Adam Wunische joins the show to discuss his work in assessing the true costs of the war in Afghanistan and the future of the American military there. He and Scott remind us that most metrics used to describe the costs of war assume that you can put a value on the loss of human lives, the physical and mental suffering of soldiers who do come home, and all the other subtle effects felt at home by the citizens of a nation at war. Clearly that’s not true, and it probably explains why the country has turned so strongly against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the veterans of these wars themselves.
Discussed on the show:
- “The Real Costs of the War in Afghanistan” (The New Republic)
- “Veterans doubt value of wars in Iraq, Afghanistan in new poll” (Military Times)
Adam Wunische is a researcher for the Quincy Institute, an instructor at George Washington University’s Security Policy Studies program, and a PhD candidate at Boston College. He is a veteran of the U.S. Army, completing two deployments to Afghanistan. Follow him on Twitter @AdamWunische.
This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Washinton Babylon; Liberty Under Attack Publications; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.
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Scott Horton is director of the Libertarian Institute, editorial director of Antiwar.com, host of Antiwar Radio on Pacifica, 90.7 FM KPFK in Los Angeles, California and podcasts the Scott Horton Show from this website. He’s the author of the 2017 book, Fool’s Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan. Visit https://scotthorton.org