Oct. 7, 2001, 10 years ago today, the war in Afganistan commenced (see New York Times editorial). We’re still there, trying to win their hearts and minds. How’s that going, anyway?

Well, I think the results of a Taliban attack back in August sum it up pretty well. Do you remember this one? Couple of guys sneaked into the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul and opened up with assault rifles and mowed down a few unfortunates. Afghan police were on the scene and RAN AWAY. Didn’t shoot back. Didn’t pass Go, didn’t collect $200. Just boogied. They’re probably still running right now. Great.

 How come we always get stuck with these guys? I know kids today don’t play pickup ball like we used to, but a few of you remember it, right? Somebody always had to take the clumsy skinny kid, who couldn’t catch, couldn’t run and cried when the ball hit him. So why is it always us? Remember the Vietnam war? The other side would live in tunnels for months on a handful of dirty rice and still fight like pit bulls with hemorrhoids. We showered our Vietnamese “allies” with equipment and they would cower in villages and lie about having gone out on patrol. Couldn’t get them to fight for their country for anything. Same thing inAfghanistan. We suffer suicide attacks all the time. Did “our” side ever have ONE guy who hiked over the mountains on a pocket full of stale bread to blow himself up in front of a Taliban headquarters? Hardly. Are there even any who will go out and fight? Oh, wait, they need more “training.” Yeah, right. 10 years of training and they don’t even shoot back! What kind of training fixes chicken shit?

 The Taliban guys don’t have any training. At least nothing like we give “our” side. What they have is desire. Motivation. But they came to the camps with that. People without desire and motivation will never defeat those who have it, however they are “trained.” Nobody can be trained to be willing to die for their cause. And virtually none of our Afghan partners are willing to, yet most of our opponents are. We are on the side of losers, and that is what they will do, whether we pull the training wheels off now or 10 years from now. Ten years is plenty. It’s time to go.