Seventeen years, going on eighteen, we've doubled down on the same failed strategy for the umpteenth time.

U.S. military aircraft deployed more munitions against targets in Afghanistan during the first 10 months of this year than during any other full calendar year since the Air Force began documenting monthly bomb usage there in 2006, according to new data from the Air Forces Central Command.

Between January and October of 2018, U.S. forces dropped 5,982 bombs in Afghanistan, according to the data recorded by AFCENT’s Combined Air Operations Center, a 37% increase from the 4,361 munitions deployed during all of 2017.

Despite dropping all these bombs, the Afghan government controls just 56 percent of the country, down from 72 percent in 2015.

This news inspired me to list some of our highlights in this forever war.

October 14, 2001: Bush rejects Taliban offer to hand Bin Laden over

President George Bush rejected as "non-negotiable" an offer by the Taliban to discuss turning over Osama bin Laden if the United States ended the bombing in Afghanistan.

Returning to the White House after a weekend at Camp David, the president said the bombing would not stop, unless the ruling Taliban "turn [bin Laden] over, turn his cohorts over, turn any hostages they hold over." He added, "There's no need to discuss innocence or guilt. We know he's guilty".

October 27, 2001: U.S. PLANES BOMB A RED CROSS SITE

American warplanes bombed and largely destroyed the same Red Cross complex in Kabul that they struck 10 days ago, an error the Pentagon admitted tonight, saying it occurred because military planners had picked the wrong target.

The bombing took place just after a detailed review by Pentagon and Red Cross officials of the places where the relief agency has installations in Afghanistan. That meeting, which followed the first bombing of the Red Cross compound, was designed to prevent exactly what happened today.

One of the American aircraft that had been ordered to hit the Red Cross supply warehouses missed its target and hit a residential neighborhood instead.

July 1, 2002: US bomb blunder kills 30 at Afghan wedding

American military officials were last night trying to explain one of their worst blunders during the nine-month war in Afghanistan after a US plane mistakenly targeted a house full of wedding guests, killing at least 30 of them...
Survivors of the attack said several guests had just fired their Kalashnikovs into the air, as is traditional in Pashtun wedding ceremonies. A US air patrol over-head wrongly concluded it was coming under fire and responded with devastating force.

An AC-130 helicopter gun-ship and B-52 bomber blasted the scene, leaving scores of people dead - among them women and children - and at least 40 injured.

July 6, 2008: Haska Menya wedding massacre

On July 6, 2008, a large number of Afghan civilians were walking in an area called Kamala in Haska Meyna district of the eastern province of Nangarhar.[6][7] When the group stopped for a rest, it was hit in succession by three bombs from United States military aircraft.[8] The first bomb hit a group of children who were ahead of the main procession, killing them instantly.[8] A few minutes later, the aircraft returned and dropped a second bomb in the center of the group, killing a large number of women.[8] The bride and two girls survived the second bomb, but were killed by a third bomb while trying to escape from the area.

Relatives from the groom's village stated it was not possible to identify the remains, and buried the 47 victims in 28 graves.

July 11, 2008: US air strike wiped out Afghan wedding party, inquiry finds

A US air strike killed 47 civilians, including 39 women and children, as they were travelling to a wedding in Afghanistan, an official inquiry found today. The bride was among the dead.
...
The US military initially denied any civilians had been killed.

The US is facing similar charges over strikes two days earlier in another border area of Afghanistan.

November 6, 2008: U.S. Airstrike Reported to Hit Afghan Wedding

Tensions between American forces and the Afghan government over civilian casualties from coalition airstrikes spiked again on Wednesday with a report by Afghan officials that a missile from a United States aircraft had killed 40 civilians and wounded 28 others at a wedding party in the southern province of Kandahar.

Afghan officials said casualties from the airstrike, on Monday, included women and children.

December 28, 2014: U.S. Ends Its War in Afghanistan

The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan ended its combat mission Sunday, marking the formal—if not real—end to the longest war in American history.

April 29, 2016: Pentagon: U.S. bombing of Afghanistan hospital not a 'war crime'

The Pentagon announced Friday that 16 military personnel will be disciplined for the deadly U.S. strike on a hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, in October, but maintained that it was not a war crime because it resulted from unintentional human error and equipment failure.
..."The administrative punishments announced by the U.S. today are out of proportion to the destruction of a protected medical facility, the deaths of 42 people, the wounding of dozens of others, and the total loss of vital medical services to hundreds of thousands of people. The lack of meaningful accountability sends a worrying signal to warring parties, and is unlikely to act as a deterrent against future violations of the rules of war," the statement said.

October 5, 2018: Airstrike kills four, wounds eight in Afghan wedding convoy

An airstrike by security forces killed four people and wounded eight others who were part of a wedding procession in the southeast province of Kandahar, officials said on Friday.
...Afghan officials said the incident was still being investigated and it was unclear whether the casualties had been caused by Afghan or U.S. aircraft, both of which flew missions in support of the operation.