Years of death, destruction have changed nothing

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR | CASUALTIES OF WAR

August 12, 2011

THE HORRIFIC deaths of 30 of the best troops in the world are ample proof that our country has reached the logical endpoint of its nearly 10-year involvement in Afghanistan.

The endless slaughter of everyone involved continues and demonstrates that our politicians and many of our generals are wrong in their belief that any kind of victory is even remotely possible. It took the Soviets 10 years to comprehend that “winning’’ anything in this forever-backward nation was impossible, especially when it was the United States that was bankrolling this proxy war. We gave money and arms to the Taliban “freedom fighters’’ only to have those weapons used against us now by Taliban “rebels.’’

Many other destabilizing forces wreak havoc in the region. Warlords and their militias, criminals, drug cartels, and scattered tribes settling ancient scores add to the insanity.

A weak, ineffective Afghan government that is becoming more hostile to our presence certainly doesn’t help in our attempt to provide entry into the 21st century for a country that is living centuries behind the rest of the world. Nearly 10 years of death and destruction have not changed anything, as women are still treated like property, suicide bombings continue, and the nation has a low literacy rate and a high unemployment rate.

President Obama has said he will get us out, and yet we continue to lose troops who shouldn’t be there. Bring them home.

J. Patrick Grimes
Watertown

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