Afghanistan

August 2011 was the costliest month for America in Afghanistan since the war began: 67 US troops were killed. I find it very unsettling that we are still fighting in Afghanistan ten years after the war began. This is the longest war in American history and there’s no end in sight. There is no doubt that attacking the Taliban and Al Qaeda had to be done. America has the bravest, most skilled, most compassionate military in history. But at what point do we bring them home? Osama bin Laden is dead. Al Qaeda has been expelled. I fear we are sending our soldiers to fight a war that cannot be won through military encounters. The Taliban has been repeatedly beaten militarily. The problem is Taliban ideology still dominates the region. You cannot defeat ideology with weaponology. In World War II we defeated Germany, but did not end fascism.

The War on Terror is different than any other war we have fought. It is most similar, however, to the Cold War. The Cold War wasn’t won on the battlefield. It was won with technology and intelligence. It’s time to stop putting our brave soldiers in the line of fire. If we leave Afghanistan, even if the Taliban rises to power again, they will be no more of a threat to us than many other hostile nations with weak governments including Sudan, Somalia, and Yemen. I have grown so tired of American soldiers coming home to be buried. Let’s stop giving our enemies a target and win the war on terror like we won the Cold war, through technology and intelligence.