The ongoing war in Afghanistan, the longest in American history, has already cost US taxpayers one trillion dollars besides the loss of tens of thousands of lives of Afghans and foreigner troops. The Washington Post published on Monday a trove of confidential documents revealing that three US presidents and their governments have constantly lied to the American people about the war in Afghanistan. According to the leaked documents, the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations were sure they could not win the war, but they have whitewashed it. The Washington Post has been given the go-ahead to publish the documents exceeding 2,000 pages after a three-year legal battle.
One of the main reasons for failure of US strategies in Afghanistan was the persistence of Washington, especially military generals, on military victory. From onset, the US governments have given American people an impression that their involvement in Afghanistan was a fight against terrorism and could be won militarily. The military circles were doing so for two reasons: firstly, the military leaders could not stand acknowledging failure of the military strategies of a superpower such as America, and secondly, continued war had become a lucrative business for some private companies and elements in and outside the US military. For them, the end of war would mean the end of their source of revenue.
Also for the US government leadership, the issue had become somehow a matter of personal dignity, honor and reputation. The US presidents were afraid that their admission of failure of the Afghanistan mission would lead to the history judging them badly. Thus, they were striving at least to maintain the status quo if they were unable to improve the situation despite being well aware and sure that it was impossible to achieve military victory in Afghanistan. That was why they were hushing the facts up because it might otherwise have mobilized the American public against the war and forced their governments to withdraw from Afghanistan.
Now that everything is crystal clear, the US government and public should not repeat the past mistakes. Military efforts to win the war have failed times and again, and there is no chance they will yield any result in the future, too; therefore, it is better to continue and concentrate all efforts on the political settlement of the conflict. The initiation of peace talks between the Taliban and US diplomats is a positive development and must reach a conclusion as soon as possible, thereby not only letting Afghan people off the hook but also enabling American administrations not to lie to their people.
