(Op Ed) The unwinnable war.

Iraq, a country we are scaling down our war in as we prepare to leave. That war was an unintended consequence of the last administration. We basically imposed our will on the people of Iraq as we interfered greatly with their affairs. By going to a place we do not understand we run higher risks of losing in any way shape or form. Afghanistan is a different war, a different enemy, a different mindset. These differences said the basics of these types of wars are no different. When we invade we are the outsiders, not liberators even if that is what we are doing.

Opponents of this argument will point to World War 2. (If they learned correctly about it) However this argument actually points to my argument; as the countries we were met as liberators were invaded by Nazi Germany. Others will point to Iraq and say “the surge” worked and will work everywhere. This in fact is another false argument. What we did was bribe local leaders to our side and use our military as their police force. Not only after that did we start to do any progress but, it was minimal. Our nation is still in Iraq and it has been a disaster.

In Afghanistan our mission is to stabilize the country and stop Al Qaeda from coming back and launching attacks. As sad as this might seem if the Taliban were to expel Al Qaeda we would give them the keys to the country. What we are doing now is trying to expel the Taliban from Afghanistan and give them an early start to a good democracy. But we have created a power vacuum since our invasion and the Taliban and warlords are filling it. We haven’t made progress since Obama has started his new take on the war.

Afghanistan from our standpoint is or likely unwinnable. We must leave but also be wary of the threats. If Al Qaeda comes again then we must try and take them out while keeping a peace with our current enemy. The people of Afghanistan deserve more but there is nothing we can do. We can draw parallels to our war for independence, (you’re either with us or the enemy of the king) the most recent Chinese civil war, (you can support the home grown Mao Tse Dong or the foreign supported Chiang Kai Shek) and any anti imperialist war. In essence the only way that the Taliban will be satisfied will be control of Afghanistan. From a strategic point of view we cannot let it happen but we cannot afford to not let it happen.

Our country has record deficit we will need to make some cutbacks in areas that are futile, like Afghanistan. If we are to help ourselves then, let the Taliban take back Afghanistan and if we want to help the Afghan people, we have never ending war.