Possibly this was knowable ahead of time; I recommend the book “88 days to Kandahar”. Written by an ex-CIA guy, so a broker in lies and mirages (as well as, per

Possibly this was knowable ahead of time; I recommend the book “88 days to Kandahar”. Written by an ex-CIA guy, so a broker in lies and mirages (as well as, perhaps, a decent and well-meaning guy). The general feel of the book is that a long-drawn war is unwinnable, that as soon as Americans quit, Taliban will be back. But this, and hindsight, aside, is there another take on this? That there was a hope in the US political circles that, although the war perhaps should not have been started, or that post 9/11 there was no choice but to start one, but once it was going there was a hope for a better, new Afghanistan? That yea, it’s a slog, many will die and much money will be spent, but the end looks better than the start? Maybe I’m naive but I’d like to think it was naive idealism that propelled the war (maybe not started) rather than outright cynical Machiavellism. From today’s perspective, clearly we know the war was an expensive failure. But hindsight is everything. And the lucid impressions of a soldier on the ground may not be a complete picture.