Measure B funds to save classes

By Robert Hinton

The war in Afghanistan is the United States’ longest conflict. After 17 years of fighting, the U.S. is still battling insurgents and terrorists in the Central Asian country.

The reason to invade Afghanistan was clear. On Sept. 11, 2001, over 3,000 people died in a coordinated strike on U.S. soil. Two hijacked airliners rammed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Another airliner flew into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and a passenger plane crash-landed in rural Pennsylvania.

The U.S. Intelligence apparatus knew the attacks were coordinated in Afghanistan, where the Taliban were the de facto rulers.

The U.S. government asked the Taliban to hand over Osama Bin Laden and his cadre. The Taliban refused and justice would not wait for diplomacy.

I was an Army reservist assigned to the 94th MP CO from Londonderry, NH. We were activated in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom on Dec. 5, 2002, and deployed to Iraq for 16 months.

I look back on that deployment as a failure — fundamentally, ideologically, and pragmatically. The U.S. military did not need to invade and occupy Iraq, but Afghanistan was about holding murderers and terrorists accountable. Afghanistan was a justified campaign.

After many attempts at nation-building, pacification of insurgent groups, and development of a stable government, the coalition has still not provided the stability Afghanistan needs in order to develop into a modern country.

Afghanistan has always been ruled by Afghans. Many foreign powers have tried to quell the determined spirit of the Afghan people, but all have failed.

The U.S. failed just as the British and Russians did before them. It is unfortunate that the people of Afghanistan have to live with such brutality and chaos. The U.S. military has sacrificed so much, and it seems the only thing we have left to give is more young lives and unaccounted-for sums of money that never equate to a better tomorrow for Afghanistan.

All the members of the 94th MP CO were able to make it home to their families. Our deployment ended so long ago that some of my comrades now have children serving in the military.

One of my closest friends from childhood, who deployed to Iraq with me, just sent his son off to Afghanistan.

Should a survivor of the Iraq campaign face the possibility of losing his son to a war that is just as futile today as the engagement he was sent to participate in? I hope the U.S. and its citizens can come to the understanding that we have sacrificed so much for so little, and now it’s time to cut our losses and end this war.