Everything Is Temporary. That Doesn't Mean It Isn't Worth Doing.

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player 

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, 

And then is heard no more. 

It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, 

Signifying nothing.

 ― William Shakespeare, Macbeth 

We read, again and again, how the last 20 years in Afghanistan was a waste since all has fallen into chaos so quickly.  I say, nonsense!  Those 20 years mattered!  In those years, evil and backwardness was held at bay and the people had more space to thrive.  Those years count.  They represent 1/4 of a long life and 100% of many young lives.  That means something.

We can debate if the cost of remaining was worth-it to the US national interest.  I think it was clearly worth it to have a secure base of operations next to the Stans, Iran and Pakistan.  We could have kept this up for 100 years and had a side benefit of an excellent training ground for our military.

The analogy I return to, is the idea of giving a diabetic insulin.  If you give the treatment for 20 years, the patient lives a fairly normal life.  If you suddenly decide to stop providing insulin, he will quickly become ill and die--which is sad and unnecessary and shouldn't be done.  But say it was done.  He gained 20 years of life that he wouldn't have gotten, had you never provided the medicine.