I wrote the Washington Post knowing my email would be ignored. I simply couldn't let it go. Below is what I sent (not verbatim). Please pass this newsletter on. It’s important that Americans know the history and consequences of our involvement in Afghanistan.
Email sent to Washington Post
It is not surprising to most Americans that we have been misled about progress in Afghanistan. Alternative facts or lying has become commonplace and in some circles perfectly acceptable. We, like many Afghans, are losing or have lost faith in the integrity of those in power.
I’m troubled by the questions posed by Jeffry Eggers; “What did we get for this $1 trillion effort. Was it worth it?” A balanced article would address what the Afghan people got out of our involvement in their country. That would necessarily include Charlie Wilson’s war - our clandestine proxy war waged to “turn Afghanistan into Russia’s Viet Nam” (quote from Zbigniew Brezinski, national security advisor to President Carter).
The fact is we accomplished what we set out to achieve — Afghanistan became Russia’s Viet Nam and we chased Bin Laden and Al Queda out of the country. In 2001 we found ourselves occupying a failed state we’d created. What is the responsibility of a country that topples the government of another? Should we have declared mission accomplished and let the warlords and Taliban fight for control of the country? That’s what we did in 1992, three years after the Russians were driven out of Afghanistan.
We chose not to leave and installed Hamid Karzai. He, according to Christopher Kolenda, quoted in your article, " had created a kleptocracy by 2006". It’s now more than two months after Afghanistan’s presidential election held on Sept 28th. They still aren’t able to announce election results due to voting irregularities.
A cost benefit analysis must include human costs. You've reported ours but not Afghanistan's.
The war inside Afghanistan against the Russians from 1979 - 1989 resulted in the loss of one million five hundred thousand Afghan lives and the creation of five million Afghan refugees. American lives lost and American refugees created was zero.
Since 2001 until October 2019 the loss of lives has been;
American soldiers 2,300
US contractors 3814
Afghan security forces 64,124
Civilians 40,074
Taliban fighters and insurgents 42,100
Nato and coalition troops 1,145
Humanitarian Workers 424
Journalists 67
What the Afghans “got” from our involvement in their country from 1979 to the present was;
A failed state twice
They have known nothing but war for forty years and there is no end in sight.
The Taliban control significant areas of the country and refuse to negotiate with the Afghan government, accusing them of being “puppets of the United States. We have agreed to negotiate with the Taliban without the Afghan government being present.
In all likelihood, we will announce we have reached an agreement with the Taliban or not, leave and wash our hands of Afghanistan. After all what do "we get" by staying or spending more? We shouldn’t be surprised if Afghans, all things considered, don’t say thanks. They didn't ask us to turn their country into Russia's Viet Nam.
Sincerely,
Budd MacKenzie
Trust in Education, Founder
