Kerry, a friend of mine, questioned my reasoning in the above column because “Since the initial impetus for invading Afghanistan was to neutralize al Qaeda and prevent another 9/11 — and the U.S. succeeded in that objective for 20 years — I wouldn’t call it a complete failure.”

I responded: “I guess you did not read my linked text, where I explain why the war on terror makes no sense.”

In the email back, I read: “I hadn’t read your linked text. I just did, and it is certainly a different take on the War on Terror than you will normally read. Yet, I find that I agree with much in that article, so thanks for directing me to it.”