People now getting their driver's licenses were 5 years old when US operations began in Afghanistan. After 11 years, the only thing to show for the costs (plural) is destruction and human suffering. Had the American people been armed with the basic history, they conceivably would never have stood for the rhetoric and judgments made by the White House and Capitol Hill after 9/11.
The war in Iraq eventually became viewed by many as something that should never have happened. Afghanistan was also a war that should never have happened. Our unawareness provides authorization; it is crucial to policymakers that we not understand these things.
A review of US and Russian involvement in Afghanistan since the Cold War is always in order, despite the damage already done. I have therefore self-published on my website a brief historical summary covering some of the contours.
(Permission granted to repost.)
http://www.gregoryharms.com/harms_2012.03.23.html
