Carlson: It's time to end America's longest war

By Brock Carlson 

On Oct. 16, 2001, Operation Enduring Freedom, the invasion of Afghanistan, was launched by the U.S. government in response to the 9/11 attacks. Now, 16 years later, that war continues under a new name, with its third commander-in-chief, new generals, and is being fought by soldiers who were toddlers when it started.

The war has cost an estimated $2.7 trillion dollars, 2,403 US soldiers killed in action, over 1,000 coalition soldiers killed, over 20,000 US soldiers wounded, who knows how many suicides, and over 149,000 Afghans killed, who are people too after all.

The time has long passed for politicians and generals to stop the talk of "national security" and admit that our nation's longest war has failed. Not only has it failed, but it has failed spectacularly.

What started as an operation to allegedly capture Osama bin Laden became an attempt to remake the country of Afghanistan in the image of the United States. The Bush administration used photos of Afghan woman in mini-skirts from the 1970s to show what was going to happen once our soldiers and diplomats had won the "hearts and minds" of the Afghans.

Unsurprisingly it turns out the people of Afghanistan were not pining for American style "democracy and freedom," in fact, the people of Afghanistan are not a people at all but really a mish-mash of various ethnicities, tribes, languages, traditions, religions and cultures. This delusional and idiotic thinking was then applied to the greater Middle East in Iraq, Libya and, if Pres. Obama had had his way, Syria. The esults have been disastrous to say the least.

The irony of it all is that our government did exactly what bin Laden and his followers wanted. On 9/11 there were a few hundred al-Qaeda fighters globally who dreamed of overthrowing what they saw as the corrupt dictatorships of the Middle East and creating a true Caliphate. They did not have the means to do this themselves, so they goaded the U.S. into doing it for them.

Since 2001, most of the Middle East has been destabilized as either the direct or indirect result of U.S. intervention.

The amount of death, destruction and suffering is immeasurable and there is nothing to show for it. There are more members of al-Qaeda today than 16 years ago. Bin Laden may be dead, but his dream has been realized thanks to American soldiers and taxpayers.

If you want to know the true extent of the failure in Afghanistan I encourage you to read "Fool's Errand" by Scott Horton. Just released, this book lays bare the futility, waste and horror of America's longest war.

Once you read the book and finish shaking your head in disbelief, I urge you to join me in contacting our Congressional delegation and tell them it is time to end this war. President Trump's initial instincts were correct, Afghanistan is a failure. Sadly, he seems to have been coopted by the war machine into once again escalating the conflict. He, too, needs to hear from us. The politicians will do nothing until we tell them enough, no more money and no more sons to Afghanistan.

If you still don't agree with me, ask yourself what could possibly be worth your grandchildren or great-grandchildren still fighting in a country halfway across the world against a people who did not attack us and want only to be left alone? That is where we are heading if we do not end this war now.

Carlson lives in Fargo.

http://www.inforum.com/opinion/columnists/4341146-carlson-its-time-end-americas-longest-war