US leaving “Graveyard of Empires.”

Afghanistan has been called the “graveyard of Empires.” The British tried to take over the country twice and failed. The Russians also tried to conquer this mountainous nation of many tribes. It also failed. Then 20 years ago, US government leaders decided to attack this country to destroy the Taliban. The Taliban and leader Osama bin Laden were held responsible for the terrorist attacks in the US on September 11, 2001.

Had US Special Forces gone into Afghanistan and taken out Bin Laden and other Taliban leadership and then left, I would have supported that. Instead, government leaders such as US Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld thought America would succeed in its invasion when many other countries had failed. They paid no attention to the country’s well-known history of foiling invaders over the centuries.

Instead, 20 years and 2 trillion dollars later, the US is finally leaving Afghanistan. Meanwhile, after this longest American war in history, the Taliban is still operating. Each week, news reports say they have taken over more territory from the Afghani government: Fear and Misery in an Afghan City Where Taliban Stalk the Streets https://nyti.ms/3yZ4ziP.

It looks like once the US is gone, the Taliban will be back in power. This is bad news for anyone there who supported or worked for the US, such as Afghani interpreters. Women will also suffer and likely lose any rights they gained during the US occupation. I feel bad for these people and for all innocents who suffered during the US war in Afghanistan. They are now in a dangerous situation.

However, I feel worse for those US parents who lost their sons or daughters fighting in Afghanistan. What can government officials or anyone else say to them to help them come to terms with the death of their child? What cause did they die for exactly? What has the US accomplished in Afghanistan that would give parents and siblings of the deceased comfort that their loved-ones death was not in vain?

At least 2,312 US military personnel have died in Afghanistan and 20,066 have been wounded. How does the US justify their deaths in light of what little has been accomplished?

Of course, the death of a child or sibling in any war would be a most painful thing but to lose one for a lost cause would be the worst experience of all. Don’t tell me they died for “our freedom” because that isn’t the case. My heart breaks for these families.