Afghanistan - the graveyard of empires - has taken another scalp. We were no more able to construct a modern state there than the Soviets were able to stand up a socialist paradise or the British carve out a colonial fief.
Our puppet government in Afghanistan lasted exactly as long as our support, and not a moment longer. It was a set of roles in a play written in Washington and enacted in Kabul; the play folded as soon as the U.S. “angel” withdrew backing. It’s military proved to be mercenaries who switched sides nearly seamlessly.
Afghanistan is a toxic stew of pedophile opium growers and feuding tribal warlords, playing an Islamic Game of Thrones on a barren-but-strategically-located dung heap. It’s the kind of place that causes otherwise sane people to contemplate genocide.
Our last two presidents, who agree about little else, have said, “Basta.”
