Unfortunately, Afghanistan is not Vietnam.  The Vietnam War was a horror.  Americans sometimes remember that we lost upwards of 50,000 American lives there, and more than that to suicide and drugs once the soldiers came home.  Estimates of Vietnamese deaths are upwards of a million, though less often mentioned here.  People who lived through the era remember the insanity of all this going on in a place that America had nothing to do with.  And when it was over?  Nothing happened.  America licked the wounds of its national pride.  The economy went catty-wampus with war debt.  Vietnam went its way, slowly rebuilt and is now a capitalist economy run by a Communist Party.  In short, a giant, “So what?” on the world stage.

Afghanistan is another matter.  A Taliban / Al Qaeda victory will have real consequences.  In my view, the Taliban represent much of the worst the human race has to offer.  These are people who throw acid in a girl’s face if she dares to go to school.  I cheered when the Taliban fell.  And then watched in horror as the great A.D.D. President dropped the ball on rebuilding the country.

Of course, this is nothing new for American policy in the region.  Here is what Mauldin had to say about the Soviet war in Afghanistan.

While they were there, we were glad to fund and train and arm the likes of – yup, you guessed it – Osama Bin Laden.  And once the Soviets were out, “Oh, Afghanistan?  Where’s that?”

So I am afraid I am not one of those who thinks the answer is “U.S. Out Now!”

But I’m afraid I’m not optimistic, either.

Sources:

Bill Mauldin,  I’ve Decided I Want My Seat Back

Bill Mauldin, Let’s Declare Ourselves Winners

To my eye, this cartoon has it’s pluses and its minuses

• It gets points for an awareness of history and is a lovely study in the way cartoonists respond – or fail to respond – to the events of the day.  Herblock is a fave, and seldom off the mark.  He deserves and will get at least one post of his own.
• Do I really want a cartoon to talk this much?  I guess there’s a place for it.  But it’s hard for anything over a couple of panels to have the grab factor.
• Even more important, this cartoon understands history isn’t over, and the failures of the past are playing out again all around us.
• Nast is undoubtedly one of the greats, but what you can’t tell from the reference here is surely a flawed great.  Drove Boss Tweed out of power, into jail and the long arm of his cartoons dragged him clear back from Spain after he escapedl.  So far, so good.  But his depictions of the Irish are, well there’s no way around it,  they’re  pretty racist.  Nast, too, deserves a post here.
• The final gag – the bomb on his own head – just looks like he is flailing around in desperation for a punch line, and this one just doesn’t work.

So that’s my opinion.  What’s yours?

She writes

The longest day is here. Long live Summer Solstice!

Light just like love works in mysterious ways – you think the days are getting longer but somewhere else they are very short right now.  It’s all for sake of balance. We are all connected. Don’t rock the boat. Enjoy your Summer Solstice with abundance of sex and a special awareness.  Somewhere else, you know, people and penguins right now are sleeping away in total oblivion, covered in perfect dark.  Take your share of light with gratitude and grace, because before long the tables with turn and the darkness will come to you again.  Summer light is short and precious.  Celebrate it!

“No, I’m a cartoonist.  I follow my middle finger.”

Colleen says it’s the cartoonist’s coat of arms.  But she doesn’t like the one at the top.

Bridget says it’s my divining rod.

How divine is that!