Military spending and the Taliban

One would think that a country that spends more on defense than the next eight largest spenders combined–China, Saudi Arabia, India, France, Russia, Britain, Germany, and Japan–could whip the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Our strategy must be bad, or our objectives, or our leadership, or maybe we are spending on the wrong stuff.  

Since we can’t seem to defeat the Taliban, the new strategy seemed to be to invite them to negotiate, in the meantime selling out the Afghans who are trying to govern their country in a more reasonable manner. 

When Trump was planning his photo-op meeting with the Taliban at Camp David, the Afghan government was not even invited.  That is an eerie echo of the 1938 Munich conference that divided Czechoslovakia and didn’t consult the Czechs.  

Now that the negotiations have been put on hold (Trump must be so disappointed to lose the opportunity to sign the agreement with his Sharpie in front of the cameras), there is nothing to replace that failed policy except talk about decreasing American forces in Afghanistan.  That should work.

If this Administration can do something–anything–right, I’d sure like to know what it is.