Vanni Cappelli: In the National Guard shootings, the Afghan War comes home

The recent shooting of two National Guard soldiers has two levels of significance, which are deeply intertwined. First, it is the latest example of the so-called “Green-on-Blue” attacks, a common phenomenon which saw Afghan forces killing their own American allies, though it is the first such attack to take place here.

Second, it is yet another instance of the United States’ heavy involvement in the successive Afghanistan wars “coming home” — a multi-dimensional phenomenon that began on 9/11.

Over four years after the chaotic and ignominious end of the American war in Afghanistan, its shots are still being fired and American soldiers are still falling — though no longer on the gloomy plains of Kandahar or in the dark hills of Nuristan, but now in the shadow of the White House itself.

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