Vietnam to Afghanistan

I have just finished the 40 year old masterpiece on Vietnam by David Palmer titled “Summons of the Trumpet.”, which addresses the political aspects of the war as well as much of the tactical and strategic decisions. Between Palmer’s inciteful prose and that of H.R. McMaster in his “Dereliction of Duty”, one needs no more to see the parallels with the continuing war in Afghanistan. Lindsey Graham has done some good work in the past year, but his “public” denunciation of the President’s efforts to extricate the country from that debacle is more evidence of politicians advocating for more war having never seen a shot fired in anger. For the life of me, I cannot find one American national interest in that hell hole that is worth the loss of American lives nor the extraordinary resources that have been poured into it.

Yes, it may once again become the haven for terrorists (actually it still is), but that is a problem we can deal with using massive air power as President Trump did against ISIS. We went to Afghanistan to “get Bin Laden”, but as always happens mission creep stepped in and nation building became the mission. Afghanistan will probably never become a functioning democracy and to keep pouring lives and financial resources, delaying the inevitable, is the repeated strategy of those who have never worn a uniform. We need military experience in the Congress!

Moreover, I pray that President Trump will keep his promise to end the debacle in Afghanistan for this country!