Pull out of Afghanistan now, before it becomes humiliating as fall of Saigon

By David McElroy · March 12, 2012

As I watch the events unfolding in Afghanistan today, my thoughts keep going back almost 40 years to the fall of South Vietnam. If there had ever been a reason for U.S. forces to be in Vietnam, those reasons had been lost for years before the south fell. If there was any good reason for U.S. forces to be in Afghanistan, those reasons have similarly been lost. Will the fall of Kabul in a civil war be similar to the fall of Saigon?

For more than a decade, U.S. ground forces were heavily involved in fighting in Vietnam. Close to 60,000 Americans died, but the North Vietnamese forces wouldn’t be defeated. The South Vietnamese troops allied with the United States weren’t as effective as the communist troops from North Vietnam. After becoming stuck in a long and bloody quagmire, the American public grew weary of the war.

In 1973, the various sides — North Vietnam, South Vietnam, the Viet Cong and the United States — finally agreed to a peace treaty. U.S. troops left the country, but the other combatants went back to fighting. In late April of 1975, the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell — with frantic South Vietnamese desperately trying to get onto U.S. helicopters evacuating the remaining Americans. (The photo above shows Vietnamese going over the wall of the U.S. embassy trying to board U.S. helicopters.)

It was a humiliating moment for the United States. After spending years — and wasting tens of thousands of American lives and untold tax dollars — trying to fight the war, it became clear that the only answer was to cut and run.

It’s time to do the same in Afghanistan. Before another person can be killed who doesn’t have to die, it’s time to get out of that place and let the Afghans fight over their own country.

When the United States invaded Afghanistan a decade ago, it was with a clear and simple mission — to kill or capture Osama bin Laden and destroy terrorist training camps. Well, the terrorist-in-chief is dead and the old bases were pretty much wiped out years ago. (And Bin Laden turned out to be in Pakistan, not Afghanistan anyway.) But the continued fighting is doing nothing but creating more enemies for the United States. It’s doing nothing to help anyone.

What exactly is the purpose of continued U.S. involvement in the country? Does anyone have some fantasy that the Afghans are suddenly going to quit being what they are? Are they suddenly going to adopt liberal democracy and embrace our way of life? Are we going to be the first group of outsiders to successfully invade the place and win? (Ask the British and the Russians how well that went for them.)

There’s no longer a reason to be there, even if you think there ever was one. The regime that the United States has put into place there will collapse when U.S. troops leave, but so what? It’s their country, not ours. It’s their business if they want to let a bunch of religious fanatics rule them. (Remember that Ronald Reagan called those religious fanatics “freedom fighters” when they were fighting the Soviets a few decades ago.)

Recent events have made things even worse for the United States. The burning of copies of the Koran at a U.S. base enflamed locals. Just as that started dying down, a U.S. soldier went into some random homes over the weekend and killed 16 Afghans, including women and children. (See the blood on the floor on the home on the right?) Why did he do it? We don’t know, but some reports say he might have been drunk and some eyewitnesses claimed there was more than one soldier involved. (U.S. officials deny that.)

Afghans are vowing to get revenge, so how many more will die? We’re sure to see a new wave of anti-American feeling because of the latest atrocity. Do you blame the Afghans for wanting us out of their country? How would you feel if there were foreign troops occupying your country because they wanted to choose a government friendly to them?

Most Americans now want U.S. forces out of Afghanistan, according to a new poll from the Washington Post. Election-year politics might prevent anything from happening right now, but let’s hope Barack Obama can find the political and moral will to do the right thing and get out now.

There’s no rational reason for us to be there. Most Afghans don’t want us there. Most Americans don’t want us there. There’s no justification, moral or pragmatic. It’s time to cut our losses and get out of something that should never have developed into the mess it’s become. Let’s get out now.

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I’m seeing a lot of simplistic and dishonest explanations right now for the current rioting in France. Those on the populist far right claim it’s all about Muslim immigrants to France disrupting the culture. Their message is that this sort of thing is going to happen in the U.S. unless “we defend the border.” On the far left, socialists and their fellow travelers claim the riots are all about wealthy people in France not paying enough taxes, resulting in cuts to government services. The truth is far more complicated, but it’s rooted in the decline of population growth in Europe. There simply aren’t enough young workers paying into the tax system anymore, so cuts in social services were inevitable. There is genuine cultural tension as more and more people immigrate from other countries, but government cuts to education and other services are even more important to what’s happening. The situation is complicated, so don’t let dishonest people with U.S. political agendas tell you that it happens to support whatever they were already promoting for partisan reasons.

Here’s another reason to appreciate the cats in your life: New research involving 93 countries found that places with more cats per person also tended to have happier people. The researchers say the finding fits with previous evidence that living with pets can reduce loneliness and stress while providing companionship, emotional attachment and social support. The study doesn’t prove that cats cause greater happiness, but it certainly adds to the evidence that sharing your home — and your life — with a cat might be good for you.

The company that owns Facebook and Instagram is heavily promoting its new AI-based software assistant called Muse, but people who are using it as it was designed are incredibly foolish. An early adopter of the software discovered that a few days ago when he advertised an item for sale on Facebook Marketplace — and he inadvertently gave Muse full authority to act on his behalf. The software agreed to a lowball offer made by another Facebook user and then gave that man the home address of the man for whom he was an agent. The software told the buyer that the seller was home and waiting for him. When the buyer showed up and waited angrily, the would-be buyer left an angry review for the man. And this angry man had the seller’s home address. It was only well after that that the software reported what it had done and admitted it had made a mistake. I won’t be putting that much power into the hands of any software. I think anyone who agrees to such terms is a fool. And the software’s user agreement says you’re responsible for purchases the software makes in your name. Nope.

Meet my new girlfriend. Her name is Meg. And she’s my little sweetheart. A couple of months ago, a neighbor across the street told me about a new stray in the neighborhood that she and I were both soon feeding. The cat had been very skittish about contact and she had a lot of scabs and parasites in her fur, but a trip to the vet last week revealed that she was otherwise in good health. The vet estimates her to be 1 to 2 years old. I named her for Meg Murry, the 13-year-old protagonist of Madeleine L’Engle’s wonderful book, “A Wrinkle in Time.” (Please read the book. Don’t watch the horrible movie.) Since we lost Lucy almost a year ago, it seems appropriate that we finally have a new little girl to join the household. She’s already captured my heart, but Alex, Oliver and Sam aren’t there quite yet.

There’s nothing socially acceptable that’s as dangerous as drinking alcohol. Most people grow up being told to “drink responsibly” — and all of us see people abusing this drug in one way or another — but the truth is that drinking alcohol is always a terrible risk. The alcohol in these drinks is toxic and the human liver has to work hard to filter the toxins out. What most people don’t realize is that alcohol is classified as a known carcinogen by the World Health Organization — because of the well-established connection between imbibing and various cancers. Many people have taken refuge behind the idea that light or moderate drinking might be safe, but a new study shows that drinking even one drink a day increases the risks of 10 types of cancer. When I was a teen-ager, I looked around and saw the negative effects that this behavior had on a lot of people and decided not to start drinking, so I’ve never even tried this poison. The evidence keeps piling up that I was lucky to have come to that conclusion early.

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