The Afghan War is a Modern Day Vietnam War

The Vietnam War is famous for having dealt the United States its worst defeat in many years. Half a million US armed forces were sent and deployed to participate in the war. It is during this military conflict where 58,159 American armed forces lost their lives fighting for an uncertain cause. It also showed that a military superpower can be brought down after all and taught America numerous lessons to ponder up to this day.

Today, the US is involved in yet another similar conflict. The War in Afghanistan is foreseen and predicted to be another US setback in the making. Recent figures show the increasing number of US servicemen casualties along with the Afghan insurgency also gaining power. The continuous attacks on US forces and bases in Afghanistan is a testament that the insurgency is very determined to repel the Americans and win back the country.

What makes Afghanistan similar to Vietnam are the policies and decisions done by the government. During the Vietnam War, the US intervened and favored the administration of then President Diem of South Vietnam going up against most of the Vietnam people. In relation to today’s situation, the US has also invaded Afghanistan and trying to impose a US-backed government. But just how sure is the US that the Afghans accept this government? There have been rumors that the Afghan government is corrupt and may have secretly aided the insurgency.

The US has now put a deeper commitment to Afghanistan much more what the US did in Vietnam. The government has pledged more troops for Afghanistan. The addition of 30,000 more troops put intense pressure on the US to generate more favorable outcomes and achieve its goals. But with the continuous increase in military death toll, it is now a big question if the US is still fighting a winnable and achievable situation. It is also good to note that the US has lost sight of its primary reason when it invaded Afghanistan during the year 2001.

Perhaps the most significant similarity between these two conflicts is the lack of political will and support. During the Vietnam War, the US gave up its support and aid to South Vietnam because they lack the will to pursue it and Congress has refused to fund the war. In the Afghan situation, we see more people trying to oppose and condemn the war. The Afghan war is like a ticking time bomb waiting to explode and create another humiliating defeat to the US.

So is Afghanistan militarily winnable? No. The US is again forgetting the lessons it has learned during its failures in the past. How many more US armed forces will risk and lose their lives on a war that is actually unwinnable at all? The government should realize that a military solution in Afghanistan is not viable and may only bring back the horrors of the Vietnam defeat.

War in Afghanistan: Bring Back Home the Troops

The recent release of confidential documents regarding the war in Afghanistan has fueled speculations that the US armed forces may have fought the wrong war after all. Evidence suggests that the US is fighting an unwinnable war and is now in a losing cause. For the past few months, there has been no week where a US forces in Afghanistan has lost a serviceman. This greatly strengthens the claim of Wikileaks which was the one responsible for the release of such documents, that the US is indeed struggling to keep up with the pace of the war.

Several points in the documents indicated that the Afghanistan war have long lost its steam when former President Bush shifted its attention to Iraq. For this reason, American troops in Afghanistan lost valuable and critical resources to continue the war effort. They have since been outplayed and outsmarted by their Taliban rivals.

It is also good to note that their Pakistan counterpart can’t be really trusted as they may also have secret connections with the Taliban. Add also the fact that the Taliban government and police force is incompetent and corrupt. American’s newly trusted ally may have been secretly betraying them after all and that may have been reason why they continuously fail.

But the real reason why the US is losing the war is the fact instead of hunting down those terrorists, the US have imposed a self-made government in Afghanistan. And more Afghans do not and will never accept this government and thus would instead join the resistance movement which is now famously called the “Taliban insurgency”. The insurgency is indeed stronger now than what it is before the invasion. Afghanistan is in the midst of a 35 year civil war and the US has no business at all to interfere.

Instead of forcing Afghans to instill the US-Backed government, why don’t they just focus more in hunting down those terrorists and destroying the bases used for launching pre-emptive attacks on US soil? Instead of spending billions of dollars in Afghanistan, the US government should instead use that money to fund basic social services and help the economy recover. The voice of American taxpayers is clear. They want to bring back home the troops. The US can and will never resolve the Afghan situation. The US will continue to suffer defeat and shame for as long as they keep their troops in Afghanistan.

Regarding the Afghan War and the Proposed Expiration of Tax Cuts

Did you know that the ever popular Afghanistan war has already existed for 9 years now? The war began on October 7, 2001 with the primary goal of disrupting the movements of terrorist organizations and eliminating them in the process. On June 7, 2010, the war was officially declared the longest war in the history of the United States of America. And now, the war is still on a standstill with the number of US serviceman growing day by day. How many more US troops will lose their lives in foreign soil fighting for a war that is really full of uncertainties?

A popular and much debated issue of this controversial war is about the deployment of a newer batch of troops to bolster the already high number of troops stationed there. The Congress and the White House has continuously argued and debated about the exact number of troops to be deployed on the battlefield. Sending another set of troops would mean more cost to the taxpayers and also an increase in the possibility of more American casualties.

Amazingly, a Republican and renowned critic of President Obama, Rand Paul came in defense of the president when criticized about the decision of sending in more troops to the war. He said that Congress should focus more on other important functions and leave the decisions regarding the war to the White House. We should face the fact that the US is slowly but surely losing the war effort. Sending in a ton of fresh troops without gaining any significant result is just a huge waste of taxpayer’s money. There are still more internal problems that the US government should be solving rather than spend more on a war that is just going out of its way.

He also emphasized that Democrats believe that the government is key in creating jobs and saving the economy. In contrary to the belief of democrats, Republicans believe that the private sector, entrepreneurs or the business institutions are the ones who create jobs and would greatly help in economic recovery. With the impending expiration of tax cuts to be imposed by the government, he believes that this would only spell disaster. Tax cuts to be expired would mean larger taxes to business institutions where they try to cut cost by removing a fraction of their workforce. This translates into unemployment or underemployment which is very bad for the economy.

From a Republican’s point of view, businesses are very much important in salvaging what is left of the economy. Giving enough benefits and incentives to institutions would ensure their capacity to acquire manpower and provide jobs to Americans. In this time of crisis, the business sector is critical and should act as the primary mover towards economic recovery.