Such an insightful post. I'm a Marine, combat-vet of Afghanistan. I look back on that experience, and wonder what it accomplished. I remember being on a patrol. We sat with a village elder, drinking chai tea. He said something to us that still sticks with me today. He told us, that after we left, the Taliban would remain. Because that was their home, not ours. And this was his answer when asked why he wouldn't help us. I couldn't help but agree. When we were there, we were nothing more than glorified police. The locals didn't want much to do with us. We were down in Helmand, close to Pakistan, and life there still beats to an ancient heart. And that's the way they like it. These wars have done nothing but made private firms rich, and politicians even richer. The area, Trek-Nawa, where we'd pushed out large elements of the Taliban, recently fell back into their hands. All that wasted effort. All the tax money wasted. And let's not forget about the incredible amount of trash and garbage that's being left behind...