Afghanistan, our second Vietnam
Afghanistan & Vietnam — neither war accomplished anything
We lost, again.
Today we left Afghanistan and the Taliban streamed in as if we were never there. Imagine what America could have done with $3T if we never started the Vietnam and Afghanistan wars. Imagine the cost in global warming from building and using the bombs, tanks, etc. in both wars.
American politicians and the war machine are out of control. We should not have entered either of these two wars. But having decided to Nation Build, they should have had an iron clad exit strategy. Was there any chance that the culture we prop up would fail to fulfill our fantasy of “a little America in the Middle East”? It’s happened more than twice now. We look the other way.
Here’s what we lost in these two unnecessary wars:
1) Vietnam
Deaths:
800k total civilian and soldiers on both sides
55k American soldiers
Dollars spent:
$950 billion (in 2011 dollars)
Cost to the environment to build (in this USA), deploy, use weapons and build structures (in Southeast Asia):
Unimaginable toxins and carbon emissions
Outcome:
South Vietnam was absorbed by North Vietnam in 1973 — no gain for America
2) Afghanistan
Deaths:
161k civilian and soldiers on both sides
2k American soldiers
US Dollars spent:
$2T (in today’s dollars)
Cost to the environment to build (in this USA), deploy, use weapons and build structures (in the Middle East):
Unimaginable toxins and carbon emissions
Outcome:
Afghanistan is now, in August 2021, being completely overrun by the Taliban — no gain for America.
Summary:
In 1961 Eisenhower warned America of the problems with the military-industrial complex. But we ignore this well-known flaw in our country.
Since politicians are allowed to accept money in the form of “campaign contributions” they support war, especially prolonged war. The money they receive from the companies that manufacture and sell bombs, bombers, and body-bags is obviously irresistible.
America needs a constitutional amendment that prohibits politicians from accepting anything of value (money, contributions, trips, etc.). We also need constitutional amendment that prohibits politicians from starting wars without an ironclad exit strategy. We also desperately need accountability. Who should be in prison for this failed war? What are the consequences for such large failures?
Look at the statistics above one more time.
Were the Vietnam and Afghanistan wars necessary? Did we achieve anything of value? Were they moral wars fought out of necessity? Were there alternative diplomatic or war strategies that would have been more effective? Did a million people really need to die? Could the USA really afford to spend three trillion dollars that yielded no results? What could we have done with that money? What would the men and women who died accomplish if they had lived a long and full life? How about if they accomplished nothing, but were allowed to live a happy life without greedy American politicians making money off their dead bodies?
References:
Costs of Major US Wars…
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