Mullaharkey in Afghanistan.
Sunk costs, sunk bodies.
AP picture above shows some ‘tourists’ visiting the US congress January, 2021.
Poor Biden! In some ways very courageous too, he decided that enough was enough and sliced the Gordian knot to become a real leader. No dithering. He decided to act and not do any more sucking, sunken costs in Afghanistan. And there ye have it, it’s Saigon 2.0 rhyming with desperate people hanging onto the ascending wheels of the once more retreating Americans. Oh sigh. The road to hell is certainly paved with the somewhat muddle of good intents.
What is wrong with America? What are these wars for? Is it for practice? ‘cause they don't need the practice, they have possible as many as 130 wars America is involved in in some way or other, at any one time. But Hey Yo! they would need to win one every once in a while if it was about winning…but is it? Is it about winning or is it about sucking up resources to gush them down a chute to complex military guzzlers, Tsunamis of money into contractors paws and to order in all the whizz-metal playthings that go bang in the night. War for profit, and the poor and the patriotic idealist gets up to fight for these convenient and inconvenient escapades, under a glossy and attractive banner of courage and convictions.
And if anyone dare critique there’s a mighty nationwide clutching of TV pearls, tears for heroes and the litanies of the fallen and all of that. The patriot screech is in proportional to the waste of time and resources, shrouding the losses in a fog of sentimental sacramental nationalism. But no questions and no pictures anymore of the bodies, bagged and back. Everything is much more covert and disguised than Vietnam where there were multiples of untypical embedded reporters and photographers making battle history and photographing the churning gore and stupid of the killing machinery in full blood let. But it is history’s echo that is the killer-app in Afghanistan. Like the rule for actors is to 'never work with children or animals', well it’s don't go near Afghanistan if you are an Empire. It is your death knell or at least a grand slam in the balls; every empire gets F'd over by Afghanistan and descends downhill temporarily or permanently from there. Pardon my Latin but Quo Vadis
America?
The British Empire had many’s the surprise defeat in that humbling Mullah this and Mullah that cauldron before having to skedaddle. They had situations remarkably similar to the Americans; setting up a shaky local favorite, he propped up militarily to the resentment of the locals, except the British had no helicopters and planes and lost their entire army on a escape march after being surrounded in Kabul. The first losses were to the brutal weather then a massacre in the mountain passes. All was lost save for one straggler abroad a horse, a Doctor who it was said was allowed to live to bring back the sorry tale to the losers. All the way back in 1842 and it’s the same again and again. Learn too late yes, but learn, pay attention to the past, then withdraw. Get the frack out of there says Biden, this is a load of Mullaharkey!
Biden took out the support pole holding the whole Mullaharkey traveling circus tent upright and ordered the elephants, planes and mobile army to leave town. The reality was clear, the years of training had failed, the fake straw army was an illusion and Kabul’s money-spongy government folded. The over-counted and underpaid soldiers were badly supplied and starved of resources. They had been trained by the best yet still surrendered without hardly firing a shot. They were hungry, unsupported and uninspired by their leadership and the corruption went all the way up. Embrace the embarrassment of riches spent on such a useless un-fighting machine, 83 Billion or more and where did it really all go? It gushed into the sand and disappeared forever. Praise these desert deeds. My name America, the greatest of the great, look ye on our works and despair cries the pedestals’ feet of desert stone.
The Russians had a go for a decade and left many the blonde haired boy, ragged Cossack, Crimean Tartar and Muscovite son dead back there. The same Taliban tribes are coming to a Kabul near you (and are here already - Summer ‘21, back so soon!) were funded by Reagan back in the day, right? So the Taliban were supported and armed by the US until they drove out the Russians. They were then fought with by turn and surrendered to (by proxy) today. Oi sigh. A sunk cost refers to money that has already been spent and cannot be recovered. Will anyone explain what was it all for? Explain that to the legless and cripple, the blind and the PTSD damaged, the psychologically lame that will never come back from their looped and embedded memories. Every day, veterans awake in their turned and tossed bed, back from a repeating nightmare firefight, the one where they have no ammunition left and the Tribesman is squeezing his trigger… Do please explain these unknown unknown’s - who and what was it all for?
And who will line up to be next in there to play upon the Afghan sand rattle? You might think the Chinese, but they are way too canny to be spending money on War when they can invest in influence and maybe infrastructure, a whopper of a road for the ghost of Marco Polo to walk back-a-ways on. They may send investment money and make friends with the Kabul Warlords to good effect for them. They are worried about hordes on their borders and bandits on the silk road. They too built a famous wall. And USA leaving so vehemently and finally is a definite signal of non aggression to the Tiger Dragon. Afghanistan has a little peninsula of land that sneaks like a tongue between Pakistan below and Tajikistan above and so what might be gained by interfering. They can wait and see, the Stars and Stripes has departed, Russia won’t invade, Pakistan is fraternal with Afghanistan so all good there for The Tiger Dragon.
And even after all of the treasure, equipment and blood spent by America into Kabul’s coffers and the roads and bridges America built, they will not be remembered fondly for all of that. The waste, the waste. And America will not be loved or missed by the Afghans. The Afghanis that threw in their lot with America are under real threat and those that led a more Western tinged life will feel rightfully betrayed; miserably and suddenly abandoned on the hot tarmac just as the South Vietnamese were abandoned at the Saigon embassy. The Taliban and tribesmen may still go back to their Tribal wars in the due season and cups of tea the rest of the time. Ozymandias where are you?
© John Munnelly
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