It’s been more than 11 long, bloody years, since the military industrial complex waged a so-called ‘war on terror’ in the Middle East. Yet, according to a classified document from the US Military, the Taliban and their Pakistani backers remain ‘poised to retake Afghanistan’ as soon as foreign troops withdraw.
Well, this is to be expected, given the US’s track record of failed military endeavors. In Iraq, death tolls have been rising dramatically since American troops pulled out, sparking concerns about a resurgence by Al Qaeda. As for Libya, a UN report confirms two terrorist networks were significantly bolstered by the US-led bombing campaign.
For the sake of every life senselessly cut short, and for all of the precious treasure we’ve squandered, let us at least learn something from this: wars do not create peace and democracies cannot be built with bullets.
Unless we just want to keep lining the pockets of war-profiteers while reinforcing anti-West sentiment amongst radicals, we’d do well to retire the failed formula of a predominantly militarized approach.
Instead, we could look to methods that might actually work, like building up impoverished communities around the world so that they themselves can tackle the problem of extremism from within.
Makes sense, right? Goes to show what could happen if someone other than the gun-toting looneys gets to call the shots.
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Tags: afghanistan, complex, industrial, invasion, machine, military, occupation, states, united, war
