Saturday, October 8, 2016

America's Winless Wars

U.S. Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ships steam in formation during their military manoeuvre exercise known as Keen Sword 15 in the sea south of Japan, in this November 19, 2014 handout provided by the U.S. Navy. REUTERS/Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Chris Cavagnaro/U.S. Navy/Handout

Nick Turse, Tom Dispatch: Killing People, Breaking Things, and America's Winless Wars

It’s the timing that should amaze us (were anyone to think about it for 30 seconds). Let’s start with the conflict in Afghanistan, now regularly described as the longest war in American history. It began on October 7, 2001, and will soon reach its 15th “anniversary.” Think of it as the stepchild of America’s first Afghan War (against the Soviets), a largely CIA affair which lasted from 1979 to 1989. Considered a major victory, leading as it did to the implosion of the Soviet Union in 1991, it also devastated Afghanistan and created close to the full cast of characters for America’s second Afghan War. In reality, you could say that Washington has conducted a quarter-century-plus of warfare there (with a decade off). And in the Pentagon, they’re already talking about that war's possible extension well into the 2020s.

Read more ....

WNU Editor
: Another must read post.

Hat Tip to Jay for this link.

2 comments:

Stephen Davenport said...

They could "win" the wars but there is no political will to do what is necessary to win a war. So we get this endless shooting thing we see in Afghanistan and the messes in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya.

James said...

"They could "win" the wars but there is no political will to do what is necessary to win a war. So we get this endless shooting thing we see in Afghanistan and the messes in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya."
Absolutely.
Whether we should be in any war is a debate unto itself.