US forces in Afghanistan (Denis Sinyakov/Reuters)
The horrible news of the copter shot down in Afghanistan has received
scads of attention over the last several days.
That attention is justified, and the more the better.
But those 30 Americans who died in that tragedy are but a tiny fraction of the human toll that war in Afghanistan has cost us.
255 other Americans have died in Afghanistan this year alone. Nearly 500 died last year. Their sacrifices are no less noble, no less noteworthy, and no less newsworthy. They are also an unacceptable waste, given the lack of real mission in Afghanistan, and the fact that we already bagged Osama Bin Laden. It's more than time to get the hell out.
Oh, and as for that other war, the one that has supposedly ended? In Iraq:
New rule—no one can claim a war is over if soldiers are still dying by the dozens in combat.