Afghan war comes at the price of lives - New Bern Sun Journal

The number of American troops killed during the 11-year-war in Afghanistan hit the 2,000 mark over the weekend. It's a sobering figure and a fresh reminder for those around the nation who seem to forget that U.S. forces do remain in that pit of a nation where our friends are few and most attacks these days come from within the ranks of supposed allies our forces should be able to trust, but can't.

And then the number grew some more on Monday, this time with a strike close to home.

A suicide bomber identified as a member of the Taliban drove a motorcycle jammed with explosives into a joint U.S.-Afghan patrol, killing 14 people in all. The list includes three members of the 514th Military Police Company, a North Carolina National Guard unit based in Winterville: Sgt. Jeremy F. Hardison, 23, of Browns Summit, Sgt. Donna R. Johnson 29, of Rae-ford, and Sgt. Thomas J. Butler IV, 25, of Leland,

According to U.S. officials, the latest attack is another burst from inside the unstable bubble of alleged Afghanistan allies. The Associated Press reports that this year more than 50 U.S. forces have been killed in insider attacks by Afghan troops or infiltrating insurgents. The ongoing massacre from within raises serious questions about whether the drawdown of American and international forces while training 350,000 Afghan police and soldiers to ultimately take over security, can actually succeed.

More than 30,000 U.S. troops have exited Afghanistan under this $22 billion, three-year strategy so far but nearly 70,000 remain. NATO now has 108,000 troops in the country, which includes U.S. forces. NATO had 150,000 troops in Afghanistan last year.

How many more will come home, though, will be decided after the presidential election in November. The timeframe for all combat troops to be out of Afghanistan is the end of 2014.

So far, Afghanistan hasn't been an issue for much discussion in the campaigns of President Barack Obama or challenger Mitt Romney. The most recent violence might change that. Internationally, calls for an abrupt pullout of alliance troops from Afghanistan are growing louder, according to the Associated Press.

Defenders of the current U.S. policy maintain that such a move would destroy the goal of leaving Afghanistan in the secure hands of its own military and police force.

Few in the international community want to leave Afghanistan at the mercy of the Taliban, a brutal regime of terrorists and religious extremists. On the other hand, there are no guarantees the current effort to mentor and train security forces within the country can work no matter how long our forces remain there.

Watching young men like Hardison, Johnson and Butler come back to American soil by way of the now iconic Dover Air Force Base where the military dead are transported, offers a grim view into the dark and perilous work being done by our troops in Afghanistan.

May the remaining forces there come home safely and quickly.