Open Letter to Rep. Neugebauer on Afghanistan

Randy,

I just heard a radio summary of your recent newsletter, concerning Afghanistan.

You are reported as having said that you are not against troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, but if it is done too quickly, serious damage could result. You said that we would be giving up the ground we have gained in the last year and the total progress we have made in the last 10 years. In addition, we would be giving a signal to the rest of the world that we're not serious in various military endeavors.

Randy, these are all wrongheaded thoughts. In the first place, we have no business being in Afghanistan in the first place. I don't see that we have made any progress in the last year, or even in the last 10 years. Perhaps we interpret progress in different terms. If you interpret it as nation building, you may have a point. If I interpret it, Afghanistan is no threat to us and we should not be there. The sooner we get out the better.

I believe the world is smart enough to know that withdrawal from a conflict does not necessarily mean surrender. In this case, there is nothing to surrender. The Russians have given us a great example.

The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1978 and remained there until 1989, a total of 11 years. The purpose of the original invasion was to expand the Soviet empire, but by 1989 the Soviet empire was already being weakened by overextended military expense. The Soviet empire collapsed in 1991.

The US invaded Afghanistan for essentially the same reason as the Soviets. Namely, to expand the empire. The question we now face is exactly the same as the Russians faced. Are our military expenses now so high that in addition to other financial problems, we face a US empire collapse? It may already be too late for the US to do anything about it. It took another two years for the Soviet empire to collapse primarily through the military spending competition promoted by Pres. Reagan. The US does not now have the same problem of outsiders forcing our collapse. We are doing it ourselves.

Randy, as I said, it may be too late, but it may not be. Let's get out of Afghanistan now. Let's not use lame excuses such as the Afghanistan security forces cannot handle their current problems. That should make no difference to us, it's not our business.