Peter Bergen had a interesting column in the NYT a few days ago reminding people that the history of Afghanistan is not just a litany of imperial defeats. He describes the victories of Genghis Khan and the oft-forgotten British victory several decades after their much heralded defeat. However, the forces needed to pacify and then rest the country numbered in the hundreds of thousands and took decades, not an experience the US is in any hurry to repeat.
So while Bergen provides some comfort by providing historical examples of successful missions in Afghanistan, it's cold comfort in terms of the numbers of soldiers needed and years invested in the country.
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