Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- November 28th last year passed pretty quietly here. But in some ways it was more significant a date than today. That was when, by my calculations, U.S.-led coalition troops had been in Afghanistan longer than the Soviet Union was.
Today, they've been here 10 years.
That's almost impossible to contemplate. The time has drifted by, measured more in sacrifice and expenditure: The numbers of young soldiers who risked a lot to join the military and won't be going home. The immeasurable amount of money spent here, on roads that will be hard to maintain once the coalition leaves, on homes in Dubai for Afghan officials who should have known better.
Cruder calculations suggest the money spent on war each month here could alternatively be given straight to Afghans -- hundreds of dollars each a month. That would have been something in 2001, but now the huge inflation of war makes it comparative small change.
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