What is the legacy of America’s longest war? After 20 years in Afghanitsan, America finally called it quit and exited the country. This book chronicled one infantry officer, his experience in Afghanistan, leaving the military and now helping those stranded in the country after the pullout announcement.
The title “The Fifth Act” refers to the five acts of a Shakespearean. The fifth act being the final act in when the story reaches its conclusion. In the book, the fifth act refers to the final phase of the war in Afghanistan, which began in 2014 and ended with the withdrawal of US troops in 2021.
What went wrong in this war towards the end?
- Lack of country foundation: The country never had a workable foundation it could stand on without US’s involvement. The US knew how to get in but not how to build a sustainable institution and rule of law. Sometimes maintaining and institution-building is the more important part to consider
- Lack of effective local military: The early decision to use national conscription for its military means the loss of benefit of tribal familiarity. This meant the military never gained the trust of the local community. Understanding the local dynamics is essential towards a long-term strategy in a foreign land.
- Competing priority: Iraqi war meant less focus and resource on this war. Perhaps understanding how competing wars would interact with each other would be good to understand from the beginning
- No definition of winning: It’s difficult to have the right narrative to winning in Afghanistan and US never understood that dilemma, hence no clear support and resources. Being clearer on the realistic end will help in any situation.
- Political industrial complex: The close relationship between government and (military and political) industry, and the way in which this relationship has influenced U.S. policy and actions in Afghanistan. THe subsequent political decision and allocation of resource arguably led to the prolongation of a costly and ultimately unwinnable conflict. Understanding this dynamics would have been helpful towards how to strategize and procuring resources
- Chaos of the pullout: There seems to be little care or planning given to how the US was going to leave and the subsequent collapse of time, space and hierarchy was tragic and predictable. Don’t make a decision on things you don’t know how to operationalize.
The story focuses more on the human story of those who struggle to get out of the country or those trying their best to rescue their friends anywhere they can. It’s sad to see how in the end, personal connections, not institutions or anything else, were what saved or doomed a lot of people. We can only hope the right people learn the heavy lessons from this war.