By Bonnie Kristian
When President Trump took office in 2017, the war in Afghanistan was 16 years old. The original mission, meant to punish the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks and their Taliban enablers, was long since completed, but the Taliban held or contested 45% of Afghan territory. There were about 8,400 U.S. forces on the ground, far below the peak of 100,000 in 2010 (excluding contractors, who often equal or exceed the military presence proper). That deployment had been led by 17 commanders — turnover is high in the “graveyard of empires.”
Today, the war in Afghanistan is approaching 20 years old. U.S. taxpayers have spent nearly a trillion dollars on it (more if you count long-term costs like interest on debt and military healthcare). The Taliban holds or contests about 65% of Afghan territory. At summer’s end, there were about 8,600 U.S. forces on the ground, a figure that is supposed to drop to 2,500 by Inauguration Day. Some of those soldiers were born after the 9/11 attacks happened. Some are fighting the same war their fathers fought. When the war’s 17th commander left in 2018, he declared it “time for this war in Afghanistan to end.”
And still it continues. In failing to finish the war in Afghanistan, Trump has broken a major campaign promise, one he touted throughout his presidency as evidence of his distinction from the Washington establishment.
This piece was originally published in The Los Angeles Times on December 29, 2020. Read more HERE.