Eric Swergold on the war in Afghanistan

To the Editor: 

For investors, there is a simple way to think about the U.S. experience in Afghanistan.  Twenty years ago, you bought a stock for $100. The investment lost $4 dollars a year and is now worth $20.  You finally have had enough and give it to your trader to sell, and he butchers the sale and gets you out at $5. 

President George W. Bush is the analyst who got you in at $100, and President Joe Biden is the trader who got you out at $5. Now, set politics aside and remember the trillions of dollars we spent under both Republicans and Democrats and, in human terms, the U.S. soldiers who are dead or wounded.  The tragedy was the entire 20 years, not the last 20 days. 

~ Eric Swergold, Mill Valley, Calif., Barron's Mailbag, August 28, 2021

November 19, 2001