I think the real reason for us to be there is Pakistan - not because we want to help Pakistan out but because we want to keep our cities from being nuked by a Pakistani bomb. The Taliban and al Qaeda have set their sights on more than just Afghanistan which has no strategic importance for us. However, should the Taliban be successful in toppling the Pakistani government and then allowing al Qaeda to have access to the nukes, the only question will be how many US cities are taken out. At that point not too many people will be worrying about free health care.