Guest Op-Ed: Afghanistan Will Never Go Away

By Dr. Glenn Mollette 

Afghanistan is an unending nightmare that will never go away. 

We got Osama Bin Laden. We wanted to avenge the heinous deaths of September 11, 2001. We were all mad and we are still angry about what evil people did on that day. We will never forget. We could have covertly taken out Bin Laden and many more terrorists without all that our political leaders have done over the last 20 years. 

Thousands of parents lost their children in Afghanistan. Thousands of spouses lost husbands and wives. Children lost their parents. These precious Americans will suffer the rest of their lives over the loss of their loved ones. 

The long Afghanistan war broke the hearts of Americans as 6,294 Military and American contractors have been killed. Sixty-six thousand Afghan national military and police have been killed. Over 47,000 Afghan civilians killed. Aid workers killed. Journalists killed. The Afghanistan and Iraq war has cost Americans $2 trillion. Financially it will never be over for most living Americans. 

There are reports that the United States has committed to pay $2 trillion more in health care, disability, burial and other costs for roughly 4 million Afghanistan and Iraq Veterans. America has a tough job caring for our own Veterans. For years we did a very poor job of providing good care for Veterans with physical and mental needs. 

The estimated interest costs of these wars by 2050 is $6.5 trillion. 

There will never be an end to our 20-year nightmare war in Afghanistan. Families will suffer every day from the grief of the loss of loved ones who sacrificed their lives. Every year we all will pay on the trillions of dollars in debt created by the war. For the rest of most American’s lives, we will pay on the trillions of dollars of money that we have committed to care for Afghanistan and Iraq Veterans. As we pay these huge obligations, Americans will struggle to pay for health care. Senior adults will be given minimal cost of living increases. American young people will be buried by college debt.

Further, reports indicate that we have handed over to the Taliban approximately 22,000 Humvees, 8000 large trucks, 42,000 pick-up trucks, 358,000 assault rifles, 64,000 machine guns and 126,000 pistols, plus 155 mine-proof vehicles. We have equipped them with billions of dollars of high-priced items that we will pay on forever. They will use American equipment to dominate a defenseless nation of people that will now be left behind to try to survive a revitalized Taliban. 

We may be finally leaving Afghanistan, but Afghanistan, for our generation, will never go away. 

Glenn Mollette is the publisher of Newburgh Press, Liberty Torch and various other publishing imprints; a national columnist –  American Issues and Common Sense opinions, analysis, stories and features appear each week In over 500 newspapers, websites and blogs across the United States.