Afghanistan is failing.
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| U.S. military advisers link up with Afghan security forces near Tarin Kowt, where there has been sustained fighting with Taliban insurgents. |
Fifteen years after the United States first scattered the Taliban with high-altitude bombing, the battlefield gains achieved by tens of thousands of U.S. troops are in jeopardy from a resurgent Taliban.
The United States has spent $115 billion on this longest war in its history. The conflict has taken the lives of 1,865 Americans and wounded 20,224 (as of Nov. 16), many with life-shattering injuries. Yet the main goals set forth by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama haven’t been achieved: Afghanistan does not have a stable, working democracy and terrorists still find a safe haven there.
Even stalwart defenders of the U.S. intervention, such as Vice President Joe Biden, now seem deeply concerned. But few people in the U.S. are paying attention.
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| Get Ready, Set, Fire |
The 15th anniversary of the start of the war passed last month almost without notice. The stark choices facing President-elect Donald Trump ― more troops? more money? withdrawal? ― received no attention in the presidential campaign, an ill omen for the months ahead when careful and considered action will be needed. And time is short.
Major cities across Afghanistan are under siege by the Taliban and other Islamic extremist militias, which are steadily taking more territory. more
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