In Afghanistan, a war that has lost its purpose

[pakistani342]

Richard Cohen is an important Columnist -- he accurately depicts the mood in the USA.

Original article here, excerpts below:

While watching the utterly gripping movie “Lone Survivor” recently, I comforted myself by noting that the four Navy SEALs engaged in a desperate firefight with the Afghan Taliban were all volunteers. They asked for this, I told myself. They were not draftees yanked out of civilian life and compelled to fight a war they could neither understand nor win. They had asked for this, I insisted, but I knew all the time that this was a lie. They had volunteered, but certainly not to die and certainly for no purpose.

...

... Afghanistan is an arid Vietnam, a quagmire presided over by the petulant and unpredictable Hamid Karzai. For Obama, Gates wrote, “it’s all about getting out.”

...

In the movie theater, I watched two films at once — “Lone Survivor” on the screen and Vietnam in my head. On the screen, as in reality, men fought and died — and, as with Vietnam, I no longer knew why. One man survived the battle. The rest were lost — as is the reason for the war itself.

 

[OrionHunter]

For answers, I think the author needs to ask Bush and his neo-cons who advocated the "assertive" promotion of democracy and promotion of "American national interest" in international affairs including by use of military force.

And mixed up in all this was the bid to control Middle East/West Asia oil reserves for American oil cartels of which Dick Cheney too had an enormous stake. The means didn't matter. The end did! American soldiers were just pawns in the chess game. They were an expendable commodity as long as the neo-cons achieved their aim.

But that aim of establishing a New World Order on America's terms has all started to unravel now.