We went to Afghanistan to avenge 9/11 and to bring its perpetrators to justice. Everything else was peripheral or came later. Whatever happens, Bin Laden lies at the bottom of the ocean, his colleagues dead or imprisoned in a Cuban dungeon. We got that, even if that's all we got.
Was it worth it? No. Much of the effort before 2011 was a waste, all of the effort after 2011 was. The thing is, the war went on so long and got so muddied, that most people who served there in the past decade have only childhood memories of 9/11 at best.
There's no chance anyone will be held accountable for the waste: the politicians who funded the long war, the voters who elected them, the defense companies who lobbied to stay or the generals who lied about progress.
Except maybe Joe Biden. Biden may take some blame because it happened on his watch, even though he was largely left holding the Afghanistan bag (and because there's no excuse for this disastrous withdrawal). However Republicans frame it, the DC press corps will report it.
But make no mistake: Most Americans don't care about any of this. Americans wanted out and we're out. Most Americans don't know a single Afghan and they're not going to see the guys falling off the C-17.
The best we can hope for is that elected leaders don't ever do this again.
The best we can hope for is that elected leaders don't ever do this again.
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