in jets and bombed them.

I guess we are supposed to feel better because the American deaths have been avenged, but for me it just posed a couple of troubling questions. If it was that easy to kill these insurgents, why were we sending troops there to fight them in the first place? Why didn't we just send the jets? Are they telling us the truth or just trying to make us feel better about too many American deaths.

And there have been too many American deaths, although they usually come in smaller (and less newsworthy) groups. To date, there have been 1,731 American soldiers killed in combat in Afghanistan (and another 4,474 killed in Iraq). And Americans continue to die regularly in both countries. Here are the yearly figures for both wars:

2001
Afghanistan..........12

2002
Afghanistan..........49

2003
Afghanistan..........48
Iraq..........486

2004
Afghanistan..........52
Iraq..........849

2005
Afghanistan..........99
Iraq..........846

2006
Afghanistan..........98
Iraq..........822

2007
Afghanistan..........117
Iraq..........904

2008
Afghanistan..........155
Iraq..........314

2009
Afghanistan..........317
Iraq..........149

2010
Afghanistan..........499
Iraq..........60

2011 (so far)
Afghanistan..........285
Iraq..........44

That's 6,205 brave young Americans who have been killed, and an equal number of grieving families -- not to mention all the Afghan civilians and soldiers, and the soldiers from other countries that have been killed. A heavy price has already been paid, and neither war is anywhere near being over.

The government has already admitted that we will stay in Afghanistan until the end of 2014 at least, if not longer. And while we are legally supposed to have all of our soldiers out of Iraq by the end of this year, the U.S. government is pressuring the Iraqis to agree to keep American soldiers there longer (and it's anybody's guess how much longer).

Which brings up the biggest questions of all. Has anything been accomplished? Can anything be accomplished? If we are honest we'll have to admit that the answer to both of those countries is a resounding NO. Both wars are looking more and more like our misadventure in Vietnam -- where we were also locked into an endless and un-winnable war to support a weak and corrupt regime (that fell as soon as we left).

The blog Newshoggers reminded me today of one of the best anti-war songs ever -- written by Country Joe McDonald during the Vietnam War. I can't think of a better way to end this post than with the words from that song. If you just substitute Afghanistan (or Iraq) for Vietnam, the song works just as well today as it did in the sixties.

Well, come on all of you, big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
He's got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
We're gonna have a whole lotta fun. 

And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die. 

Come on Wall Street, don't be slow,
Why man, this is war au-go-go
There's plenty good money to be made
By supplying the Army with the tools of its trade,
But just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
They drop it on the Viet Cong. 

And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.  

Come on mothers throughout the land,
Pack your boys off to Vietnam.
Come on fathers, and don't hesitate
To send your sons off before it's too late.
And you can be the first ones in your block
To have your boy come home in a box. 

And it's one, two, three
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.