America’s unwise, unwarranted, and sadly unwinnable war in Afghanistan—hastily initiated and then abandoned for Iraq by President Barack Obama’s ideologically blinded predecessor and dumped into Obama’s lap in the worst possible way—is beginning increasingly to smell like the 1964-68 war in South Vietnam that swallowed up the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson. Full Story »
Posted by Derek Hawkins - via Thanh Tran (f)
I believe Ted Sorenson is correct in his assessment, however I am still not sure what we should do. My liberal friends were just as united in their hawkish desire to invade Afghanistan and depose the Taliban as they were united in their dovish aversion to invading Iraq and deposing Saddam Hussein. With perfect 20/20 hindsight, perhaps both military adventures would better have been avoided, but we do not have the luxury of returning to 2002-2003. When we abandoned Vietnam, a major bloodletting occurred--the murder of 1.5 million Vietnamese, delayed (not prevented) by our decade-long involvement, during which perhaps 2 million had already died. Will a similar bloodletting occur if we abandon Afghanistan? Sorenson does not venture an opinion regarding this possibility, and it is a question that must be answered before this option is seriously considered.
Sorenson ventures his opinion that the war in Afghanistan may be unwinnable. If he is correct, should our assumption match his, that unwinnable wars should never be fought? Or are some unwinnable wars worthwhile, even honorable? (The French come to mind, who during WWII refused to fight an unwinnable war with Germany--much to their everlasting shame.) I opposed the Vietnam War and worked for years to end it. However I have had to concede one benefit that accrued from our determination to fight that war: However unwinnable, the Vietnam War demonstrated to our Cold War foes (the Soviet Union and China) that we were willing to spend a great deal of money and sacrifice 60,000 American lives in our effort to oppose the spread of communism in Southeast Asia. Ultimately we left Vietnam, but not before we had put up a fight. Perhaps that willingness to fight had some value.