With metronomic regularity, every thousand days or so, Americans should give some thought to the longest war in their nation's history.
The war in Afghanistan, which is becoming one of the longest in world history, reaches its 6,000th day on Monday, when it will have ground on for substantially more than four times longer than U.S. involvement in World War II from Pearl Harbor to V-J Day.
America went to war in Afghanistan because that not-really-governed nation was the safe haven from which al-Qaeda planned the 9/11 attacks.
A decade ago, seven years after the war began, on October 7, 2001, then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said the U.S. objective was the creation of a strong central government.
Years have passed since the time when, years into the war, U.S. military and civilian officials heatedly debated "Counterinsurgency" as contrasted with "Counterterrorism," distinctions that now seem less than crucial.
Coll says of military commanders rotating in and out of Afghanistan annually, "The commanders starting a rotation would say, 'This is going to be difficult.' Six months later, they'd say, 'We might be turning a corner.' At the end of their rotation, they would say, 'We have achieved irreversible momentum.' Then the next command group coming in would pronounce, 'This is going to be difficult ...'" The earnestness and valor that Americans have brought to Afghanistan are as heartbreaking as they are admirable.
For 73 years, U.S. troops have been on the Rhine, where their presence helped win the Cold War and now serves vital U.S. interests as Vladimir Putin ignites Cold War 2.0.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/03/a-war-without-an-objective-6000-days-in/
The war in Afghanistan, which is becoming one of the longest in world history, reaches its 6,000th day on Monday, when it will have ground on for substantially more than four times longer than U.S. involvement in World War II from Pearl Harbor to V-J Day.
America went to war in Afghanistan because that not-really-governed nation was the safe haven from which al-Qaeda planned the 9/11 attacks.
A decade ago, seven years after the war began, on October 7, 2001, then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said the U.S. objective was the creation of a strong central government.
Years have passed since the time when, years into the war, U.S. military and civilian officials heatedly debated "Counterinsurgency" as contrasted with "Counterterrorism," distinctions that now seem less than crucial.
Coll says of military commanders rotating in and out of Afghanistan annually, "The commanders starting a rotation would say, 'This is going to be difficult.' Six months later, they'd say, 'We might be turning a corner.' At the end of their rotation, they would say, 'We have achieved irreversible momentum.' Then the next command group coming in would pronounce, 'This is going to be difficult ...'" The earnestness and valor that Americans have brought to Afghanistan are as heartbreaking as they are admirable.
For 73 years, U.S. troops have been on the Rhine, where their presence helped win the Cold War and now serves vital U.S. interests as Vladimir Putin ignites Cold War 2.0.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/03/a-war-without-an-objective-6000-days-in/
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