Afghanistan

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SoonerP226

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Here's a take on Afghanistan from two guys who led troops into battle there, and I think anyone who served in Afghanistan should listen to what they have to say, particularly if you're questioning whether your service meant anything. I'll tell you up front that I agree with them: your service absolutely meant something.

 

Tanis143

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Its hard to change a population when that population either doesn't want to change or doesn't want to risk their lives to make the change. The simple fact is that the Taliban never left. They were always there, hiding in plain sight. The people over there knew it. They wouldn't rat them out because they knew it would be a death sentence. All the Taliban had to do was sit back and wait us out. The only reason that would get into skirmishes with us is to raise the death toll and make regular citizens pressure for a pull out. The longer the wait, the more gear that would go to Afghan troops to drop when we left.

My brother doesn't talk much about his tour there, but he predicted this would happen. That was well over a decade ago.
 

RickN

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They never left Pakistan either and have slowly been building to take over that country as well. They were doing that before we invaded Afghanistan too. What we DID do, was keep them from attacking us for 20 years and their focus off a quick take over of a nuclear armed Pakistan.

Oh according to John Bolton the worst thing about the Biden pull out is all the weapons we left which will soon be used to help take over Pakistan.
 

SoonerP226

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Its hard not to feel that way. A lot of us saw this coming.
It really didn't take much of a crystal ball to see this coming. You can't look at it as a failed nation building venture; that's was strictly Obama's folly. There's far too much tribalism in Afghanistan for them to form a coherent national government. Hell, just listen to the stories of getting Afghan interpreters who couldn't speak the local dialect.

The only way you can look at it that makes any sense is to see it for what it was: for twenty years, you took the fight to the enemy and prevented another 9/11 on American soil. I think most Americans would agree that was a worthwhile expenditure of blood and treasure, even if the current administration is completely bungling the exit.

To all the servicemen and women who laid it all on the line in Afghanistan, just like your fathers in Vietnam, you did everything your country asked, and more, no matter how badly the politicrits in DC screwed it up. Your country may not realize how grateful it should be, but you should know that some of us are incredibly grateful right now.
 

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