My Take | The United States breaks Afghanistan, then walks away
- US ‘war on terror’ has been a series of crimes against humanity and a complete disaster for the world
“You break it, you own it.”
– Former US secretary of state Colin Powell
American punditry will now endlessly dissect the many ways in which the wars in Afghanistan and Vietnam are alike or dissimilar. They will argue about military plans, political goals and exit strategies, how they could have been won or ended up a lot worse, and the sacrifice of American blood, resources and credibility.
One is America’s longest war (20 years), the other, second longest (19 years).
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As US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan nears, Hazara militia fighters prepare for the worst
They will avoid stating the obvious: the enemy has won. In both cases, an undertrained and ill-equipped enemy that was outnumbered, outpowered and out-resourced prevailed over the mightiest war machine in human history. It would be a pyrrhic victory, though, as the enemy would inherit a wasteland, their country ravaged by the most advanced and destructive weapons humankind has ever seen.
Since the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan began collecting data in 2009, it has documented about 111,000 Afghan civilian casualties, including more than 35,500 deaths. But the war, of course, began in 2001.
