Short stories and essays by Shaun Costello, as well as excerpts from manuscripts in progress.

THE LAST AMERICAN SOLDIER LEAVES AFGHANISTAN

The last men out.

America’s longest war is finally over. And the debate goes on. Success? Failure? Why did we stay for twenty years? Politicians are interviewed, and they try to score points with voters by saying the right thing. Veterans are interviewed, and seem to have a romanticized view of America’s military occupation of third world countries with unstable governments. I saw two Veteran activists interviewed on MSNBC this morning, claiming, quite shockingly, that America doesn’t deserve its military. Bush, Clinton and Obama kept us there for twenty years. Biden got us out, and America seems bewildered by his decisiveness. Few seem comfortable saying, “Good job Joe”. So I’ll say it. “GOOD JOB JOE”! Considering the sheer size of the evacuation, it went pretty smoothly. Not perfect, but what is? There were fatalities, but very few. The Veterans I see interviewed seem to be cringing at the unfortunate reality that the military is no longer needed to police the governments of fractured countries. Was our military ever really needed in Afghanistan? Certainly not for twenty years. So, we’re out. Joe got us out. “GOOD JOB JOE”!

6 responses

  1. What about the other americans? You lgbtq marxists are murderers

    August 31, 2021 at 10:15 am

    • Thomas, you’re still out there, and better than ever.

      August 31, 2021 at 1:43 pm

  2. Michel spitzer

    Good one

    Sent from my iPhone

    August 31, 2021 at 10:23 am

  3. Right on!!!

    August 31, 2021 at 11:22 am

  4. Say wha..???
    (insert emoji laughing).

    Anyway Mr. Costello, well spoken.

    August 31, 2021 at 1:30 pm

  5. Susan lawrence

    The withdrawal should have started sooner. Yes people died. If you didn’t expect that then you are some kind of stupid. It was still war. But now it’s done and we need to help those left behind. I know of two families in hiding. Engineers who helped the USA. They have lots of money and it’s legitimately useless to them there. What they need is a visa. only a visa. It’s not happening. Or it’s taking much too long. If caught they are dead. Most likely will have to escape by smuggling to Pakistan somehow.

    December 5, 2021 at 1:05 pm

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