Happy Birthday Afghanistan - 12 Years Old and No End in Sight

Afghanistan - The gift that keeps giving.

The war that never ends because "peace" does not make

profits for the military-industrial complex.

Why no declaration of war?  -  A proper and Constitutional Declaration of War is always made against a government of another nation.  A declaration is made and later a peace treaty is signed and hostilities end.  But these vague "authorizations of force" appear to have no end.  Thus the wars and war profiteering can go on and on.

Dead or wounded soldiers?  No problem.  The politicians always provide an endless stream of fresh young men to feed the war machine.  But I am just a "crazy" anti-war Conservative.

The war in Afghanistan officially began 12 years ago. To put it in perspective, the last time we didn't have boots on the ground in Afghanistan, Obama was still an Illinois state senator, the first iPhone was six years away from release and "Friends" was still on the air.

In the past 12 years, at least 2,146 members of the U.S. military have died while serving in Afghanistan. This figure includes four American soldiers who were killed by an IED explosion in the south of the country on Sunday.

A recent study found that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq will end up costing taxpayers between $4 trillion to $6 trillion. Unsurprisingly, most Americans think their tax dollars have been wasted.

As the conflict drags on, tensions between Afghans and international soldiers of the NATO coalition have only gotten worse. According to the Economist, one in seven of all NATO service member deaths this year "has been at the hands of the very Afghan troops the coalition is trying to help and train."

In August, an Afghan soldier opened fire on his Australian colleagues at a military base, killing three. In September, three NATO troops were killed by a man wearing an Afghan army uniform.

So the Afghan War goes on and on with no real plan from the politicians about an exit.  So what else is new?

The common soldier always pays the price.
The top generals and liar hack politicians remain safe behind the lines far from
danger, but they are the first to parade themselves on TV to claim "credit" or
place blame for any given war.

Afghan Guides, 2nd Anglo-Afghan War - 1879.
The British fought three Afghan wars.  It changed nothing, Afghanistan stayed the same.  But it did make the politicians and companies that make weapons feel better.
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But don't worry, either next year or in ten years the politicians will find some "vital" issue and go into another war somewhere.  The dead and wounded vets from the old war will be forgotten as our leaders seek glory on some new battlefield.  

Officers of the 10th Hussars at Jellalabad - 1879
South West of Jellalabad in North Eastern Afghanistan.
See The Battle of Futtehabad.

45th Rattray's Sikhs guard Afghan prisoners during an advance
through the Khyber Pass.



Maiwand, Afghanistan 1880
British Officers with Captured Cannon, Second Anglo-Afghan War, 1880. 
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
See The Battle of Maiwand.



Afghanistan 1869
Not much has changed.  Sher Ali (center) surrounded by court officials, tribal leaders, and sons.