It's Over !

The last Australian combat troops are now withdrawn from the war in Afghanistan.   Lasting twelve years, this was our longest war and statistical analysis is impressive.   Twenty-six thousand Australians served in Afghanistan and we suffered forty deaths and two hundred and sixty wounded - and the war cost our Treasury seven billion dollars.

Every death was a tragedy, but better equipment and better training now pays dividends.  In the first world war in 1916 the battle of the Somne cost the allies five thousand dead in the first morning of the offensive. Today's soldiers wear body armour and medical evacuation saves lives.   Four hundred Australian military personnel still stand in harms way in Afghanistan, but their role now is a training and advisory function  to help the Afghan National Army { ANA ) retain the peace.

The future of Afghanistan now rests in the hands of the Afghan people.   They had first hand experience of the brutal rule of the Taliban and most were happy to see them vanquished.  Deep tribal rivalries still remain and government corruption is endemic.   One of the greatest achievements of the war was to bring education into the grasp of Afghan's children - specially having girls attend school for the first time in that country's history.   Banishing ignorance is the first step in drawing Afghanistan into a modern world.

Has our involvement been worthwhile ?    Different people will have different conclusions, but the final outcome will not be known until the dust settles.   Afghanistan has the misfortune to be a pawn in a number of rivalries between countries - and between religious elements.     The enmity between Sh'ia and Sunni is largely a part of the car bombings and atrocities that leave a daily death toll of civilians and both India and Pakistan live permanently on the cusp of war.

Perhaps the aftermath of Vietnam could be a pointer to Afghanistan's future.   While the Vietnam war ended with a victory for North Vietnam, the country did not erect an iron curtain, nor did reprisals against the vanquished last long.    Vietnam morphed into a authoritarian society much like it's giant neighbour - China, but with doors open to trade and a quickly softening of civil liberties.   The " boat people " who fled repression and settled in Australia now freely travel back and forth to their old country for holidays and business deals.

The Afghan war could be said to have been "inconclusive ".   It was neither a victory - or a defeat.  The tools are now in the hands of the Afghans to choose their own destiny.