In case you hadnt noticed, a day or so ago the U.S. combat role as head of an international coalition and the mission/war in Afghanistan officially ended with the usual ceremonies and the lowering of the missions flag, and President Obama hailed its responsible end -- and soon after a new flag was unfurled for operation Resolute Support for the 13-14,000 or so U.S. troops (and a few thousand NATO personnel) remaining, who, curiously enough, will have a combat mission. So much for ending wars that Washington is utterly incapable of getting out of, ever, in Afghanistan or Iraq. It all gives that old Vietnam word, quagmire new meaning! Tom With little fanfare, the United States and NATO formally ended the longest war in U.S. history with a ceremony in Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday, leaving observers to wonder what—if anything—was achieved. Over 13 years, U.S.-led war in Afghanistan claimed the lives of about 3,500 foreign troops (at least 2,224 of them American soldiers) and an estimated 21,000 Afghan civilians; most experts agree that the country is as violent as ever and that the death toll will continue to rise. Many say the war is over in name only. Afghanistans war is as hot as it has been since the U.S.-led invasion following the 9/11 attacks overthrew the Taliban, Lynne ODonnell writes for the Associated Press. Some 5,000 members of Afghanistans security forces—army, police and armed rural defense units—have died this year fighting the Taliban, according to Karl Ake Roghe, the outgoing head of EUPOL, the European Union Police Mission in Afghanistan. And while the ceremony marked the end of the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), a new flag for the international mission Resolute Support was immediately unfurled. commondreams.org/news/2014/12/28/after-13-years-us-led-afghanistan-war-officially-over-nightmare-goes Heres the Guardian on the subject: theguardian/world/2014/dec/28/us-nato-formally-end-war-afghanistan-kabul-ceremony
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 14:00:01 +0000
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