Small Wars Journal

The Media, Lost in Trump World, are Ignoring the Consequences of the Afghanistan War

Wed, 02/06/2019 - 12:06am

The Media, Lost in Trump World, are Ignoring the Consequences of the Afghanistan War by Andrew J. Bacevich – Los Angeles Times

… I find myself wondering: If a proposed troop drawdown in Afghanistan qualifies as a “mistake,” then what term best describes a war that has cost something like a trillion dollars, killed and maimed tens of thousands, and produced a protracted stalemate? Disaster? Debacle? Catastrophe? Humiliation?

And, if recent media reports prove true, with U.S. government officials accepting Taliban promises of good behavior as a basis for calling it quits, then this longest war in our history will not have provided much of a return on investment. Given the disparity between the U.S. aims announced back in 2001 and the results actually achieved, defeat might be an apt characterization.

Yet the fault is not Trump’s. The fault belongs to those who have allowed their immersion in the dank precincts of Trump World to preclude serious reexamination of misguided and reckless policies that predate the president by at least 15 years. The dearth of attention to the costs and consequences of our post-9/11 wars is nothing short of shameful, and journalists as well as politicians are equally guilty...

Read on.