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The citizens of the entire first world of nations have been impacted by this in one way or another. The scars of those that served will never heal.
Fire ants keep coming to mind, try as we might with all the resources and technology there is no way to combat something so ingrained into a region.
It was thought that Osama was hiding in Afghanistan. Tora Bora to be exact. Supposedly Osama was found by the laundry hanging out. DC is so screwed up, it takes them years to correct. Sometimes decades. Even the JCS get it wrong. I thought we were in Afghanistan for lithium deposits. Maybe it just became too unmanageable and not worth it.
Some Marine general many years ago stated we fight a lot of wars for Wall Street, that it was a racket.
Reminds me of the story, NASA spends millions of dollars for a pen that will write in space. The Russians just use a pencil.
Bushmaster I see the purpose and message of your analogy but it is not accurate
the reason that nasa did not use pencils is because graphite is an electrical conductor and after a fire on apollo 11 the owner of fisher pens wanted to do what he could to help the program and invested his own money,
over a million dollars reportedly, to find a solution for pens writing in space without the risk of fire
When we went into Afghanistan I told my sons to pay attention.
It would be their generations Vietnam.
Sadly I was not wrong.
An empty war based on lies
Enriching the pockets of a few
Breaking the bodies and hearts of many
Leaving only a void
Afghanistan, where empires die.
To those that served there my heart is out to you.
Thank you
If we ever send privates into space, we'll find out what happens when you pop off the end of the space pen in zero g.
My point wasn't that we should've stayed. However, an argument could be made for that. My point was, we knew exactly what was going to happen because we saw it in Viet Nam and, to a lesser degree, several other places over the years since Viet Nam. We proven over and over we don't have the political stomach for fighting a war. Politicians want the benefits of using the military and our wealth to win a war without having to do what it takes to win a war. And that's not possible. As soon as we went there everyone knew it was going to be a cluster fuck when we left...except the politicians that kept lying about it. We would likely be far better off, and just as safe, if we hadn't gone. By the time we got UBL no one really gave a shit about UBL any longer. And now we've just fucked it up royally for everyone who's left over there and can't leave.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric P
The sheep grow fearing the wolf, in the end, they are slaughtered by the shepherd.
Folks can legitimately argue about the validity of 20 years of mission operations, but recent history indicated a reasonable stability point, with ~10,000 US troops sequestered in a few secure locations. They were able to strike hot spots as needed, and were succeeding in keeping the lid on things without excessive casualties. All that has now been lost due a run away mentality.
And again what do we gain?Quote:
Originally Posted by Danimal
Germany was occupied to hold back a legitimate threat in the soviet union.
And without sounding racist, America was founded and built by european immigrants so we had an interest in rebuilding our old country. Europe is equal in values, civilization and religion. Afghanistan... not so much. There is no historic or emotional tie to them.
Geologist and Engineers must have found out their mineral reserves would have much higher mining cost.
jk