![]() When France and Britain led the charge in March 2011 to oust Mu’ammar al-Qaddafi (the USA was famously “leading from behind” in the words of one White House official), the mgion, ilitary operation seemed both simple and, with the death of Qaddafi in October, decisive. ![]() The reality is that very few wars are simple, and arguably even fewer are quickly decisive. And yet Trump, like Obama and George W Bush before him, is unable to “declare victory and leave”, to paraphrase the cynical advice of Senator George Aiken as America became bogged down in its Vietnam war. ![]() After all, unlike WWII, the Afghan conflict, whatever its repercussions, does not threaten global civilization. It is absurd that the war in Afghanistan, beginning with US and British airstrikes in October 2001, is now four times longer than America’s involvement in the second world war. Trump’s 2012 tweet makes an obvious point. Those who follow Twitter might recall that in 2012 Trump tweeted: “Why are we continuing to train these Afghanis who then shoot our soldiers in the back? Afghanistan is a complete waste. ![]() “There has never been a protracted war from which a country has benefited.” Perhaps the wisdom of Sun Tzu’s much-quoted aphorism is now dawning on the various governments and armies who have committed such blood and treasure to the conflicts of this 21st century in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen - quite apart from the wars that, decades after their inception, still scar much of central Africa.īut recognising the futility of an exercise does not automatically mean ending it witness the decision of President Donald Trump in the summer of 2017 to commit more American troops to prop up the government of Afghanistan. ![]()
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