ABSTRACT

The United States has been at war in Afghanistan for nearly twenty years, with arguably no discernible end in sight. Yet there has been no public accounting of the costs of the on-going conflict, either for Afghanistan or America. While the war’s destruction is readily visible throughout much of the Afghan countryside, it is no less profoundly damaging to the social and political fabric of the United States. As the costs for this conflict come due, the U.S. will be faced with a bill it may be ill-equipped to pay – not only financially, but socially and politically as well. Indeed, Afghanistan may be the war that ultimately destroys American democracy as we know it.

抽象的

美国在阿富汗开战已有近二十年，可以说没有明显的终点。然而，无论是阿富汗还是美国，都没有公开说明这场持续不断的冲突所造成的损失。尽管在阿富汗大部分乡村地区都可以轻易看到战争的破坏，但它对美国的社会和政治结构也造成了深远的破坏。随着这场冲突的代价到期，美国将面临其可能无力支付的法案–不仅在财务上，而且在社会和政治上。确实，阿富汗可能是最终摧毁我们所知道的美国民主的战争。