Our mission in Afghanistan hasn't been for nothing WRITING on Tuesday in the Fairfax press, Australian National University academic Hugh White makes the most damning case for the "total failure" of Australia's mission in Afghanistan. He claims that our involvement in the conflict from the start "never made sense" and was a fantasy based on foundations that our government, opposition and Australian Defence Force "all know to be false." White exposes what he says is "the real reason" for our involvement: support for the US.