Lessons from Afghanistan

 

Exhuming McCarthy

Enemy sighted, enemy met, I'm addressing the realpolitik
You've seen start and you've seen quit
(I'm addressing the table of content)
I always thought of you as quick
Exhuming McCarthy
(Meet me at the book burning)

What lessons should we have learned from Afghanistan?

“Rule number one in war is that young men die.  Rule number two is that doctors can’t change rule number one.” This was a line of dialogue from the TV “comedy” M.A.S.H that it would be well to remember today.  We might not like what is happening in Afghanistan, but that doesn’t mean that we can change what is happening in Afghanistan.  We might be able to stop it, or reverse it, for a period of time, but we may not be able to change it forever.

That may be one of the lessons of Afghanistan.  The original mission, to retaliate against the attack on the World Trade Towers, got lost to the mission creep of nation building.  We achieved the original mission ong ago. The second mission was probably never realistic anyway.

Should the United States become isolationist?  Absolutely not. As long as we participate in global trade and need things from others in the globe, we have to protect our interests.  But our interests do not extend to the sovereign national rights of others. 

Should we deal with or trust those who punish those who practice other religions or women?  Maybe.  As much as we may not like it, or work to try and change it, others may still do things that offend us.

We can choose not to deal with those who practice those behaviors.

We can make it clear that we don’t condone those behaviors.

We can work to change those behaviors.  But,

We can not force a change in the those behaviors. 

What we may perceive as change may only last as long as we provide force.  That is not change. That is the illusion of change.

Another lesson might be to end any pretense that Realpolitik ever works.  There might not be a Taliban if the US had not supported the Mujahedeen in opposition to regime backed by the Soviet Union.  The Taliban might not have overrun Afghanistan in recent days if the US had not dealt with them in 2020 and chosen to release so many of their leaders.  “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” is demonstrably false.  “If you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas” is demonstrably true. Let's definitely not lie down with dogs that are not our friends.