Lessons From Afghanistan on Military Solutions

It is time to rethink the use of military might to solve complex problems. Let us evaluate how profoundly bad military solutions to complex problems have been.

Pacifists are often presented as naive, as not understanding the realities of the world. However, Afghanistan, Iraq and Vietnam have all hammered home the same point that warmongers fail to grasp: You cannot win wars on the cheap.

The American public has no stomach for a steady flow of body bags and disabled veterans from war zones abroad. Hence the US has tried to use money as a substitute for blood. By employing the most high tech gadgetry, airplanes, drones, vehicles, etc., the US would be able to wage war with minimal losses.

However, as you start breaking down the numbers, the insanity of this stategy becomes apparent. Let me quote some numbers:

According to estimates by Costs of War Project at Brown University, United States has spent more than $2 trillion on the war in Afghanistan. This includes the direct funding cost of $800 billion and $83 billion to train the Afghan army.

Of course the US didn’t have these trillions on hand, so it had to borrow. That means interest. Thus the actual bill will be higher:

The Brown University has also made the projection that the cost of interest on the United States’ Afghan war debt will go up to $6.5…