American elites talk a lot about peace. But what they really love are wars. The media elites covering President Trump’s recent speech on Afghanistan were praiseworthy of Trump’s sober tone even though, in reality, the speech heralded open-ended war. No troop levels were announced. No timeline was provided.

No one knows the cost in blood and treasure. But that did not stop the pursuit of a quixotic idea that the U.S. will kill its way out of the problem of terrorism in Afghanistan.

The Cost of Wars Project at Brown University estimates that since 9-11, America’s war efforts in Afghanistan total $2 trillion. Adding war spending in Iraq and Pakistan to the equation puts the total at $5 trillion, nearly 25 percent of U.S. GDP in 2016. The total death toll in Afghanistan is estimated at over 111,000. More than 2,300 American soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice.

While more than 42,000 Taliban and other militants have been killed, over 35,000 Taliban fighters still remain in action. By some estimates, there are more Taliban militants today than at the start of the U.S. war efforts about 16 years ago. And, despite years of heavy American footprint in Afghanistan, the Taliban today control 37 percent of the country.

So, Trump’s logic is what could not be achieved with over 100,000 U.S. troops, can now be achieved with a few thousand more troops beyond the 8,500 still stationed there?

In his speech, the Commander-in-Chief said, “We are not nation-building again. We are killing terrorists.” What about the more than 40,000 we killed so far? Why did that not end terrorism? He went on to assert that his new approach will be, “the integration of all instruments of American power—diplomatic, economic, and military—toward a successful outcome.”

Did the previous two presidents not try something similar? In fact, many points of Trump’s speech closely resembled Obama’s 2009 speech on Afghanistan.

Besides the fact that 12 million fewer people watched Trump’s speech compared to that of Obama’s speech eight years ago, perhaps the biggest departure was Trump’s strident language about Pakistan. Trump correctly diagnosed that a large number of terrorist organizations are active in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He called it, “the highest concentration in any region anywhere in the world.”

Why then does his Muslim-ban (euphemistically called the travel-ban) not include Pakistan and Afghanistan?

Pakistan’s long history of flirting with terrorist organizations is indeed a problem but U.S. troops also use Pakistan as an entry point into Afghanistan. Without Pakistan’s cooperation, the “new” Afghanistan strategy will be just as successful as the past ones, which is to say not very. Asking Pakistan to, “demonstrate its commitment to civilization, order and to peace,” may get a few applause lines across the border in India but will not make the people of Pakistan endear to American efforts.

It is noteworthy that Pakistanis have sacrificed their lives standing up to Taliban and the myriad of other extremists that have tormented their region.

Pakistan’s love-hate relationship with extremists is rooted in its own regional struggle with neighboring India. Previous administrations have always tried to be nuanced about this delicate power struggle between two nuclear armed nations. Abandoning this strategic patience seems like a dangerous turn towards more militarism in an already volatile region.

Moreover, how can Trump bring diplomatic pressure to bear while at the same time leaving key positions in the State Department unfilled and cutting State Department budget at the same time?

The Trump speech has left many unanswered questions. Trump vowed that, “from now on, victory will have a clear definition.” But he never defined what victory will actually look like. As long as America’s war efforts remain shouldered by a disproportionately small group of volunteers and as long as politicians keep selling that we can fight our existential war without asking American’s for any sacrifice in treasure (taxes), militarism will continue to drain our blood and treasure without bringing us closer to any meaningful resolution.

Read more at http://www.patheos.com/blogs/altmuslim/2017/08/trumps-speech-afghanistan-pakistan-signals-unending-war/

This post has been co-authored with Rabbi Jack Romberg, Temple Israel, Tallahassee, FL.

We write this as two friends, a Jew and a Muslim, both with leadership roles in our respective communities. Together we have broken bread, facilitated interfaith dialogue, and come to the realization that we have the same goal of peace, understanding and respect for people of all faiths and backgrounds. The recent spate of violence between Hamas and Israel presents a new test for us. Yet, in the end, even as we might have some disagreement on the details, or in parsing the conflict, we find that we share the same hopes, ideals and values. We both must wrestle with some inconvenient truths.

Whether the blood spilled is Israeli or Palestinian, it is red. Responsibility for spilling that blood is on the hands of both Israel and Hamas. Both of us recognize that while the rocket attacks on Israel are a despicable act of terror, we also both recognize it is the civilian Palestinian population that is paying the steeper price with its blood. In looking for reasons why this situation exists, one of us would first point to Hamas’s refusal to accept the existence of Israel, its constant use of terror tactics, and its indiscriminate launching of rockets against Israeli civilians. The other would emphasize the brutal blockade of Gaza that has created shortages of the basic necessities of survival for the residents of Gaza, the refusal of the current Israeli government to work seriously towards a two-state solution, and the horrifyingly high level of civilian deaths, especially children, with each Israeli reprisal.

Despite our obvious deep connections to different sides in this conflict, we both are appalled by the never-ending cycle of violence — rockets get fired, Israel responds. Israelis keep running to shelters, Palestinian civilians keep dying. Both of us are appalled by the evidence that Hamas is placing innocent Palestinians in harm’s way to score sympathy points. Both of us are appalled by Israel’s shelling of four Palestinian teens playing on a beach while professing not to be targeting children. We are both tired of narratives that cast one side as “good” and the other as “evil.” We both believe that Israelis and Palestinians have a right to exist in peace, prosperity and freedom.

Neither of us are politicians. Neither of us are experts in foreign policy. We do not have any understandings of the palace intrigues that take place in the great halls of power. So we offer no long term diplomatic solutions. But we do have opinions that are aspirational without being utopian. Start with an immediate cease fire. The warring parties need to cease and desist immediately. No more Hamas rocket fire. No more Israeli shelling. And most importantly, both sides need to not cheer the death and destruction of the other. War is never holy. Perhaps sometimes war can be just, but there is nothing holy or just about Hamas targeting Israeli civilians or the death of Palestinian children caused by Israeli bombardment.

Next, the borders of Gaza must open and the blockades by Israel and Egypt must end. Hamas must be disarmed and if necessary, peace monitors can be put in place to insure both sides abide by the agreement. Let us recognize that Hamas is a failed organization whose rockets have not purchased one ounce of improvement for the Palestinians of Gaza. Given the tools to create a workable economy and government in Gaza, they have chosen violence and despair for Palestinians. Let us recognize that by perpetuating the blockade of Gaza, in essence creating a large open air prison, Israel has created a situation that breeds violence.

Both of us believe that peace will come to the Middle East only when all sides love their own more than they hate their adversaries. Peace will come when the benefits of living with each other exceeds the cost of killing each other. Peace will come when our own country, the United States, acts as a true neutral broker and not heed those voices that marginalize Arabs and Muslims and sees further militarization as a solution to the conflicts in the region. Israelis and Palestinians both have a proud history of survival and heroism against all odds. Both need to recognize that an eye for an eye only makes the world go blind.

Parvez Ahmed a Fulbright Scholar teaches at the University of North Florida. Rabbi Jack Romberg is with Temple Israel in Tallahassee, FL.