Afghanistan is a bottomless pit of destruction.. period.

[Peacetrain]

There is no winning in Afghanistan. Ask Russia. They finally had the good sense to get out in 1989 or so. Even in Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson was returning from ta dah.. Afghanistan in 1878.

It is a miserable little country that is run by tyrannical men

Good riddance,

[CanonRay]

1. I feel bad for the women and girls stuck there.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. So do I! And the musicians, and all who the Taliban hate. n/t

[Demovictory9]

20. Exactly..dont want free countries to turn their backs on the abused

[Marrah_Goodman]

2. I wish we could go house to house and offer a free escort to America for all the women and

Young children.

[Mopar151]

3. "I talked to a combat medic who did 3 tours there."

F'n MONGOLS couldn't conquer the place! "I think they wore the Russians out...." They wore us out! No beating those mountains.

[Volaris]

6. And not less than Alexander the Great had to leave the governance of the place to the locals,

after it was 'conquered'. At least he knew, be smart enough to take what tax revenue you can, and leave the rest of it the fuck alone.

[tirebiter]

5. Brotherhood of Eternal Love, History

Beginning in 1967 and expanding over the course of the next several years, the Brotherhood became not only America’s biggest acid distribution network (for the CIA and MKUltra) but also the nation’s most prodigious group of hashish smugglers.

Brotherhood smugglers flew to Europe; purchased Volkswagen buses, Land Rovers and other vehicles; drove them overland to Kandahar, Afghanistan—later to become the birthplace of the Taliban (another ‘gift’ to humanity from British and American intelligence) —and then shipped them home to California from Karachi, Pakistan.

During the next several years, the Brotherhood of Eternal Love was shipping up to a dozen hash-stuffed Volkswagen buses and Land Rovers being from Afghanistan at any given moment­.



https://belhistory.weebly.com/smugglers-blues.html

[Docreed2003]

7. I wouldn't call it a miserable little country

Afghanistan is starkly beautiful country with beautiful, captivating people who truly are a melting pot of all the humanity that has touched its soil from Alexander to present. You can see in the in the children there with hints of red in their dark black hair and in their sometimes piercing blue eyes.

Is it a miserable country? The people there have certainly sustained their overwhelming share of misery. That piece of land has known more warfare than most in its history, by virtue of its unique location. Their population is largely illiterate and, in my experience, most Afghans are doing what they must to survive. The area where I spent time was primitive and in some ways untouched by modern life. True, some locals could not be trusted, but if you or I were living under threat of death from Taliban and not just our selves but our entire families, perhaps I wouldn't be as trustworthy either. Despite that, one of my great pleasures in life was breaking bread and taking tea with Afghan families.

I weep for the future of that country, particularly the young women and girls, with the likely return of Taliban rule. There are thousands of reasons why the Taliban is likely to return to power and much could be debated as to whether or not that return was inexorable. I have to wonder if Afghanistan's fate was not largely sealed with the assassination of Ahmad Massoud in the days before the September 11th attacks.

[rickyhall]

8. I remember hearing the same things 20 years ago.

Have we ever done any good in the Middle East? President Carter got Israel and Egypt to stop fighting. Must be something else.

[stillcool]

9. where empires go to die

as the Great Game continues..

The heartland is once again at the forefront of Great Power politics, forcing a reconsideration of diplomatic and military priorities in the region. By resetting relations with Pakistan, the United States can potentially reduce Pakistan’s reliance on an emerging Sino-Russian security-economic partnership. This may prove critical to sustaining gains made in South and Central Asia since 2001. If Pakistan falls decisively into the Sino-Russian camp then by extension so will Afghanistan. Therefore, the best way for America to maintain influence in Afghanistan in the long-term is to continue its reinvigorated engagement with Pakistan.

Pakistan is more important to America’s long-term interests in Central and South Asia than Afghanistan as its geography offers an opportunity to exploit the geopolitical seam running through the region. This potentially offers an opportunity to disrupt Chinese economic flows and security infrastructure as a counter to its Pacific military power, while also providing an ability to threaten Russia’s Southern flank in any future confrontation. Ultimately, access to and through Pakistan provide strategic options unavailable elsewhere. As the Great Game is reinvigorated in the heartland, America’s approach to this critical bilateral relationship may well define its strategic flexibility in the future.

