Indiana writer describes the predicted outcome of the USA in Afghanistan

Four articles about the loosing position of the unwinnable Afghan War: By Douglas Wissing

https://www.hoosiertimes.com/herald_times_online/opinion/columns/afghanistan-war-is-unwinnable/article_dbf02326-7be4-5ac5-a453-7ba4e7ccb15f.html

https://nordic.businessinsider.com/this-graphic-shows-why-afghanistan-war-is-getting-worse-after-17-years-2018-8/

https://www.wsj.com/graphics/afghanistan-americas-longest-war/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/national/imperfect-answers-a-son-killed-in-action/?utm_term=.3e19a0684d29

America's longest war in Afghanistan continues

Douglas Wissing, a Bloomington-based journalist, has covered the Afghanistan war since 2009 for media that includes Foreign Policy, Politico, The Hill, American Legion, BBC, CNN, and NPR networks, including Indiana Public Media.

He also wrote two books about the war: Funding the Enemy: How US Taxpayers Bankroll the Taliban; and Hopeless but Optimistic: Journeying through America’s Endless War in Afghanistan.

I agree with Congressman Lee Hamilton. In his recent Hoosier-Times op-ed, Hamilton wrote about Afghanistan, “The Taliban has returned and controls much of the country. 

Opium production is at record levels. The national government, despite massive U.S. aid, is divided, dysfunctional and corrupt,” and I certainly agree with his assessment, “We’ve poured money into Afghanistan, spending generously to rebuild the nation, always on the theory that it was about to turn the corner. But it never has. U.S. casualty rates are low, fortunately; but the war drags on, diverting resources from more important foreign policy issues.”

Based on my coverage of the Afghanistan War, I unfortunately cannot share Hamilton’s hopes for a political settlement with the Taliban, who have already withdrawn from the recent peace talks. 

Sadly, the Afghan insurgents have no need to seriously negotiate because they are winning. In fact, diplomats have long said that you won’t win at the negotiating table what you can’t win on the battlefield.

Nor do I think the U.S. military can protect Kabul and other major Afghan cities from attack. I can testify from on-the-ground experience that Afghan cities are already infiltrated and wildly insecure. Insurgencies are centripetal; they begin in the countryside and move into the governmental centers. That’s already happened.
For a multitude of geopolitical and cultural reasons, this is an unwinnable war. Now in its 17th year, the Afghanistan War is causing great pain. Millions of lives, Afghan and American, have been destroyed. Over 14,000 U.S. troops are still in Afghanistan; 14,000 American military families living in duress. Beyond the military, tens of thousands of highly paid security and development contractors are there running up immense bills. There are corporate and government beneficiaries who have perverse incentives to continue this endless war.

The costs to American taxpayers are staggering: The U.S. will spend $45 billion on the war in 2018 alone. This is more than the entire U.S. infrastructure budget; more than the Department of Homeland Security’s 2017 budget; $10 billion more than the budgets of HUD or the Department of Justice. And for no good outcome. Recounting the corruption and dysfunction they encounter on a daily basis, U.S. soldiers across Afghanistan have ruefully told me, “The juice ain’t worth the squeeze.”

Bring the U.S. troops and military contractors home now. Let the Afghans sort it out. Afghans have run their own country in their own way for centuries. They can do so again if great powers stop using their country as the devil’s playground.