Bad news brings worse news sometimes. After the economic bombshell this week, the US has lost a SEAL team, its elite force, in a helicopter attack in Afghanistan. The mood in the country is somber. It is a sad day for the nation, and a sad day for the families of those who have lost family members in this tragic attack. For sure, these men in uniform died doing what they loved to do.

War is a bad thing, and a war against a non-specific enemy is even worse. Who are the Taliban? Who is Al-Qaeda? In a country where a non-Muslim is an infidel, the US cannot win against the Taliban. It is like fighting against the wind.

Afghanistan is and will remain a country run by warlords. The answer to avoid future casualties is to retreat and let the Afghans neutralize themselves. As the Arabs of Egypt say, “It makes no sense to try to forge the iron while it is still cold.”