Withdrawal symptoms

The video portraying an American Air Force plane moving on a runway with a mob of Afghani citizens running beside the aircraft and some on the outside of the aircraft presented an embarrassing image of America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. The fast collapse of the American sponsored Afghani regime is equally distressing. Young readers may not recall, but the U.S. experienced a humiliating final exit from Vietnam in 1975. Photos portrayed desperate people climbing to the top of the U.S. Embassy attempting to get aboard departing helicopters. Personnel serving on a U.S. Navy ship receiving helicopter loads of escapees had to push empty helicopters overboard to make room for arriving helicopters.

In 1979, the Russians decided that they needed to be in Afghanistan. During the next 10 years, the U.S. provided assistance to the Afghani rebels who were trying to drive the Russians out of Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden, a Saudi, was there recruiting Muslims from around the world to fight the Russians. Former President Ronald Reagan called the Afghani rebels “freedom fighters.” The tide turned when the U.S. distributed shoulder fired, ground-to-air “Stinger” missiles that efficiently took the Russian helicopters out of the sky. The Russians hurriedly departed Afghanistan in 1989. Americans congratulated themselves.

The British set the standard for ignominious withdrawal. During the days when the British ruled India, they decided to expand into Afghanistan. Three years later, they clearly understood that they were not welcome there. A party of 16,000 British and Indian soldiers and camp followers retreated though the infamous Khyber Pass. Only one person got out alive.

Maybe the turn of events in Afghanistan is not so difficult to understand. Imagine the situation reversed. Imagine that an Afghan military force landed in the United States. What would we do? A few people would probably form alliances with the foreign army because they are disenchanted with American democracy or just because they need a job. But most of us would fight to the bitter end to expel a foreign army with its strange beliefs and practices.

Good intentions are not good enough.

Someone long ago wrote: We cannot change the past, but the future is ours. We need to recognize that neither Vietnam nor Iraq presented a threat to the United States. We need to recognize that our long effort in Afghanistan was not productive. Most importantly, we need to avoid these follies in the future. Our own prized democracy has begun to wobble. Our public education system has successfully emphasized technical education but has not adequately addressed civic education.

During the Vietnam era, the youngest American soldiers took one look at the impoverished Vietnamese peasants and reasoned: “These people couldn’t possibly be a threat to the United States. What are we doing here?”

We need to ask that question for each of our foreign military ventures, and, if the answer is not something that is absolutely vital to the United States, then we need to invest our lives and fortunes in more productive projects.

Jack Stevenson served two years in Vietnam as an infantry officer, retired from military service, and worked three years as a U.S. Civil Service employee. He also worked in Egypt as an employee of the former Radio Corporation of America (RCA). Currently, he reads history, follows issues important to Americans, and writes commentary for community newspapers.