Letter Logic

A bunch of anti-War letters in the LA Times, as usual, but one caught my eye. The writer is bothered that too many Americans support the War in Iraq, and would support action in Iran.

Thus: "I would remind them of the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1989 after a 10-year war in Afghanistan..."

What point does this woman, who took time out of her day to write this, possibly think she's making? First, the US already took Afghanistan, "graveyard of empires," in a few weeks (though not before there were numerous warnings about a quagmire). We took Iraq just as quickly, and the low level of insurgency since (as bad as it is) could go on for a half century before we start seeing the costs, in money and lives, that we paid in Vietnam or Korea (much less see our nation disintegrate).

Even better, why does she suppose the Soviets didn't take Afghanistan? Does she think the mujahideen were too tough? Sure, for the first few years, the Russians had trouble in the tricky terrain (unlike us), but they were powerful enough, and ruthless enough, that the tide eventually turned and the Soviet Empire was once more on the march.

It was the U.S. entering on the side of Afghanistan that squashed the Soviet's hope for victory. So thanks, lady, for reminding us of the disintegration of the Soviet Union. If we could pull that off, what we're trying today is a piece of cake.