Posted by
Chad MacINNES on Sunday, October 11, 2009 11:48:15 AM
As the war in Afghanistan enters into its eighth year with the situation on the ground rapidly deteriorating and Osama bin Laden nowhere to be found; with a naïve new president doubtless being pulled in several different directions by the various powerbrokers that be hesitant to make a decision regarding the direction and, indeed the ultimate aim of the war; with the global economy in shambles and the dollar on the verge of collapse, the current dire state of affairs begs the question: why? Why are we still in Afghanistan? Why have we not yet won? How could it be that we have not, after eight long years of war, captured bin Laden? These are among the many questions asked over the last several years, however the most important question – one that some of us have not been afraid to ask is this: are we even fighting to win?
To be sure, this question of whether we are fighting to win is directed at the politicians, the bureaucrats, the Pentagon, and the White House – all the political elite. It goes without saying that the men and women in harms way are fighting to win every single day, because for them winning means survival: the scope of the bigger mission becomes very narrow for a handful of soldiers coming under fire and their focus quickly becomes keeping each other alive. The problem is that these men and women are largely being used as pawns, having long ago been abandoned by the same politicians who continually demand and push for war amid flag-waving and pomp, tough talking speeches that result in the death and maiming of countless victims on both sides. These scoundrels are all too quick to pull the trigger and flex the military might of the United States to impose its will or right some perceived wrong somewhere in the world, but once engaged they quickly lose heart and deny the military the very things they need for victory, condemning the troops to multiple tours and suffering a deadly slug-fest that these politicians soon enough are afraid to win, because of the cost they never bothered to calculate at the outset. (More...)