The mass media narrative is that the Americans are being humbled and humiliated as they are driven out of Afghanistan, and that it was all for nought. I stopped believing the mainstream media ages ago, and when they say anything I automatically assume they are lying and the truth is the exact opposite of what they say it is.
Could some good have actually come of this?
Welp - the days of the ragheads flying passenger planes through our sky scrapers seem to be over. While American and Canadian forces occupied the country, clinics, schools, court houses and police stations were built. Afghans were taught how to run them. Maybe some of that sparked some hope in folks for a better life other than the one offered by the Taliban? A lot of very chitty moslems were killed, and the drones had a hayday picking off Al Quidah operatives. Maybe some of the worst ones were taken out?
For those of you that have lost family in Afghanistan... it wasn't a waste. America and Canada and others went in with the intent of leaving that place better than how they found it. That they failed is no sin. The sin is in saying it was a waste and wrong to try.
Who knows. Have yourself a great Sunday.
Nothing but wishful thinking on your part. It was a criminal enterprise from the get go and a terrible waste of our country's best and most noble warriors. Just because you wish it meant something good won't make it so.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to disagree here. Because the reason was not noble, except in the minds of the naive troops. Our rulers did it for fun and profit. The West is ruled by Evil Phuquers that are The New World Order.
ReplyDeleteOur troops did what they were told. They weren't naive. They were under orders. When a person raises that right hand, they cannot pick and choose which orders to obey. That being said, they were ushered into Iraq and Afghanistan as the result of bogus info given to a moron president. Why were we in those countries? Iraq had the lardgest untapped oil reserves left in the world. If we didn't get in there, China sure as hell would have. Afghanistan is one of two countries with large deposits of rare earth elements, the other being China. REE are used in our weapons guidance systems. Wouldn't it suck if China was able to corner the market on REE? In other words, our guys were sent into these places as mercenaries for Biggoil and the Military Industrial Complex, yes, but they were also sent in there to secure our future. Unfortunately this outing was handled the same as Viet Nam, and so had no other outcome possible other than that of Viet Nam... The government destroys everything it touches...
ReplyDeletePerhaps fellas. I’m just grabbing at straws and maybe I am full of shit.
ReplyDeleteI’ll throw a couple more points out there though. Like it or not, both our countries have large legitimate holdings and assets in the third world. Do we abandon those because some local two bit warlord decides to steal them? Look at the outcomes and play the game: what could have happened vs what actually did?
If America hadn’t taken Saddam out… he’d probably be four times stronger today than he was 20 years ago. He’d have a chokehold on the international oil supply. The Israelis would be shitting bricks with a monster like that on their doorstep. As would our allies in other parts of the Arab world.
What would Afghanistan be doing had they not been invaded? They’d be making money hand over fist exporting terror. Those training camps are largely gone now. The people that ran them and organized them are largely dead.
Criminal enterprise? Nonsense - this is a case of the cop trying to do his job. One that no one else will do too. I dunno who said it, but he hit the nail right on the head when he said that “America is not what’s wrong with the world…”
But whadda I know?
the days of the ragheads flying passenger planes through our sky scrapers seem to be over
ReplyDeleteJulius Caesar was warned by a soothsayer to beware the Ides of March. On his way to the Senate that morning, Caesar saw the soothsayer and dismissively said "The Ides of March have come." "Indeed," replied the soothsayer. "But they have not departed."
Thus sayeth Suetonius.
But with the US gone, who will guard the CIA's poppy fields?
ReplyDeleteSorry Glen, I'm in agreement with the others. I called when Shrub, Jr. was running his mouth, when he announced the invasion of Afghanistan. It was Vietnam all over again. And the pisser of the whole deal is, we (the US) had a hand in destabilizing the whole area to begin with.
ReplyDeleteWhat would you have done, post 911 Judy?
DeleteThe problem in that area started more than a hundred years before 9/11. First the Brits and then us, stirring the political pot. Who is 'friendly' to us? Who will let us profit from their natural resources? Who will aid us in getting what we want? Who can we use to hold the people at bay that don't want us there? We created that mess. Remember Col. Oliver North? He was talking about Osama bin-Laden back in the late 80s during Congressional Hearings and his concerns were dismissed. We trained the guy, we trained the Taliban. The problem is the USA is not innocent. If you poke a hornets nest, you shouldn't be surprised when you get stung. What would I have done? I wouldn't have been there in the past, stirring the pot, for future generations to suffer the consequences; and that not only includes the US but also Afghanis. There are no good answers.
DeleteI figure we were done within a year in Afghanistan. But then mission creep set in. And it sucked money and lives away from everyone involved. That tells me there wasn't a plan to finish it.
ReplyDeleteI had a family member on the ground in the 'Stan. They weren't allowed to take out the bad. He said within 4 months they knew who and where. They were held back.
Maybe the heroin was important to the alphabet agencies, but we don't have any mining there. No one can protect it. And as far as Iraq goes, I remember loads of yellow cake being flown out, and also huge convoys heading west into Syria. Same Syria that popped chemical weapons on their own population later. It's there if you willing to see it. Our big mistake was underestimating them and having political caproliths in the DOD write the ROE.