Throughout 2009 and 2010, I made a habit of posting – quite regularly – the number of days/years we’d been in Afghanistan.
The last of those posts was far too long ago, May 1, so . . . today is the 284th day of the 11th year of our war in Afghanistan. No matter the withdrawal deadlines, we will of course be involved in Afghanistan with troops, contractors and dollars for decades to come.
The chart below is from Costs of War – at least the numbers are finally all going in the right direction. There’s lots of detailed info over there if you’re interested.
You can have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, or democracy. But you cannot have both.
Whatever Works 
So, yeah, these were fun. How about Iran and Syria next? What do you say! All the cool kids wanna go there.
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The coolest kids of course Elyse, are the three amigos: McCain, Lieberman and Graham. Always ready to go!
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Not exactly. Always ready to send someone else. (Apologies to McCain, yeah, he went. But now he wants to send my kid. And that’s where he crosses the line.)
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Yup. By ‘ready to go’, I don’t mean their own precious selves!!! I meant they are always ready to committ us .. . they just salivate and say ‘where do I sign’..
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As a side note, there’s an increasing sense that despite a decade of U.S.intervention and training, Afghan authorities STILL aren’t ready to deal with their own problems. Knowing that so many lives were sacrificed for little if any progress is disheartening.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/months-after-americans-leave-an-afghan-base-in-disrepair/2012/08/02/gJQApMfzSX_story.html
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Ahab, you know the old moniker for Afghanistan – ‘the graveyard of empires’. It will go its own way, it always has. It’s corrupt and tribal and that’s a deep tragedy for the majoritiy of its people, but I don’t think anything we did or can do will change that.
Didn’t they used to say Karzai was just “The mayor of Kabul”?
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Your chart’s wrong, Moe. We still have thousands of troops in Iraq, plus rapid response units in Kuwait, and will continue to do so for some years. The MSM and the Government just don’t want to talk about them.
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You’re right about Iraq – the designation should have been ‘number of combat troops’ in Iraq, which according to the Pentagon, is zero. It’s all in the language. And I know that jonolan, cuz the MSM told me – and still talks about it.
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Its always a bummer when you have to send your kids to war to support your industries and economy. Im sure if you all checked out your 401k’s you might find some investments in the military’industrial complex. Though it is much easier to blame it on the “other” guy.
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T4T, I always figure wars are fought over resources, real estate or religion. And of course, it’s encouraged by those at home who would make a nice profit. I sometimes despair that Americans say they don’t want these wars, but don’t even bother to know – as you say – that they are well invested in them.
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Its easy to see when you own it. I own it too. 😦
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It’s more convenient and less morally distressing for them when people just refuse to see.
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I’m fairly heavily invested in such ventures and have no issues with it. Of course, given the nature of companies these days, you have little choice but to invest in corporations that will, in some fashion, support our military.
If you’ve a problem with supporting our troops, that’s a different story and a different problem.
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@Jonolan
You do realize that those corporations dont give a rat’s ass about your military. Though I am sure they will put on the good face that they do. 🙂
As soon as you privatize your military hardware you can rest assured it aint about the nation. Tom cruise said it best in Jerry Maquire…………..SHOW ME THE MONEYyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.
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I think that you’ll find, if you can get past your hatred of capitalism, that it’s a mixed bag as to how and how much those corporations care about the US military.
I also think that you’ll find that, as soon as you nationalize your military hardware production, it ain’t about the People. Just think of the characters of those few nations who have done so throughout history.
What it comes down to is that you can support those companies who provide gear for the military or you can be complicit in our military not having the gear they need to do their jobs with the maximum survival chances.
That’s a choice for you to make though and there are both vile and valid reasons to choose not to do so.
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nationalize military hardware production? When, since WWII, have we ever done that. Who has ever suggested we do that?
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Nobody of consequence. It was just T4T, who I was responding to.
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I dont hate capitalism but like drinking I know when people have imbibed a little too much.
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Oh and thinking about history it is easy to see when an empire is starting a decline. 😉
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And we are. Better we plan for it that rail against it. The world has changed. It’s almost 30 years since Communism collapsed. But tell that ot the war hawks!!
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