America's Humiliation in Afghanistan

Two decades, some 7,000 lives lost, over 20,000 wounded, and trillions of dollars spent, only to run home with our collective tails between our legs.

And we wonder "why" we have lost our prestige globally.  America has long prided itself on being the "mightiest" military on earth. However, when pondering this boastful statement, "when was the last war we won?" The answer is "The Big One," WWII. Truth hurts when discussing our military prowess globally.  But is our military the problem with our inability to win wars anymore? The answer is a roaring NO! Not no, but hell no. There is no disputing that we have the finest technology on the planet. There is no disputing that we have the ability to whip just about anyone's butt's from Cairo to New Zealand and from Odessa, Texas to Moscow. So why do we keep losing?  Two reasons for all of these humiliating losses. 

1. Politicians are now conducting our military actions. Back in WWII-President Roosevelt gave the orders for General Douglas McArthur to go whip ToJo's butt, and he did. Roosevelt then gave the order to General Dwight D. Eisenhower to take out Adolf Hitler. He orchestrated what could be argued as one of the greatest military operations in the history of this earth. In other words, Roosevelt did not tell the Generals how to win a war. He let them do their jobs. 
2. The Military-Industrial Complex; This is precisely what Eisenhower warned us about when leaving the White House after completing his second term. Not going into too much here (because I don't want to be labeled as a conspiracy theorist), but the truth is, our military-industrial complex has a stranglehold on our political leadership on Capitol Hill. Companies such as Boeing, Ratheon, Lockheed-Martin, General Dynamics, and many more (for all intents and purposes) own most of our leadership on both sides of the aisle. The fact is, if we go in, kick butt and come home, these guys don't sell as many missiles, fighter jets, tanks, bullets, and all the rest. The longer a war lasts, the more cash they earn for the bottom line. Think about it. 

Our descent into the losing column began with President Truman when he would not allow General Douglas McArthur to defeat the Chinese and North Koreans in that conflict. Granted, McArthur's request to use limited low-level tactical nuclear weapons was a problem for Truman, but nevertheless, Truman decided to bring "His Royalness" home and retire him.

This was the first clear political interference in military operations in our history. History tells the story of JFK giving the speech at Harvard shortly before his assassination, where he announces the withdrawal of "advisors" from South Vietnam. Kennedy knew first hand the horrors of war as he suffered horribly from injuries suffered during WWII in the South Pacific.

He could not see a clear victory without major military commitments and decided to bring our boys and girls home.  Of course, we all know the infamous quote from LBJ, "make me president, and I'll give you your damn war." Many claim this is a true statement, but of course, the history books deny such statement. And we know the rest of the story. Ten thousand days and over 50,000 lives later, we came home and were humiliated.  In the first Gulf War, then-President Bush 41 went to the United Nations and obtained a clear mandate.

Iraq's Saddam Hussein had invaded Kuwait and the United States managed dozens of our Allies and put some 750,000 troops on the ground. The force was overwhelming and we did push Saddam back to Bagdad. But that is where the war ended. We (under U.N. rules) were not allowed to 'take him out' and had to stop at his doorstep. This was because he had been forced out of Kuwait and that was the mandate.

Had we been allowed to finish the job, it is highly likely that Gulf War II would have never happened and we would have saved ourselves a trillion dollars and 15-years of misery. But once again, politics entered the picture.  Afghanistan is yet another blemish on our record in the win/loss column.

Because of the very fact that China is very close allies with Iran, and Iran funds Hezbollah, the Taliban, and Al Qaida, Biden is not forced to abandon airfields, a thousand pieces of equipment, and come home with our tail between our legs. Make no mistake and do not misunderstand, this pullout on the spur of the moment was most likely orchestrated by China. 

In the end, all of the money, all of the blood, all of the pain was pointless because of Joe Biden's actions. Now someone needs to ask the question; "why"?

By Ken Crow, RAV Contributor

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