Time to Think

End Of A Quagmire #184

By Hank Silverberg

There is an eerie sight and sound to what is going on in Afghanistan this week. It's like a flashback to 1975, to a place that used to be called Saigon, and a country called South Vietnam that no longer exists. The United States had fought a long bloody war there to prop up a failed and corrupt government and had pulled out most troops two years earlier. After more than a decade of military campaigns (between 1961 and 1973) and the deaths of more than 58,200 American military personnel, we just left. The South Vietnam government fell quickly, and we simply turned our backs and tried to forget about that war. More horrifically, we also tended to forget about the American men and women who came home with physical and emotion scars.

The situation in Afghanistan is similar, though not the same. The casualty count among our military is much lower, even though the war lasted 20 years. Many wounds that would have killed combatants in Vietnam instead produced more disable veterans this time that need to be cared for for life.

We had gone there to catch Osama Bin Laden, who was responsible for the 9-11 attacks, though we stayed long after he was killed, allegedly to rebuild that nation.

Costs of the Afghanistan war, in lives and dollars | Miami Herald

The human cost, though much lower than Vietnam, is still staggering. In Afghanistan:

Killed in Action : 2,448

U.S. contractors killed: 3,846

Afghan national military and police killed: 66,000

Other allied service members from NATO states: 1,144

Afghan civilians killed: 42,245

Taliban and other opposition fighters: 51,191

Aid workers: 444

Journalists: 72

The exact cost in dollars is not certain, but combined with the war in Iraq the United States has spent $2 trillion for the fight. Since most of it was borrowed money, it could eventually cost $6.5 trillion when the interest is added in.

History should have told us to bail out after Bin Laden was killed.

Afghanistan has never welcomed foreign intervention, friendly or otherwise. The British learned that in the 19th century when they tried to include the country in their colonial empire. The Russians learned it again in the 20th century when they tried to turn the country into a communist puppet state.

Massacre of British Army in Afghanistan in 1842 (thoughtco.com)

Soviet Union Invades Afghanistan - HISTORY

Now we face the prospect of abandoning the thousands of Afghans who had tried democracy and thrown their lot in with us. The Taliban, which practice a 13th century form of Islam rejected by many Muslim countries as "perverse," will again murder those of their own people who oppose them. Afghan women in particular, will once again be treated harshly for violating archaic rules that include no education and complete subservience to men.

Many of the leaders in Afghanistan's failing government have abandoned ship and left the country. Many others are submitting to or joining the Taliban.

Americans left in Afghanistan are trying to get out fast.

So who is to blame for this crisis? Conservatives and Republicans will be quick to blame President Biden, though his administration had little to do with the present predicament and has been forced to clean up the mess. Some Democrats will blame Trump for the weak deal he made with the Taliban for an American pull out. Others will blame Bush for getting us in there in the first place, or Obama for not getting us out after Bin Laden was killed.

But in reality, American foreign policy in general is to blame for not learning from the mistakes made by the British and the Russians. Afghanistan needs to be left alone to deal with its own troubles. But we do owe it to those friends we made to get them out before the Taliban goes back to its dirty work of obedience or murder.

It is likely Afghanistan will again be a place for Muslim extremists to hide and plot their attacks on the west or western culture. Twenty years has passed. Nothing has changed in that part of the world. The blame game is useless. Finding a way to deal with it is a better focus.

Climate Change IS Real

The United Nations released a report this past week indicating that climate change is now accelerating and as suspected, human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases are the major cause.

A Major U.N. Report Warns Climate Change Is Accelerating : NPR

The authors of the report, nearly 200 leading climate scientists, are hoping their work will be front and center at a major climate change conference in November. We are feeling the effects around the world, heat waves, droughts, floods and those major wildfires in California. One of the biggest questions is whether it is too late to meet clear deadlines to curb global warming. Drinking water is a major concern with reservoirs in places like Cape Town, South Africa and Chennai, India struggling to maintain their supply.

Another report this past week from NOAA, says July 2021 was the world's hottest month in the142 years that records have been kept.

It’s official: July was Earth’s hottest month on record | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (noaa.gov)

NOAA declared July 2021 the hottest month on Earth ever - The Washington Post

The combined ocean-surface temperature this past July was 1.67 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th Century average. The land- surface temperature in the Northern Hemisphere was 2.77degrees above average, the largest departure ever observed for the month.

There were record temperatures in Turkey, Northern Japan, and Northern Ireland with continued heat waves in the Pacific Northwest of North America, which had all-time highs in June. The days of dealing with climate change as a problem of the future are over. It's a problem of today.

Cuomo Update:

New York's beleaguered Governor Andrew Cuomo finally gave up his job last week, resigning effective next Tuesday. But it's not going to get him off the hook. Seven women have still accused him of inappropriate remarks or touching, and a criminal case has been opened. Cuomo's case continues to remind us that there is a double standard on this issue. Democrats demanded Cuomo resign as they did for former Minnesota Senator Al Franklin three years ago. Both men paid a political price at the very least. Yet Republicans facing similar accusations have gotten off scot-free and have no pressure from their party colleagues. This kind of hypocrisy is something voters should take a closer look at in November 2022.

Dumbest Quote of The Week:

A threepeat offender: Georgia's moronic Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green.
During an interview with a pro-Trump on-line broadcasting network called "Real America Voice," and talking about Covid-19, mask mandates and vaccine needs, she was asked about the new spike in Covid-19 cases around the country and crowded ICU's. She said:

"Yes, the waiting rooms are full. But guess what? The waiting rooms are full of things, not just COVID," and then added, "We're human, we can't live forever."

Of course, the question was about Intensive Care Units, not waiting rooms. And her insensitivity to the people across the country who have been stricken with Covid-19 is heartless.

People of Georgia! No matter what your political affiliation is, you have an obligation to get rid of this woman as soon as possible.

Marjorie Taylor Greene on hospitals reaching capacity due to Covid surge: ‘We can’t live forever’ | The Independent

(Your suggestions and comments are welcome.)

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