Our country has been engaged for nearly a decade in a frustrating war in distant Afghanistan.
It started in response to Afghanistan’s harboring of al-Qaida terrorists who plotted the 9/11 attacks on the United States.
Casualties have sadly mounted. Then on Saturday came the worst single battle loss of Americans in Afghanistan when a U.S. Army Chinook helicopter was evidently shot down by enemy fire. Thirty U.S. troops, seven Afghan soldiers and an Afghan interpreter died.
Most of those killed were Navy SEALs, highly trained men who often are engaged in especially dangerous operations. Few details were made public, but this tragic loss came amid countless similar operations among enemies embedded in harsh terrain.
Most of us as civilians generally pay far too little attention to the difficult, deadly and long-lasting war in Afghanistan.