Steve Chapman on How Afghanistan Has Gone From Bad to Worse

This year, 176 American military personnel have been killed, bringing the total to more than 2,000 dead and 15,000 wounded. At the current rate, 2012 will be the third bloodiest year of the war. We have also lavished upward of half a trillion dollars on the effort at a time when we are not exactly flush with revenue. All our sacrifices, writes Steve Chapman, appear to be in vain. Afghan civilian casualties tripled between 2006 and this year.