I am going to disagree with you. Afghanistan? A must fight war...a war we needed to spend treasure and lives on...but yet a war which was NOT fight correctly from the start by the Bush administration or our generals. It was fought politically...and those of us who serve (or have served...I am going on 26 years) can see it a mile away.
Iraq? A waste. All it did in the long run was make Iran more powerful when in fact they needed to be dismantled. We chose the soft target in hopes democracy would spread into Iran from Iraq...which was a HORRIBLY DUMB strategy. This wasted OUR treasure and OUR lives.
These loss of LIVES and this loss of treasure WEAKENS our homeland. It scars our country. And when you do not strike fear into the heart of your enemy...you embolden them. You further strengthen their resolve. This is NOT keeping the homeland safe because even though those young men and women may be in a distant land...they are still part of our homeland. Useless death because of political strategery does not = safety at home. It empowers the enemy and that enemy will rise up and one day...you will have to deal with them here.
It really is this simple: When you fight a war (whether you start it (Iraq) or get pulled into it (Afghanistan))...you fight to win...not to win "hearts and minds if the religion of peace..." but to win. Period. If you do not...you are not keeping the people at home safe. Rather, you are putting them at even greater risk.
Pray for our country. The only thing that can save us now is genuine repentance and a return to God.
I wholeheartedly agree with everything in your post.
Only as a means to set up a pincer engagement (with India) of the main enemy.
Afghanistan as a standalone deserved nothing more (or less) than a punitive expedition.