HIGHWAYS TO NOWHERE AMERICA’S LONGEST WARS
During the Trump presidency, the conflict in Afghanistan became the longest war in American history. In two decades the Afghan patient had been lavished with more aid than war-devastated European countries received under the Marshall Plan (1948), but Washington found itself mired and no closer to victory, or even a modestly satisfactory settlement. No wonder the nowformer president railed against what he saw as America’s stupid, endless wars.
Trump’s railing may have ended but the recriminations haven’t. On 14 April President Biden announced the US would withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. NATO allies will quickly and quietly follow. This
