Is there hope for Afghanistan?

Most Americans are consumed with their daily lives. We live in a busy society. Our schedules are packed with things to do and places to go. It is so easy to get caught up in all this. I am no different even here in Afghanistan. There are days when the drama of the hospital keeps my attention constantly. One way that I have been able to stay in tune with the world is by reading the military paper called "Stars and Stripes". It's a daily publication here in the middle east for deployed military members. It has a lot of great articles every day. Some are done by active duty military writers and others are from various papers back home. There is a lot of good information about what is truly going on here in Afghanistan.

Last month was the first time that the Department of Defense spent more money here in Afghanistan versus Iraq. The total cost of the Iraq War to date is in the ballpark of $690 billion dollars. Afghanistan has cost the taxpayers $190 billion. I cannot fathom that amount of money. At the peak of the Iraq surge, I believe we had about 150,000 troops in Iraq. The American death toll in Iraq is approaching 5,000. This summer we will have approximately 100,000 troops in Afghanistan for the surge here. The current death toll here is 983. I am sure we will top 1,000 before I leave especially with an offensive on Kandahar on the horizon. The numbers are a small part of the story. The human factor is much more important. Certainly there has been incredible suffering for so many people from both of these wars. God willing I be home in July having spent a year of my life here. My sacrifices pale in comparison to so many.

Discussing money and death tolls undoubtedly begs the question of whether or not all of this is worth it. Many would argue that it is not. They have strong arguments. I have friends that have been in the most dangerous and the poorest areas of Afghanistan. It is not pretty. This is a desolate country full of uneducated people. That's the truth. A good friend of mine, Brent Barnstuble, who is a doctor spent 9 months in Zabol Province, Afghanistan on a provisional recontruction team (PRT). Essentially, they were there to help build the infastructure of Afghanistan which by the way is one of the poorest countries in the world. Brent was in dangerous situations daily. He saw poverty, incompetence, and corruption up close. To this day he cannot understand why he was sent there and feels strongly that very little good came of his team's work. Brent could have easily been killed at any time. That's reality. My friend is one of the best people I know. I am confident that Brent did everything he could to complete the mission. But, was there really any chance of success in Zabol Province? PRT's exist because the mission is "nation building". This is a concept that many people believe is not realistic in Afghanistan.

Counterinsurgency is another strategy being employed here in Afghanistan. It was used in Iraq. Essentially it involves working with the people of Afghanistan to fight back at those who want to kill. Winning "hearts and minds" is something that is talked about all the time. An article that I read recently stated that the think tanks at the Pentagon are becoming increasingly skeptical of this strategy in Afghanistan. Many say it is too costly and takes too long. We have been in Afghanistan for almost 9 years. Progress has been slow to say the least. I saw this reality with my own eyes every single day of my previous deployment. The pentagon is now considering a new idea which is "counterinurgency light". This involves the use of special forces, the CIA, air strikes, etc to wage the war here. Army brigades would stay home. Thousands of marines would no longer be in southern Afghanistan on patrol. It's definitely an interesting concept in my opinion.

In the last 24 hours there has been several large scale attacks in places previously thought to be secure. It is scary to say the least. Events like these always shake our confidence in this war. We have 44 countries in the coalition here trying to help Afghanistan become a better place. We all want the world to be a safer due to our efforts here. Nevertheless, Afghanistan is a complicated country. We face very difficult challenges here many of which may be insurmountable. I would definitely like to see my Afghan friends have a better life. Reality is that I will leave here wondering if there really is any hope for Afghanistan.