[Poohbah]

True enough, we are not there to liberate Afghanistan. But what we HAVE done is allow some small improvement over the previous conditions--and any improvement is surely welcome. It is an example of a situation where the National Interest and the interests of basic decency overlap, and we should feel some pride that we HAVE made the situation better, even if it was not our prime purpose.

[dighton]

... any improvement is surely welcome. It is an example of a situation where the National Interest and the interests of basic decency overlap, and we should feel some pride that we HAVE made the situation better, even if it was not our prime purpose.

Well said.