Just in one week, Pentagon officials announced they see no security threat in bringing Middle Eastern personnel to train on our military bases, while they believe there is a threat if we don’t continue the Kabul urban renewal project, aka the Afghan war. At the same time, another decorated soldier died over there, just after Congress passed a defense bill dealing with everything except for defense of our soldiers. “Invade the world, invite the world” is still the guiding vision of our broken Pentagon leaders.

Sgt. 1st Class Michael Goble, a Green Beret and Bronze Star recipient, was completing his final tour in Afghanistan when he was killed Monday in the northern Kunduz province, in a roadside bombing. His remains were flown home to his family on Christmas day. Whereas in years past, a soldier solemnly removing his hat when informing the family members of the death was able to look the loved ones in the eyes and tell them how the soldier died while we were taking vital ground in a clear mission, today there are no words to describe the vanity of the mission.

This year, 24 soldiers have died in Afghanistan, the most since 2014. Every single special ops group has lost a soldier this year. This is two and a half years since Trump promised a new strategy there. But as I noted at the time, there is no strategy. The Afghans are just as compromised as ever. Our soldiers are engaged in the most dangerous combat — counterinsurgency patrolling in villages where they are ambushed, often by the very forces they are “mentoring.”

We can have the strongest military in the world, but there is no way we can send isolated units into these types of cities on foot patrol and leave them there indefinitely without any defensive lines or strategic offensive vision, while any suicide bomber dressed as a civilian can attack them directly or with a roadside bomb. This isn’t a war; this is a social work operation in a war zone – the worst combination of all.