Opinion - Letters to the Editor

POSTED: Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009

Thinks Afghanistan worse than Vietnam

The specter of another protracted conflict akin to Vietnam is being projected for Afghanistan. Like many I have been prone to spreading that same message. However, of late I am convinced that Afghanistan presents an even greater folly than American involvement in Vietnam.

The similarities between the two conflicts are apparent. The U.S., in both cases, chooses to stop the bulwark of terrorism, an amassed threat and alien political philosophies. To do so means taking sides in an already extant civil war based on regional, class and ethnic differences at the expense of American lives.

The problem with choosing sides and financing a propped-up government is that victory is never achievable, in my opinion. The pretext to enter Afghanistan was to stamp out Al-Qaeda and to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice over his involvement in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Neither of these have been accomplished in more than eight years of conflict.

Instead, I believe we are supporting an ever increasingly corrupt Hamid Karzai-managed government in Afghanistan that is bringing more converts to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda while prompting the United States to send an endless tide of funds and troops.

I believe armed interventionism, long an American policy, must give way to reasoned diplomacy and ultimately reality.

Larry Estrada

Bellingham