PITTSBURGH (Newsradio KDKA) - It has been called ‘the graveyard of empires.’ A rugged land made up of loosely linked tribal territories. Kingdom after kingdom has tried and failed to tame, consolidate, or control the mostly jagged, mountainous terrain wedged between Iran to the west, Pakistan to the south, and a collection of ‘stans’ to the north. It is a mixing bowl of mountain ranges in central Asia not far from the western edge of China or northern India.
Geographically and culturally, Afghanistan seems to be a cowlick of confusion on an already chaotic section of the map.
What we presumably know as ‘Afghanistan’ may, quite frankly, only exist on a globe or in our plans. To me, the name is wishful thinking. Imperialist nomenclature. It is a trade name. What we believe to be Afghanistan - its mountains and fertile valleys - seems to be less of a historically consolidated country than a region of diverse warlords, emirates, and corrupt statelets overseen for the past few decades by the Taliban. The peoples’ only unifying aspect is, apparently, that they fight or wait-out invaders and outsiders. These tribes, or those they’ve absorbed or assimilated over the centuries, have been doing it since after meeting Alexander the Great. The Americans, Russians, and Brits are just the latest in a long line dating back 2,500 years.
The US taxpayer has spent more on the Afghani quagmire than it took to rebuild a bombed-out planet following World War 2. We have actually borrowed the trillion dollars. Future generations will pay this tab.
The US politician has spent more effort explaining, promoting, defending, or selling ever-changing strategy for this ‘endless war’ than any other. Fortunately for them we have not had a major terror attack on our soil launched from Afghanistan since September 11, 2001. They also deleted Osama bin Laden from Earth after tracking him across the border in Pakistan. Unfortunately, the DC machine has not been able to successfully pass the baton of American-style democracy to their chosen Afghani allies. Without our constant life-support the bureaucratic vision of stability for the landlocked, Islamic Republic is doomed. The Taliban are regaining control and thousands of foreign fighters are joining them. According to the UN Security Council, more than 20 terror groups have arrived to set up up shop in the land. Just like the 1990’s.
The US servicemember has spent more time fighting there than on any other mission, conflict, or war. They also made promises to, and built relationships with, locals. Now what? Vietnam, another 20+ year endeavor, is the closest resemblance as far as time…and exit.
The precious blood of, at least, two generations has been spilled. Parents and families agonize over word that their child, a warrior, has been killed in some far-off, lawless fiefdom while serving their country and its defense contractors.
Officially, according to the Department of Defense, 2,448 US military members and DOD civilian workers have been killed in Afghanistan. Another 20,722 have been maimed. The Pentagon does not track the deaths of civilian contractors who sacrifice for their cause. The ‘Costs of War Project’ recently reported that, in the post 9/11-era, veteran suicides outpace combat-related deaths 4-to-1.
Today, I feel the anger, frustration, disbelief, disgust, and sadness of many just as I did while seeing, but not fully understanding, grainy TV images of a helicopter on a rooftop when I was a child in 1975.