HuffPost, August 20, 2017
The 16-Year War In Afghanistan – Headlines Tell The Story
Below are some newspaper headlines from 2010 to the present to show that a militarized foreign policy without Congress exercising its Constitutional duties and steadfast public engagement
By Ralph Nader
Since 2001 the US has been at War in Afghanistan – the longest war in US history. Headlines concisely tell the story of this cruel boomeranging quagmire of human violence and misery. Below are some newspaper headlines from 2010 to the present to show that a militarized foreign policy without Congress exercising its Constitutional duties and steadfast public engagement will drift on, costing our soldiers’ lives and limbs, nearly three-quarters of a trillion taxpayer dollars, hundreds of thousands of Afghani lives and millions of refugees, with no end in sight.
Here we go – year by year:
2010
Setbacks in Afghanistan Aggravate Fissures Over Obama Administration’s Review Strategy, Magnifying Differences
US Money Financing Afghan Warlords for Convoy Protection, Report Says
Afghan Base Tests US Exit Plans
In Bank Scandal, Kabul Struggles to Recover Missing Money
Afghanistan Halts Taliban Peace Initiative
US Slows Troop Pullout in Afghanistan
2011
Six Children Are Killed by NATO Airstrike in Afghanistan
Airstrike Ravages US-Pakistan Ties
In Afghanistan, a Sweeping Ambitious Effort to Gather Biometric Data
US General Defends Afghanistan Night Raids
US Secretly Met Afghan Militants
American Soldier is Convicted of Killing Afghan Civilians for Sport
Karzai: Plot Had Roots in Pakistan
Afghans Say Assistance Will Be Needed for Years
US Faces New Afghan Test
Taliban Fighters Attack Afghan Government Center
US-Taliban Peace Talks Reached Tentative Accord
Outspoken Afghan Rights Official Ousted
US General in Afghanistan Says Troops May Stay Past ‘14
US Shift May Push Afghans Into Lead Role
US’s Afghan Headache: $400-a-Gallon Gasoline
Karzai Says Foreigners Behind Afghan Corruption
2012
Under Obama a Drone Network
Police Undermine Fight Against Taliban
Taliban Suggests Peace Talks with US
France Ponders Afghan Pullout
US Drone Strikes Are Said to Target Rescuers at Sites
US Seeks to End Afghan Combat Mission in 2013
US, Afghans in Taliban Talks
Airstrike Killed Children, Karzai Says
Afghanistan Targets Flight of Cash
Taliban Gaining More Resources From Kidnapping
Iran-Afghanistan-Pakistan Summit Closes
Quick US Exit Gains Support Among Afghans
GI Kills Afghan Villagers; Children Among 16 Dead
How to Get Afghans to Trust Us Once Again
New Poll Finds Drop in Support For Afghan War
General Says Afghans Need Big US Force Beyond 2012
Afghan Officials Stress Need for Long-Term Role for US
In Poppy War, Taliban Aim to Protect a Cash Crop
A Stable Afghanistan is Still Possible
No End to Drug Traffic in Sight as US Nears Afghanistan Exit
Afghan Army’s Defiance Grows
Afghanistan Slows Huge Cash Exodus
Afghan Refugee Children Perish in Harsh Winter
In Afghan War, Dooming History to Repeat Itself
US Begins Packing Its Afghan War Gear for the Movers
Report Questions Afghan Strategy
7 Officials in Afghan Investment Agency Quit, Protesting Graft
Afghans Protest Vengeful Militias
Afghans to Spy on own Forces
Taliban Hit a Region Seen as Safest for Afghans
Away from Kabul, Wide Rift Looms Between Afghans and Americans
[Taliban] Bomb Attack Outside Afghan Mosque Kills 41, Injures 56 on Muslim Holiday
Afghanistan Says US Broke Pact on Prisons
Administration Presses to Resume Peace Negotiations with Taliban
Afghanistan Seeks Taxes from Contractors to US
2013
Anti-Torture Efforts in Afghanistan Failed, UN Says
Afghan Amnesty Program Falls Short, Leaving Ex-Insurgents Regretful and Angry
Afghanistan Moves to Curb US Forces
