NY Times: The U.S. has faced questions about quitting in just about every war it has fought since its emergence as a global power after World War II. “So much of what we’ve been involved in these last several decades is really policing the empire,” said Andrew R. Hoehn, a senior analyst at RAND Corporation, a think tank that studies security matters.
In most instances, American troops have gone to war to impose order on an unruly world, or to defend American values. “We’re not fighting existential conflicts,” Mr. Hoehn said.
“Simply put, one reason the Americans did not leave Afghanistan earlier is that the U.S. military fights to win,” wrote Carter Malkasian, who advised U.S. commanders in Afghanistan.
Political and foreign policy leaders fretted about U.S. credibility on the world stage and the costs that they could pay at the ballot box for losing a war.
NY Times: Why the United States Can’t Quit Its Wars
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