Nation Building Can Destroy the Nation Trying to Build a Nation

 

As Biden and his advisers ramp up on the fall Kabul their it was not our fault spin
Probably oblivious to the fact that our longest war ever was a war we could never win
Anyone who could read history would come to the conclusion
That Afghanistan is not a nation to be conquered and believing that is the height of delusion
This is not a nation in the sense of a united nation only a group of warring tribes
Through history in deadly fights with each other until an invader comes inside
Then like fingers coming together to make a closed fist
As one united, put differences on hold and as one resist
From Alexander the Great, to the Brits in the Great Game
To the Soviets aping the U.S. Vietnam the result has been the same
The invader fought tooth and nail and after too many deaths to tire
Earning Afghanistan the nickname the “Graveyard of Empires”
All the warning signs of history were missed
The green on blue shootings were the rule not the exception continued to persist
Afghan troops shooting and killing their American and NATO allies in the Taliban fight
When in a war to win hearts and minds being killed by Afghan troops a clear sign something was not right
At all times we were the foreigners despite our professed noble intentions
To advance education, medical care, jobs and women’s rights that among the Taliban no praise only condemnation
Putting an Afghan Army uniform on an Afghan and training him to use a gun
We blindly thought his feudal thoughts and Sharia Law praise he would shun and against the Taliban not run
Our ideas about Afghanistan and our ego that we could be a success in the task of nation building  reeked of flaws
After killing bin Laden we should have said “Mission Accomplished”, left and spared us a decade of fiscal and human pain pursuing what history told us would be a lost cause

 

© August 15, 2021 The Alaskanpoet