Americans need no more reminders about how deadly the war in Afghanistan is, but they nevertheless received a powerful one Saturday. The deaths of 30 U.S. troops -- including 22 Navy SEALs -- in a helicopter crash marked the deadliest day for the United States in the 10-year war there. The deaths are heartbreaking -- a reminder of both the tragedy of all wars and of the growing sense of unease arising from this specific conflict.
Though details remain unconfirmed at this writing -- the military was still recovering debris at the crash site on Monday -- it seems likely that the aircraft was shot down rather than crashed. The helicopter apparently was transporting the SEALs and a small number of Afghan soldiers to reinforce U.S. Army Rangers who had come under fire during a mission. It was the sort of operation that passes for routine in Afghanistan. This one, however, went terribly awry.
The number of dead in a single incident and the high profile of many of those killed brings especial attention to the weekend crash. According to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, all but two of the SEALs who died apparently were part of SEAL Team 6, the elite special operations group that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in late spring. None of those who died Saturday participated in the bin Laden raid, the officials reported. Their deaths and the deaths of eight others on the flight are a reminder that there is no safe place in a war with no front lines and where the enemy moves with relative freedom.
The crash and subsequent loss of life raise questions about the future U.S. role in Afghanistan. Military and civilian leaders continue to tout the U.S. determination to significantly reduce the number of American troops in the region and to turn the bulk of the fighting over to Afghan troops. Saturday's events bring that policy into question.
There were Afghan troops aboard the helicopter, but only a handful. Clearly, the U.S. special operations forces -- the SEALs and the Rangers -- were doing the bulk of the fighting. Given that, it's hard to believe that even the best Afghan troops will be able to shoulder the military load when the gradual drawdown of U.S. and coalition begins. Or that they will be able to mount an effective force against the insurgents, or to even enforce the law, when only a fifth or less of the current 100,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan remain. That's poor payback for the extraordinary human and monetary U.S. investment in that country.
America's leaders should revisit and revise current Afghan policy. If they do not, U.S. involvement in Afghanistan is unlikely to come to any sort of acceptable military or diplomatic conclusion. First though, the nation should properly mourn those who died Saturday -- and in the last decade -- bravely doing what their country asked them to do.