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The war in Afghanistan is finally over. When asked if it would turn into another Vietnam, Donald Rumsfeld the Secretary of Defense said, No. That we learned the lessons of Vietnam. Well, he was wrong. The government learned nothing from that war. They also didn't learn from the Russians who tried the same thing, nor did they learn from the British who tried before the Russians.
The war is ending with the Taliban back in charge just under 20 years after we first went into the country to remove them.
Lives Lost
- American soldiers as of April: 2,442
- Note this number is now higher due to deaths at the aiport.
- U.S. contractors: 3,846
- Afghan national military and police: 66,000
- Other allied soldiers: 1,144
- Afghan civilians: 47,245
- Taliban and other opposition fighters: 51,191
- Aid workers: 444
- Journalists: 72
Financial Cost
- The estimated amount of direct Afghanistan and Iraq war costs that the U.S. has debt-financed as of 2020: $2.26 trillion.
- Approximately 300 Million per day
- Estimated interest costs (because the war was paid for by borrowing the money) by 2050, $6.5 trillion
- So far $530 billion in interest payments have been made
- The additional cost in healthcare, disability, burial, and other costs for Afghanistan and Iraq veterans: More than $2 trillion
Note: total costs vary depending on the source. By let us just say, it is a LOT OF MONEY WASTED!
Just something to think about, what would the country be like if we spent a fraction of that money on US infrastructure, health care, science, and space exploration? The US truly would be one of the greatest countries in the world instead of a debt-ridden joke where thousands fought and lost their lives for nothing.
It was the right decision to leave the country. It was the wrong decision to go there in the first place and the wrong decision to stay there as long as we did.
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