Americans awake to Afghanistan horror after 20 year snooze

Nothing awakened Americans to our 20 year horror show, the Afghan war, like its August ending. 24/7 coverage of thousands cramming Kabul Airport to escape the victorious Taliban reminded Americans of the last helicopter departure from our Saigon embassy in 1975 with desperate South Vietnam scrambling to climb aboard.

Then the expected suicide bomb exploded, killing 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. service personnel. While President Biden mourned the dead, he reiterated his principled decision to get all U.S. personnel out, mercifully ending the 20 year unnecessary war.

Sadly, the media, congresspersons, and millions of Americans riveted to the chaos and carnage are confronting the enormity and madness of our Afghan war for the first time. Twenty years ago President George W. Bush told us America had to invade, take over and change out the Taliban regime that allowed the 911 attacks to occur. That was a big lie as the war he started was unjust, unnecessary and illegal.

He told Americans he’d protect us so we could ignore his unjust war. He told Americans they wouldn’t be taxed to pay for it. He encouraged us to forget the carnage unleashed in Afghanistan and go out shopping instead of doing our civic duty and challenging his murderous course.

And for the past 20 years the aforementioned Americans might as well have been sleeping as soundly as Rip Van Winkle. They slept thru the 80,000 bombs dropped largely on innocents, including crowds at wedding ceremonies and harvesting events. They slept thru the hundred thousand plus Afghans killed by our utterly unnecessary but murderous war. They slept thru the 2.7 million Afghans who fled America’s war to neighboring countries. They slept while their government squandered over $2 trillion that may as well been thrown into a bonfire.

But when the Military-Industrial Complex vents their fury at a courageous president who said “No more”, many awoke to share in their feigned anger over the messy optics of leaving.

Rip Van Winkle is a fairy tale. Sleeping thru a 20 year war, then awakening to hurl brickbats at a hero for peace is a real life disgrace.