In the wake of the killing of four of its soldiers and the wounding of a dozen more by an Afghan soldier being trained, France has suspended all military operations in Afghanistan and is considering withdrawing its troops. Germany and Italy have already declared that they will be out by the end of the year. As we have seen before, the US and Britain will be left holding the bag for what has been a disastrous attempt at nation building.
Thursday’s New York Times features an astonishingly honest article entitled “Afghan Soldiers Step Up Killing of Allied Forces” that begins “American and other coalition forces here are being killed in increasing numbers by the very Afghan soldiers they fight alongside and train, in attacks motivated by deep-seated animosity between the supposedly allied forces, according to American and Afghan officers and a classified coalition report obtained by The New York Times. A decade into the war in Afghanistan, the report makes clear that these killings have become the most visible symptom of a far deeper ailment plaguing the war effort: the contempt each side holds for the other…”
How can anyone read the above and still maintain that there is a good reason for anyone to stay in Afghanistan? The Afghans themselves clearly see the US and NATO as an army of occupation, which it is, and are reacting accordingly. Who wants to be part of the last family in America to lose a son or daughter fighting in such a cause?
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