Most Americans say war in Afghanistan not
worth fighting. Have we learned any lessons?
McClatchy Newspapers,
by
Andrew Malcolm
Original Article
Posted By: SurferLad,
8/20/2019 6:13:14 AM
If you were born on that terrifying morning of 9/11, you could today be in military training to join that very same faraway war that started immediately after in Afghanistan. That’s how long the United States’ longest war has been. As he has for years, President Donald Trump says he wants to withdraw most American troops. [Snip] The cover story for the withdrawal of 13,000 U.S. troops is a Taliban commitment to
Reply 1 - Posted by:
F15 Gork 8/20/2019 6:25:23 AM (No. 156867)
Some of the invaders in the history of Afghanistan include: Maurya Empire of ancient India, Alexander the Great of Macedon, Umar, an Arab Caliphate, Genghis Khan of Mongolia, Timur of Persia and Central Asia, the Mughal Empire of India, various Persian Empires, the British Empire, the Sikh Empire, the Soviet Union, and most recently a coalition force of NATO troops, the majority from the United States. The place is, has been and always will be a chocolate mess. Pull out and drop the big one.
4 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Locarno 8/20/2019 6:44:12 AM (No. 156882)
Like most of his articles, Andrew is constantly engaged in specious reasoning and half-truths. Nevertheless, there usually is some interesting things to pick from here. Namely that a plurality of 'veterans and members of the public' believe the war in Afghanistan is not worth fighting. I recall a large plurality supporting military intervention in Sept-Oct 2001. The point being we're not fighting a war, as much as we are building the nation, again. To fight a war, you send your troops in with as much support as necessary to resoundly defeat the enemy and secure the peace.
But like most of our military endeavors since WWII, it doesn't go that way. Politics and political correctness get in the way of the soldiers doing their jobs. Not to mention our illustrious fifth estate constantly harping on our troops, and what do you have? You guessed it: a stalemate. Unable to secure a victory, and unwilling to do what it takes to achieve one, we're stuck fighting a hopeless cause. Mainly because we allowed politicians to run things, rather than our commanders on the ground. So have we learned anything? Based on past experience, my answer would be we haven't learned a damn thing. Now if we could stop sacrificing our sons and daughters trying to clean up third-world hell-holes, we may yet learn there are other ways to achieve our goals.
11 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
OldSelzer 8/20/2019 8:27:09 AM (No. 156988)
Dubya routed the Taliban with Special Forces on horseback and some CIA folks and C-130 gunships. For most Americans, it was over -- until Dubya's successor foolishly proclaimed that the REAL war with Islamic terror forces was not in Iraq -- where we had already rid that land of the monster-regime of Saddam Hussein-- but back in Afghanistan -- where we had no seaport for resupply of aviation fuel or diesel or ammo, or food and fresh water -- all of which were unavailable 'locally.' Every combat soldier needs 22 pounds of support a day. Go figure what that costs. Prior to Obama's reopening that 'war' Afghanistan was a simmering, backwater cesspool of that could no longer cause us trouble.
Pull the plug on this show once and for all. It is a fool's errand. Leave a reminder with the Afghans that after we go, we can always come back if they ever again start cozying up to Al Qaeda types...
2 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
worried 8/20/2019 8:40:00 AM (No. 156999)
Remember Obama's order that we couldn't bomb a truck convoy until we first informed the enemy so the innocent truck drivers could get out first? That wasn't Afghanistan, but gives you an idea of some of the rules of engagement foisted on our troops by the democrats. Similar to Vietnam, where the North refused to negotiate until Nixon ordered the bombing of Hanoi, which was previously off limits. But I am all for withdrawing our troops from that Hell hole.
4 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
TrueBlueWfan 8/20/2019 10:31:06 AM (No. 157160)
I would love to pull out all the troops from Afghanistan, but then it would quickly revert to the way it was 20 yrs. ago.
I say we get all the women and girls out that want out, then we get out too. Leave the stinkhole to the Taliban men and let them abuse each other. It is not a perfect solution because ISIS or al Qaeda will move in, and I don't necessarily want more 7th century immigrants here.
0 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
chance_232 8/20/2019 11:30:29 AM (No. 157236)
If your goal isnt to crush your enemy and win, then no, its not worth it.
The actual war was very satisfying. The nation building afterwards, not so much.
0 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
Strike3 8/20/2019 11:42:08 AM (No. 157257)
It only took the Soviets fifteen years to figure out that Afghanistan is a black hole. Apparently they were smarter than our government is. Somebody needs to grow the poppies to supply Asia so I say let them go for it and occasionally drop a few big bombs on any concentration of terrorist camps to keep them on the run. In order to get the women out of there one would have to get Islam out of the women first and that's not going to happen.
0 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
winnie1 8/20/2019 12:10:23 PM (No. 157287)
Make a Parking Lot out of Afghanistan! LEVEL IT!
1 person likes this.
Below, you will find ...
Most Recent Articles posted by "SurferLad"
and
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)