In June 2010 America’s war in Afghanistan had surpassed the Vietnam War to become the longest war in its history. By the end of 2010 there had been 2,281 coalition deaths in Afghanistan since the start of the war nine years before in October 2001: 1,446 were American, 348 British and 153 Canadian. Men and women from over forty different countries, from Albania to Australia, and Singapore to Spain, have fought and died in the struggle against the Taliban, trying to restore order to a country that for almost forty years has been ravaged by war and conflict.
Victory in the normal sense of the word is elusive and is unlikely ever to be obtained. Instead a victory of sorts can be considered when the country can finally start on the road to reconstruction without violence, fear and intimidation. There may be many more years of fighting and inevitably many more deaths before such a situation can ever arise.
British memorial in Helmand Province, Afghanistan
Photo by Leonard J. DeFrancisci