U.S. military role is broken — and broke — in Afghanistan
The Seattle Times
June 1, 2011
Congress must point the way toward getting the United States out of a war in Afghanistan it cannot afford or define. Members of the Washington delegation are well positioned to hold President Obama accountable for a timely exit.
WASHINGTON’S well-placed, influential congressional delegation must help move the United States toward the exit in Afghanistan. Sooner than later.
Sen. Patty Murray, Reps. Norm Dicks, Adam Smith and Rick Larsen, among others, have key committee and party roles that should be invoked to speed an end to a war the U.S. flatly cannot afford, and can no longer define.
Even Afghan President Hamid Karzai has lost any reticence about bluntly criticizing NATO and American forces for airstrikes killing civilians. For Karzai, the allies are evolving into occupiers. He recently lamented his nation simultaneously suffering from terrorists and a war on terrorism.
U.S. budget numbers supporting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are simply stunning. By the end of fiscal year, the total for both conflicts will be $1.26 trillion — $797.3 billion in Iraq and $459.8 billion in Afghanistan, according to published accounts.
Giddy, brazen Republican deficit hawks somehow manage to avert their eyes from the cost of war, including the Afghan conflict running at $10 billion a month.
The Pentagon has spent $28 billion to build a national army in Afghanistan and wants $12 billion more. It would cost upward of $8 billion a year to maintain, The Washington Post reports. The nation’s annual budget is $1.5 billion. …
Read more: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorials/2015208432_edit02afghan.html