US Faces Fire As It Pulls Out of Afghanistan
Afghan Leader Says US Abets Taliban’s Goal
General Says 20,000 Troops Should Stay in Afghanistan
For Afghans, Peace Appears More Distant Than Ever
11 Afghans are Kidnapped While Working to Clear Land Mines
Afghanistan’s Karzai says US wants to Keep 9 Bases
Karzai’s Office Gets Bags Full of CIA Cash
Report: Millions of US Assistance for Afghan Health Projects Being Wasted
Afghanistan Karzai Officials Meet Secretly with Taliban
Taliban are Said to Attack Afghan Police
Violent Censorship on Rise in Afghanistan
Taliban Attacks US Consulate in West Afghanistan
US Forced to Take Costly Route to Move Gear Out of Afghanistan
Afghans Demand that US Admit Military Errors
US, Afghans Near Security Accord
Afghans Flee Homes as US Pulls Back
US Trains Elite Afghan Units Before Exit
Afghans Look Warily at Future Without US
Attacks on Aid Workers Rise in Afghanistan UN Says
2014
Military Plans Reflect Afghanistan Uncertainty
Tensions Between Afghanistan and US Increase As Airstrike Kills Civilians
3 Reasons for Optimism on Afghanistan
Hard Talk Aside, Little Desire by the West to Leave Afghanistan
Aid Group Sees Daunting Obstacles to Health Care for Afghans
Foreigners in Afghanistan Consider Fleeing As Attacks Rise
Killing of US General Points to Afghan Troops Troubled Past
After Losing Province in 2010, Afghan Taliban Strike Back
Taliban Attacks Kabul Airport as Vote Recount Begins
2015
The Many Failures in Afghanistan
Afghan City’s Fall to Taliban Belies Earlier American Hopes
New Refugees in a Shifting Afghan War
Afghanistan, Taliban Begin Talks on Peace
Afghan Forming Militias to Fight Against Taliban
Taliban Talks Stir Hopes for Afghan Peace
Rising Dangers and Foreign Exodus Hollow Out Afghan Capital
Afghan Gas Station Cost Pentagon $43 Million
Afghan Forces Straining to Repel Taliban Attacks
Taliban Kill at Least 22 Afghan Police Officers
Afghan Province, Teetering to the Taliban, Draws in Extra US Forces
Afghanistan, Pakistan Seek to Restart Talks with Taliban
CIA Runs Shadow War Using Afghan Paramilitary Forces
2016
US to Fight Islamic State in Afghanistan
Taliban Step Up Urban Assaults, Testing the mettle of Afghan Forces
Another District in an Afghan Province Falls to the Taliban
Taliban Rejects Peace Talks with Afghan Government, Cites US ‘Occupation’
Afghan Troops Retreat Under Pressure from Taliban
From Cold War to Cold Shoulder: Russia Cools on Aiding US in Afghanistan
Afghan Refugees Shivering in Frigid Settlements
Exit Strategy for Afghanistan Fades
Taliban Militants Strike in the Heart of Kabul
Face-Off Between Strongmen Exposes Afghanistan’s Deep Political Riffs
Afghanistan’s Taliban Push into New Media
1,000 Afghans Each Day are Fleeing Their Homes
Huge Protest Against Afghan Government Brings Kabul to a Halt
Taliban Cut off Major Afghan Highway Linking Kabul to Northern Gateways
Number of Displaced Afghans Soars
US-Built Roads Take Afghanistan Nowhere
2017
US General Favors Boost in Troops in Afghanistan
Selling Trump a New Afghan Commitment
Taliban Tap New Income Stream: Collecting Bills for Afghan Utilities
U.S. Military Drops 22,000-Pound Bomb on Islamic State Forces in Afghanistan
America Keeps on Failing in Afghanistan
Taliban Seize Two More Afghan Districts in Sustained Fighting
A Peace ‘Surge’ to End War in Afghanistan
Blackwater’s Founder Wants Trump to Outsource the Afghanistan War
Joint Taliban-ISIS Attack Kills Dozens, Afghan Officials Say
Trump Finds Reason for the U.S. to Remain in Afghanistan: Minerals
No Way Out: Trump’s Crude View of Afghanistan Won’t Solve U.S.’s Longest-Running War
The final headline is as appropriate now as it was when it was printed in 2011: “Futility in Afghanistan.”
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