Remember when the media used to cover the war in Afghanistan almost daily? Back then it worked to the media’s advantage to report those stories because the president was a Republican. In the age of Obama, this war has become a footnote.

Christian Lopac of The College Conservative shares some thoughts here.

Our Longest War

War’s daily reminders continue nudging the American public. It seems as though every day there is an American soldier or government employee who is killed in what has now become America’s Longest War. The war lingers, yet we still refrain from bringing it into the national conversation again.

Recently, an Afghan police officer killed an American in Kabul and American military deaths hit 2,040. Any war should be questioned, no country should ever blindly enter into a conflict, but these deaths, like what have plagued the war, force us to ask if it wise to remain in Afghanistan.

First, we must define what the war’s original intent. As most know, the invasion of Afghanistan occurred because of the September 11 attacks (i.e. the terrorists responsible were based in Afghanistan). Is this a legitimate basis for a war? Certainly. Let us then move through the other elements of the war, and question them.

Was the war fought in a proper manner? After the initial invasion, the coalition forces steadily engaged the Taliban throughout Afghanistan. In early 2002, the insurgency began, and continues to this day. Throughout this insurgency, the coalition forces (apart from American troops, including Britons, Germans, Canadians, the Dutch, and others) concerned themselves not with destroying the enemy, but with building up Afghanistan’s military and government. Ah, now we see a problem.

We must ask, then, why does our military and government consider these effective and acceptable policies? Perhaps it is history or custom. But “habit” might be a better word. Throughout recent history, it has been the policies of the American government to build up other nations. This policy can be seen throughout the world, including Cuba, South Vietnam, and the Philippines. In Vietnam, a country and war similar to Afghanistan, this American building up policy failed miserably.