미군의 아프간 20년 주둔은 대국민 사기극

 

 

이라크와 아프가니스탄에서 복무한 미 해병대 퇴역장교가 미국이 아프간에서 20년 동안 주둔하면서 미국인들을 체계적으로 속였다고 질타했다.

 

 

아프간 전쟁 (moderndiplomacy.eu)

 

루카스 쿤스(Lucas Kunce)는 지난 8월23일 캔사스시티스타(Kansas city star)에 실린 ‘I served in Afghanistan as a US Marine, twice. Here’s the truth in two sentences’ 제하의 기고문에서 미국은 2002년이나 2003년에 아프간에서 나왔어야 한다고 주장했다.

 

부시 행정부가 테러와의 전쟁으로 2001년에 아프간을 침공했다는 점을 고려하면 미군이 1~2년 안에 현지에서 철수했어야 했는데 막대한 달러와 인명을 바쳐 가면서 18~19년을 더 머물렀다는 것이다.

 

예일대와 로스쿨을 마친 쿤스는 2007년 해병대 장교로 입대하여 주로 국제협상과 군축분야에서 활동했다.(루카스 쿤스 홈페이지)

 

그가 주장하는 요지는 이렇다.

 

미국인들은 아프간사태에 충격을 받을 것도 없다. 미국 정부는 체계적인 부정직을 자행했다. 긴 말을 할 필요조차 없이 두 문장으로 충분하다.

 

하나 : 지난 20년 동안 정치인, 엘리트, 워싱턴의 군사지도자들은 아프간에 대해서 거짓말을 했다. (One : For 20 years, politicians, elites and D.C. military leaders lied to us about Afghanistan.)

 

둘 : 지난 주에 발생한 일들은 불가피한 일이었다. 다른 말을 하는 사람이 있다면 아직도 거짓말을 하는 것이다. (Two : What happened last week was inevitable, and anyone saying differently is still lying to you.)

 

나는 이라크와 아프간에서 근무했고, 아프간에서는 특수작전팀의 해병대 장교로서 파슈토어(Pashto)를 배웠다. 현지의 고위직 인사에서 탈레반까지 다양한 사람들과 대화했다.

 

미국은 이라크와 아프간에서 똑같이 거짓말을 자행했다. 아프간에서 올바른 철수 시점은 2002년이나 2003년이었다. 이라크와 아프가니스탄 안정화작전은 전쟁을 계속하기 위한 수작에 불과했다. 아프간 정부군은 미국인이 낸 세금으로 운영되는 직업훈련 프로그램이라는 사실을 미국인들은 모르고 있다.

 

그동안 탈레반은 미군에 대항하는 기술과 전략을 새롭게 갈고 닦았다. 20년 동안 2조 달러(약 2340조원)의 돈과 2500명의 미국인이 생명을 잃었다. 미국은 중동 재건에 6조 4000억 달러를 썼다. 아프간 전쟁은 체계적인 부정직으로 미국을 내적으로 파괴했다.

 

아프간에서 2021년에 철수하는 것은 너무 늦었다. 강경파들은 미군이 전혀 해를 입지 않는다고 했지만, 나의 팀에서도 유능한 해병 2명을 잃었다. 그들은 최근의 사태에 대해서 자신들이 속여 온 미국인들을 탓하고 있다.

 

(루카스 쿤스 홈페이지)

 

 

<전문>

 

I served in Afghanistan as a US Marine, twice. Here’s the truth in two sentences

 

Lucas Kunce, 2021.8.23

 

What we are seeing in Afghanistan right now shouldn’t shock you. It only seems that way because our institutions are steeped in systematic dishonesty. It doesn’t require a dissertation to explain what you’re seeing. Just two sentences.

 

One : For 20 years, politicians, elites and D.C. military leaders lied to us about Afghanistan.

 

Two : What happened last week was inevitable, and anyone saying differently is still lying to you.

 

I know because I was there. Twice. On special operations task forces. I learned Pashto as a U.S. Marine captain and spoke to everyone I could there: everyday people, elites, allies and yes, even the Taliban.

 

The truth is that the Afghan National Security Forces was a jobs program for Afghans, propped up by U.S. taxpayer dollars — a military jobs program populated by nonmilitary people or “paper” forces (that didn’t really exist) and a bevy of elites grabbing what they could when they could.

 

You probably didn’t know that. That’s the point.

 

And it wasn’t just in Afghanistan. They also lied about Iraq.

 

I led a team of Marines training Iraqi security forces to defend their country. When I arrived I received a “stoplight” chart on their supposed capabilities in dozens of missions and responsibilities. Green meant they were good. Yellow was needed improvement; red said they couldn’t do it at all.

 

I was delighted to see how far along they were on paper — until I actually began working with them. I attempted to adjust the charts to reflect reality and was quickly shut down. The ratings could not go down. That was the deal. It was the kind of lie that kept the war going. so when people ask me if we made the right call getting out of Afghanistan in 2021, I answer truthfully: Absolutely not.

 

The right call was getting out in 2002. 2003. Every year we didn’t get out was another year the Taliban used to refine their skills and tactics against us — the best fighting force in the world. After two decades, $2 trillion and nearly 2,500 American lives lost, 2021 was way too late to make the right call.

 

You’d think when it all came crumbling down around them, they’d accept the truth. Think again.

 

War-hungry hawks are suggesting our soldiers weren’t in harm’s way. Well, when I was there, two incredible Marines in my unit were killed.

 

Elitist hacks are even blaming the American people for what happened last week. The same American people that they spent years lying to about Afghanistan. Are you kidding me?

 

(쿤스 홈페이지)

 

We deserve better. Instead of politicians spending $6.4 trillion to “nation build” in the Middle East, we should start nation building right here at home.

 

I can’t believe that would be a controversial proposal, but already in Washington, we see some of the same architects of these Middle Eastern disasters balking at the idea of investing a fraction of that amount to build up our own country.

 

The lies about Afghanistan matter not just because of the money spent or the lives lost, but because they are representative of a systematic dishonesty that is destroying our country from the inside out.

 

Remember when they told us the economy was back? Another lie.

 

Our state of Missouri was home to the worst economic recovery from the Great Recession in this part of the country. I see the boarded-up stores and the vacant lots — one of which used to be my family’s home.

 

When our country’s elites were preaching about how they had solved the financial crisis and the housing market was booming, I watched the house I joined the Marine Corps out of sit on the market for two years. My dad finally got $43,000 for it. He owed $78,000.

 

The only way out is to level with the American people. I’ll start. With the two-sentence truth about what we are seeing in Afghanistan right now:

 

For 20 years, politicians, elites and D.C. military leaders lied to us about Afghanistan.

 

What happened last week was inevitable, and anyone saying differently is still lying to you.

 

출처 : Kansas city star