"Endless War." Any excuse for TPTB to promote and promulgate war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Anyoldstan--name a country! Since WWII America has essentially pursued this concept. And look what it engenders: war (any war) requires money, which engenders borrowing (debt), monetizing (the Fed), the selling off of American securities, and guarantees the continued massive profit & influence of the military/industrial/banking/Washington power brokers. We have learned nothing from Vietnam--Nothing! Afghanistan, the 'Graveyard of Empires,' was the USSR's 'Vietnam,' and America knew it and rejoiced! So now our brilliant strategists, in their infinite wisdom, have enmeshed the US in the affairs of this intransigent nation. Does it matter if the US wins?--the question is immaterial; the purpose of being there is "Endless War." It is an end in itself: change the names, change the party in power--doesn't matter! Our military men & women are "cannon fodder"--endlessly sacrificed in the Name of National Security (see comments, above, by Stophel). I have enormous respect for our soldiers--theirs is the real sacrifice--but it is somehow a 'given' that ventilating a jihadist in Kabul eliminates an innocent death on Main Street, USA. I have never been able to identify such a connection!