Afghanistan War’s End: No Bang, No Whimper, Just More War

Posted by | October 26, 2014 12:13 | Filed under: Contributors Politics Russell Top Stories War & Peace

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And just like that, Operation Herrick — the UK’s name for its war in Afghanistan — came to an end today, as British forces “handed the keys” to Camp Bastion in Helmand Province to Afghan security forces, while United States Marines also passed control of their adjoining Camp Leatherneck, the largest Marine base in Afghanistan, to Afghan officials. By January 1, 2015, only 10,000 Coalition troops will remain in the country, 9,800 of them American.

There was no signing of a surrender document aboard a battleship, and there will be no victory parades, as there has been neither surrender nor victory. There has just been war. Given increasing Taliban strength and persistent corruption within the Afghan National Army, the forecast is for more war.

Perhaps that’s the nature of the so-called “war on terror” we’ve been waging since 2001. If so, it suggests to me that the American people are every bit as unprepared for coping with this kind of globalized, asymmetric conflict today as they were 13 years ago. Politicians  and pundits who demand “something” be done about the Taliban, about al-Qaeda, about ISIS — who call for more military action, more intervention, more war — are misleading us. At the end of the day, perhaps terrorism is something that can only be managed.

Perhaps the best we can manage is a kind of strategic triage, and all of us have to adjust to the inevitability of threat. That’s a tough pill for people to swallow. But today’s quiet, almost anti-climactic, ceremonies suggest that’s about as good as it’s going to get.

 

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Copyright 2014 Liberaland
By: Russ Burgos

Interested in foreign affairs, global conflict, and political narratives and discourses

10 responses to Afghanistan War’s End: No Bang, No Whimper, Just More War

  1. mea_mark October 26th, 2014 at 12:34

    Maybe someday we can deal with the root cause of terrorism and put an end to it. Global inequality and oppression is what makes people angry enough to fight and die. Get rid of that and humanity will start to get rid of a majority of it’s problems. Until then we need to contain the hate that we create by living with greedy people that want to hoard extreme amounts of wealth and oppress others.

    • Russ Burgos October 26th, 2014 at 13:28

      If only someday we could. But inasmuch as we’ve hardly got the guts to deal with inequality and oppression here, I’m not holding my breath.

      • mea_mark October 26th, 2014 at 13:35

        If global warming and climate change doesn’t wipe out humanity, just maybe we can get our act together and fix things now that we have the technology to do so. Really, all we are lacking is the will to do it.

  2. mea_mark October 26th, 2014 at 12:34

    Maybe someday we can deal with the root cause of terrorism and put an end to it. Global inequality and oppression is what makes people angry enough to fight and die. Get rid of that and humanity will start to get rid of a majority of it’s problems. Until then we need to contain the hate that we create by living with greedy people that want to hoard extreme amounts of wealth and oppress others.

    • Russ Burgos October 26th, 2014 at 13:28

      If only someday we could. But inasmuch as we’ve hardly got the guts to deal with inequality and oppression here, I’m not holding my breath.

      • mea_mark October 26th, 2014 at 13:35

        If global warming and climate change doesn’t wipe out humanity, just maybe we can get our act together and fix things now that we have the technology to do so. Really, all we are lacking is the will to do it.

  3. neworleans878 October 26th, 2014 at 14:59

    Afghanistan…named graveyard of empires for a reason.

    Why do we think we’re so special?

  4. nola878 October 26th, 2014 at 14:59

    Afghanistan…named graveyard of empires for a reason.

    Why do we think we’re so special?

  5. Candide Thirtythree October 27th, 2014 at 07:51

    “At the end of the day, perhaps terrorism is something that can only be managed.”

    I said much the same thing a while back and got called traitor, and terrorist lover and un-American and socialist and a few terms that would not pass moderation here. Of course it was all republicans saying it and it was on Huffpo so of course I didn’t take it seriously since HuffPo had already turned into troll heaven.

    It did make me wonder if that is the reason that Obama never does anything right about foreign policy, is he really that afraid of being trolled by people who just don’t matter?

    I voted for him twice because the alternative was just too horrible to comprehend with McCain and Romney wanting to bomb Iran and Russia and Syria and pretty much half the world. I know I did the right thing but it still does not make me feel any better.

  6. Candide Thirtythree October 27th, 2014 at 07:51

    “At the end of the day, perhaps terrorism is something that can only be managed.”

    I said much the same thing a while back and got called traitor, and terrorist lover and un-American and socialist and a few terms that would not pass moderation here. Of course it was all republicans saying it and it was on Huffpo so of course I didn’t take it seriously since HuffPo had already turned into troll heaven.

    It did make me wonder if that is the reason that Obama never does anything right about foreign policy, is he really that afraid of being trolled by people who just don’t matter?

    I voted for him twice because the alternative was just too horrible to comprehend with McCain and Romney wanting to bomb Iran and Russia and Syria and pretty much half the world. I know I did the right thing but it still does not make me feel any better.

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