New York Times columnist Bob Herbert led the UW Law School's annual Robert W. Kastenmeier lecture Thursday.
Herbert said the justifications for the Afghanistan war are trivial and not worth the destruction for Americans and Afghanis.
""This is what war is: Suffering and bloodshed and terror and death,"" Herbert said. ""It's a horror that's almost unimaginable to those who have not experienced it, and if we are going to subject our young people to that kind of hell, there ought to be a damn good reason for it.""
Herbert said Americans do not know the purpose of the ongoing war.
""The problem, folks, is not with the troops. It's with us,"" Herbert said. ""We're fighting these terrible wars with no real sense of what we're doing, what we're trying to achieve, and why we haven't succeeded after all these years.""
Herbert said he advocates for change and awareness to end the war through his columns and lectures.
""I would like people to stand up, speak out, demonstrate if you are so inclined, but raise your voices … I want to hear people, not remain silent,"" Herbert said. ""I want to hear their voices.""
Herbert said he hopes through increasing the public's outcry, the struggle of the war will not rely solely on the soldiers.
""We need to share in the sacrifice of that war,"" Herbert said. ""We all need to participate in that fight, we need to support that fight, we need to pay for that fight and we need to recognize what that fight is doing to us here at home in the United States.""
