Twice now in my lifetime, I’ve witnessed the end of senseless, ridiculous, long-term generational wars fought by my country, only to come to senseless, ridiculous conclusions. What’s more frightening about all of this, as we’re writing the column today, is the cry of the hawk. “We have to stop the mullahs from getting a bomb.” “We gotta confront the Chinese and the East China Sea. We have to confront Putin. And arm the Ukraine. For God’s sake we have to defend Taiwan.”
What have these people earned in the cost of the war in Afghanistan, and the end of the insanity of Vietnam? In southeast Asia they can only guess at the body count. The agreed upon cost in 1970 dollars was over a trillion and we continue to pay for the destroyed lives of the young men and women sent into southeast Asia.
Now Afghanistan. The cost of Afghanistan in lives and dollars. The 20-year mission comes to a conclusion as the helicopters are pushed off the decks of aircraft carriers, the American GIs leave Bagram Air Force Base in the middle of the night without telling the Afghans they are leaving. I watched General Scott Miller relinquish his command in Kabul. The data is frightening. No one knows again how many Afghans died and the cost to those peoples’ lives. The agreed upon number depends on who you listen to. Another trillion, and considering the continued death toll in Iraq, the lies of Bush and Cheney.
Remember, Johnson had the Gulf of Tonkin where there’s no evidence to support the American destroyers were fired on that night. Colin Powell and the UN talking about the yellow cake uranium. There’s no evidence of that. Bush and Cheney saying we must attack Afghanistan knowing full well the murderers of 9/11 had long gone into being protected by our gallant allies the Pakistanis.
The cost will continue, the price of the lives of these young men and women, the price of past tombs, Shia and the Sunni. Bush appearing in the media being upset about pulling out of Afghanistan. These people have no shame.
And the same on-airs, and the same elected politicians, the same columnists and the same war mongers now continue to hear the scream of the hawk. Let’s go again. Generations of Americans will have to pay this off.
The Two most important speeches ever given by any American president were: George Washington’s farewell address, warning of foreign entanglements; and Dwight Eisenhower, warning of the military industrial complex. This great danger is to the American forces’ fine young men and women, who will be paying with their lives, future health care disability, and the suicide numbers. 1.6 or 1.8 trillion. Another amount offered up. Those costs will peak. Who wants to go again? I fear these people.
— Peter Boyles