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   From: js@phendrie.con   
      
   By Timothy Kudo   
      
   Mr. Kudo, a former Marine captain who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, is   
   working   
   on a novel about the Afghanistan war.   
      
   The Afghan cities fall in rapid succession, like men caught in enfilade fire.   
   First Zaranj, Kunduz a few days later, then Kandahar and Lashkar Gah. Next is   
   Mazar-i-Sharif. And finally, the Taliban begin their move to swiftly and   
   decisively take Kabul.   
      
   I watch this news, and at first I feel nothing. But at night I return once more   
   to Afghanistan. There is a nightmare: The enemy and I are in each another’s   
   sights. Who will shoot first? I squeeze, but the trigger freezes. The Taliban   
   fighter’s finger curls. I wake. I have had this dream for 10 years, ever   
   since   
   returning from Afghanistan, but now it feels as though it has become real.   
      
   Decades of war are dissolved in weeks. The Taliban advance with a speed that   
   reminds me of the American conquest of Baghdad. There are other similarities:   
   Taliban troops enter the gilded compounds of our corrupt Afghan allies and   
   marvel at the evidence of years of American aid stolen by their former   
   government leaders.   
      
   During the day my thoughts become preoccupied by the past. I hear a squad on   
   the   
   other end of the radio pinned down, a report about a Marine hit, the crack of   
   fear in the sergeant’s voice, clock ticking as the blood pours from the   
   19-year-old’s neck; we race to send the helicopter that will arrive too late.   
      
   I see a report that the American Embassy will destroy its American flags to   
   deny   
   the Taliban a propaganda victory. I think of the star-spangled banner that flew   
   over my old patrol base, called Habib, Arabic for “beloved.” Five men died   
   under   
   that flag, for what?   
      
   The hawks still circle and screech. The voices from the past 20 years who   
   prodded us forward into battle return to the evening news to sell us on   
   staying.   
   “It’s not too late,” the former generals, secretaries and ambassadors   
   say. “More   
   troops can hold the line. Victory is just around the corner.”   
      
   But the speed of the Taliban’s advance makes clear that this outcome was   
   always   
   inevitable. The enemy had no reason to negotiate, and no reputation for   
   restraint. The only question before President Biden was how many American   
   soldiers should die before it happened. But if leaving now was the right   
   decision for America, it is a catastrophe for the Afghan people whom we have   
   betrayed.   
   [...]   
   And finally, there are my fellow Americans, Republicans, Democrats and   
   independents alike, who voted repeatedly over 20 years for those presidents and   
   members of Congress to mislead and mismanage us to defeat. This national shame   
   is a millstone around all our necks.   
      
   https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/16/opinion/afghanistan-war-veter   
   n.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)