In Praise of a Wuss

In recognition of the wailing and gnashing of teeth in some quarters about withdrawing from Afghanistan without saving it from the Afghans, I offer some poetic lines from Rudyard Kipling written on the occasion of the British Empire failing that task, like the Mughal Empire before and the Soviet Empire after:

When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains

And the women come out to cut up what remains

Jest roll to your rifle an' blow out your brains

An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.

Our complete withdrawal may be forced by the same issue that forced us to leave Iraq without saving it from the Iraqis: immunity of US troops from prosecution in local courts for crimes against the locals.

It was thought that if US troops left Iraq, then the Iraqis would tear each other apart.  And that appears to be so.

Now it is thought that if US troops leave Afghanistan, the Afghans will tear each other apart. And that appears probable.

The right wing echo chamber had fits that Mr. Obama "led from behind" in Libya, and now, of course, the Libyans are tearing each other apart for lack of US troops.

The right wing echo chamber had kittens when Mr. Obama negotiated away the opportunity to attack Syria, and the Syrians continue to tear each other apart for lack of US troops.

Now the complaint is that instead of "bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran," Mr. Nobama is talking to them.  I guess the point there is that Mr. Obama is a wuss, since the heirs to the Persian Empire seem not particularly likely to tear each other apart without CIA encouragement.

Reflect, my friends, on how many more sons and daughters we could lose and how much more cash we could burn if our POTUS were not a wuss!