Getting Out of Afghanistan

Well, it's official now. The Allies (mostly America, with French and British alongside) are withdrawing their military combat forces in 2014. Military advisors will stay on to help the Afghan government manage its affairs. President Karzai seems pleased, but that's because he's already negotiating his deal with the Taliban and Al-Qaida. You would be doing the same if you were in his position.
If that makes you more than a little nervous, maybe it's because your brain is computing and it says, " Vietnam, Iraq." The Americans announced in advance their combat departure from both Vietnam and Iraq. The results were twofold: more guerrilla attacks during the interim and an opposition already in place when the troops left. It was simple enough to win the "hearts and minds" of civilians who knew they'd be exposed to the opposition in any case when abandoned by America.
The West probably ought to get out of Afghanistan. The truth is they shouldn't have been there at all. The Soviet Union surely gave us the only lesson about fighting in Afghanistan anyone with a little common sense would have needed. But, we marched in despite all that. And now, we're marching back out with no "mission accomplished" and no real improvement in the lives of the Afghan population, especially women and children.
It's curious that the West seems to be able to get into wars so easily - wars that are not its business and that would be better left to those who actually have vital stakes in the outcome. That we freed Afghanistan from the Taliban was a good deed. But, it should have ended there. Now, we have to try to leave behind a country that will not be further torn apart in civil war and terrorist attacks. We will have to try to understand that the Taliban and Al-Qaida have a place in Afghan governmental affairs, legitimate or not. And, we will have to forge ties with them in order to contain the terrorist disease that is slowly consuming the region.
The next time someone tells you that the West needs to be in most places in the Middle East because of its own vital interests, just say, "Afghanistan" and wait for the response. It'll be slow coming because there is no explanation, except naivety and an overblown sense of invincibility.