Afghanistan

[sdoyel]

What is everyone’s thoughts about what is going on over there?

Does this prove it was a waste of our time?

Should we have left troops there?

Is there anything we could’ve done differently?

What happens now?

[Overlander]

The result would be the same if we pulled out 15 years ago, or 15 years in the future.

What a waste of resources and lives.

[zsn]

“No one has won a land war……”

Felt good at that time that we were doing something in response to 9/11. That’s the best thing we can say about the whole experience

[Leawood]

None of this is easy.

1. President Bush said we must go. Very few objected. Under the circumstances at the time, I still think it was the right thing to do.

2. It was not a waste of time, until now.

3. Yes. Girls and young women had access to learning, something we take for granted. That needs to be preserved but won't.

4. Yes. Go slow.

5. First, this is on Biden. He either didn't read the intelligence or ignored it. He was a Senator during the Saigon airlift. He knows better. You can't blame Trump for this one because he is too dumb.

What happens now? I don't know. I watched C-Span from the early hours this morning.

But I do remember this: When Saigon fell, a Vietnamese family (6 kids/parents/one bathroom) moved to our neighborhood. Our Parish rented the house. They spoke French and Vietnamese. I walked to school. SME, with a girl my age. We couldn't communicate, but she was in all the Honors Math and Science classes we had. She needed help translating her notes from the French teacher at school.

I don't know the answer. I do know this: We were in Vietnam in 1948. You see things through. We are not doing that here. People, nations, remember when you fail them.

[ousdahl]

I posted a tweet with similar sentiments, but it’s just wild that we spent 20 years there and yet the taliban still takes it over in like a week

[Mjl]

Might have been better to leave earlier, when some of the Afghan military remembered a life under Taliban rule.

[dolomite]

What irks me is that the U.S. will probably send aid when the Taliban comes on their knees begging for forgiveness. That’s when you need a tough President.

[jhawks99]

We took our eye off the ball when we invaded Iraq. Possibly our worst decision as a nation ever. After that, this ending for Afghanistan was inevitable.

[zsn]

So we spent close to a trillion dollars and who knows how many US and Allied (not to mention Afghan) lives so that Afghan girls and young women can get to schools, for about two decades?

Couldn’t we have found a better way to accomplish this?

[sdoyel]

Dare we turn to Fox News to see how they are hammering Biden over this?

Which (for the record) is totally ridiculous… This is a failure spanning 3 administrations.

Biden got our troops out, like we wanted…

[Deleted User 887]

So we spent close to a trillion dollars and who knows how many US and Allied (not to mention Afghan) lives so that Afghan girls and young women can get to schools, for about two decades?

Couldn’t we have found a better way to accomplish this?

Yes, of course we could have - but we didn't.
The self proclaimed greatest country in the world likes to get involved (with good intentions) in nightmares that occur in other countries but then ultimately we fuck things up - or at least we don't "solve" what we set out to accomplish. Seems that's the American way in the 21st century. Not just in other countries but in our country too.

[Mjl]

Why are people blaming the US? Shouldn't we be blaming the Taliban?

[twocoach]

None of this is easy.

1. President Bush said we must go. Very few objected. Under the circumstances at the time, I still think it was the right thing to do.

2. It was not a waste of time, until now.

3. Yes. Girls and young women had access to learning, something we take for granted. That needs to be preserved but won't.

4. Yes. Go slow.

5. First, this is on Biden. He either didn't read the intelligence or ignored it. He was a Senator during the Saigon airlift. He knows better. You can't blame Trump for this one because he is too dumb.

What happens now? I don't know. I watched C-Span from the early hours this morning.

But I do remember this: When Saigon fell, a Vietnamese family (6 kids/parents/one bathroom) moved to our neighborhood. Our Parish rented the house. They spoke French and Vietnamese. I walked to school. SME, with a girl my age. We couldn't communicate, but she was in all the Honors Math and Science classes we had. She needed help translating her notes from the French teacher at school.

I don't know the answer. I do know this: We were in Vietnam in 1948. You see things through. We are not doing that here. People, nations, remember when you fail them.

There is no " seeing this through" because there will never be an end to what "this" is. No one can even define what "this" even was. At what point would this ever end? 20 years and the Afghan army still didn't give a shit at all.

[twocoach]

So we spent close to a trillion dollars and who knows how many US and Allied (not to mention Afghan) lives so that Afghan girls and young women can get to schools, for about two decades?

Couldn’t we have found a better way to accomplish this?

That isnt why we did it at all. That's just what we lean on to feel better about what we did which was mostly to line the pockets of some very influential companies and individuals.

[Mjl]

So we spent close to a trillion dollars and who knows how many US and Allied (not to mention Afghan) lives so that Afghan girls and young women can get to schools, for about two decades?

Couldn’t we have found a better way to accomplish this?

That isnt why we did it at all. That's just what we lean on to feel better about what we did which was mostly to line the pockets of some very influential companies and individuals.

In Afghanistan? No. We got attacked and needed someone to attack back. That's all this was.

[jhawks99]

I think Mjl is correct here. Iraq was all about oil. Afghanistan was because of 911. I wonder if we could have done some good if we kept our eyes on the goal of actually helping out the country instead of shifting focus to Iraq. It may not have worked, but we might have had a shot. And things my have been better today and going forward. Now it's just shit and it's going to get worse.

[zsn]

So we spent close to a trillion dollars and who knows how many US and Allied (not to mention Afghan) lives so that Afghan girls and young women can get to schools, for about two decades?

Couldn’t we have found a better way to accomplish this?

That isnt why we did it at all. That's just what we lean on to feel better about what we did which was mostly to line the pockets of some very influential companies and individuals.

In Afghanistan? No. We got attacked and needed someone to attack back. That's all this was.

Unfortunately both of you are correct. David Letterman was prescient when he said “when you send in your tax checks ensure that ‘Halliburton’ is spelled with two l’s”

[sdoyel]

Plenty of blame to go around, as I’ve said before but still…

[twocoach]

So we spent close to a trillion dollars and who knows how many US and Allied (not to mention Afghan) lives so that Afghan girls and young women can get to schools, for about two decades?

Couldn’t we have found a better way to accomplish this?

That isnt why we did it at all. That's just what we lean on to feel better about what we did which was mostly to line the pockets of some very influential companies and individuals.

In Afghanistan? No. We got attacked and needed someone to attack back. That's all this was.

Billions and billions of dollars per year in defense contracts up for grabs to massive defense contractors and oil companies but sure, that's all it was.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/20 ... /39092315/

https://psmag.com/news/the-war-in-afgha ... e-for-some

[MICHHAWK]

I am no military expert. So I will leave this to you experts.

But I do know that whatever this is, the current administration owns it.