Afghanistan: April 1, 2009

In April of 2009 the boston.com website posted an article about the Afghanistan War. The article reports on the war orders President Obama had implemented up to that point in time. The article included 43 pictures. As I reviewed the pictures, I couldn't help but think how there has really been nothing accomplished as a result of these orders in the past three years, except of course the human costs. In fact it can easily be argued the country of Afghanistan is far more bitter towards the United States and Europe and no better off now than it was then. The following paragraph is the only paragraph in the boston.com report, but it vividly reveals how little has been accomplished and in retrospect how flawed our war effort has been. 

Since he took office in January, President Barack Obama has ordered an additional 21,000 U.S. troops to be deployed to Afghanistan, which will bring the full U.S. deployment there to a total of 60,000 troops, joining 39,000 coalition troops from 43 countries. The U.S. administration plans to impose benchmarks for progress on both Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, who struggle with problems tied to tribal rivalries, illegal drug production and distribution, religious factions, general instability and poverty. Collected here are photographs from the past few months of the situation in Afghanistan and the lives that continue to be affected by it. (43 photos total)

I highlight a line in the paragraph which caught my attention.  The President's administration would be hard pressed, now three years later, to point to any one single benchmark achievement. I say that not as a criticism of the job our military has done, but rather as an outright indictment of the mismanagement that must be attributed to the United States politicians and military leaders who continue to botch this unlawful and immoral war effort. Ultimately, it is the the American people who are to blame. Once again the citizens of the United States have overwhelmingly sided with an immoral and ungodly government on yet another issue which has taken America to the precipice of becoming a second world nation.


boston.com  The Big Picture: 2009 Scenes From Afghanistan