Sharing a Birthday With a War

Today I am twenty-nine years old, and today the war in Afghanistan begins its ninth year. It is strange sharing a birthday with a war, and stranger still is that my view of the war has changed as much as the war itself has changed.

During the last eight years 1,446 coalition soldiers have died in the war, 869 American soldiers have died in those eight years. Also, 3,896 American soldiers have been wounded in Afghanistan, including 1,265 this year alone. This year has by far been the deadliest year in Afghanistan, 401 coalition soldiers have died and 239 American soldiers have died in a year that is still three months away from finished.

According to the National Priorities Project, to date the war in Afghanistan has cost America over $2 billion dollars, or about $1,700 per tax payer. Of course this estimate does not include the cost of providing health care for our returning veterans or the cost of restoring the military to its prewar strength. Not to mention to cost to society: the loss of family members and the effect that has on communities.

Despite the cost, both in dollars and blood, the war in Afghanistan has often been viewed as the “good war,” and it has been difficult for people to be critical of the war. However, as the war has continued year after year, even as it appears that an end to the war in Iraq may be within sight, many people have begun to rethink the war in Afghanistan. It is time for us to realize that our war of necessity has become a war of choice.

The Nation reported, National Security Adviser, former Marine General James Jones said that the “Al Qaeda presence [in Afghanistan] is very diminished. The maximum estimate is less than 100 operating in the country, no bases, no ability to launch attacks on either us or our allies." We are no longer fighting a war with those that committed an act of terrorism, we are fighting a war with the shadows of those terrorist. Now General Stanley McChrystal would like us to escalate a war in a country that has a long history of resisting foreign militaries, and nation build in a country that is more a collection of tribes than a people with a national identity.

The consequences of not leaving Afghanistan could be significant. While the world may have viewed the election of Barack Obama as the first step in positive change in the United States foreign policy, if President Obama chooses to continue the war in Afghanistan or even escalate the war it may make it more difficult for our allies and the world to be accepting of the United State’s leadership on international issues.

It seems that there is only really one thing keeping the United States involved in Afghanistan: fear. The fear of the resurgence of the elements of Al Qaeda and the fear of a reconquest of the country by the Taliban. This same fear is the basis for another fear: the fear that if the United States military leaves Afghanistan and there is another terrorist attack on American soil. If the United States is only involved in Afghanistan because of fear and unanswerable questions, then the real question we must answer is how many more of our soldiers must die before we start asking the right questions.

However, what we should fear is our inability to learn the lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan. In a poll published by the Pew Research Center this week 61% of those surveyed said that they would support preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons even if that meant using force, while only 24% said that it is more important to avoid a military conflict with Iran, if it means that the country may develop nuclear weapons. In the lead up to the war in Iraq about the same percentage favored military action. According to Gallup polls, support for an invasion of Iraq was never below 52% and reached 64% a week before the invasion. Our greatest fear should be that on the Afghanistan war celebrates another birthday we have only gotten a year older and have not gotten any wiser.