The Christian Science Monitor:  The U.S. has spent more in Afghanistan than it did rebuilding Europe after World War II. The effort has produced a mixed record that will shape future nation-building efforts.  Indeed, 18 years after they first arrived, U.S. troops remain locked in the longest war in American history, and the cost in blood and treasure has been high. More than 2,400 U.S. military personnel have died since 2001. And in the first nine months of 2019 alone, the United Nations counts 2,563 Afghan civilians killed. The Taliban insurgency now controls or has influence across more than half of Afghanistan and is advancing. Click here to read more (external link).