THE HEARTLAND IS ONCE AGAIN AT THE FOREFRONT OF GREAT POWER POLITICS, FORCING A RECONSIDERATION OF DIPLOMATIC AND MILITARY PRIORITIES IN THE REGION.
https://thestrategybridge.org/the-bridge/2019/8/12/the-great-game-reinvigorated-geopolitics-afghanistan-and-the-importance-of-pakistan

[keithbvadu2]

10. England also failed in Afghanistan

The Young British Soldier by Rudyard Kipllng

Go read the rest of the poem.... it's worth it.

http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poems_youngbrit.htm

----------------

When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.
Go, go, go like a soldier,
Go, go, go like a soldier,
Go, go, go like a soldier,
So-oldier of the Queen!

[roamer65]

11. Afghanistan is where empires go to die.

We are next on the list.

[albacore]

12. And let's remember...

There were never more than about 30,000 Taliban fighters at any point in time.
We had control of the air, unlimited supplies, the best-trained and best equipped troops ... and we LOST.
Best in the world, and we haven't won a war since 1945.
Can we learn a lesson? Can we remember all the way back to Vietnam? Can we learn that hubris doesn't win wars? Can we learn that everything we touch seems to turn to shit?

"I believe that if we had and would keep our dirty, bloody, dollar soaked fingers out of the business of these (Third World) nations so full of depressed, exploited people, they will arrive at a solution of their own. And if unfortunately their revolution must be of the violent type because the `haves' refuse to share with the `have-nots' by any peaceful method, at least what they get will be their own, and not the American style, which they don’t want and above all don’t want crammed down their throats by Americans."–
Gen. David Shoup, United States Marine Commandant Medal of Honor recipient. 2 Purple Hearts
I’m proud to say that Gen. Shoup was my Commandant during the first part of my time in the Corps.

[Ron Green]

13. Well that's it, isn't it?

Since 1945 it has never been about “winning a war.” It’s been about propping up corrupt strongmen of our choosing, providing muscle for international wealth extraction and environmental destruction, and most importantly setting our massive economic engine to the task of making the rich richer rather than building a nation of healthy and connected communities.

[albacore]

16. The sad thing is... all the money we spent on those wars COULD have bought us ...

..conditions that MIGHT have bought us a different outcome in the areas we shit on, had we used it for humanitarian and long-term nation-building.

The $6 Trillion would have gone a long way toward improving the lots of the Iraqis and the Afghanis.

Maybe even a little left over for our own country.

Imagine that.

[Blue_true]

18. Look at how WWII was fought.

Germany carpet bombed Britain and Russia, Poland and Czechoslovakia when it was on top. When the Allies gained the upper hand, they carpet bombed the hell out of German cities, civilians were left on their own. We are not going to “win” any war where we can’t be vicious assholes, so why get into them, use diplomacy instead.

If we go into a country looking for a person or people, then we need to go there, disable that country’s ability to fight, kill whoever we were looking for and get the hell out as quickly as possible. Or we follow the alternative, negotiate until we get some of the critical things that we want and avoid war.

[albacore]

19. The Russians used every terror trick they could think of....

... and they were a LOT better than we could be at that.

And the Mujahadeen ran them out.... fired at them as they left.

Some areas just can't be whipped.

[Blue_true]

21. If every village and every city is bombed, the one doing the bombing will prevail.

If people are dead or running from bombs, they are not going to put up resistance. It is barbaric, but that is the only way a modern war can be “won”. Why not just negotiate instead and forgo war and the savage outcomes.

Russia COULD NOT do that because of international pressure. We will not bomb on that type of scale after WWII.

[First Speaker]

14. I wonder if the Chinese will ever give it a go...

...maybe they regard a war in Afghanistan as a rite of passage for Great Powers... (And yes, I'm being sarcastic...)

[Blue_true]

17. China won't go in militarily, they have watched other countries make that mistake.

From what I understand, China has already made some inroads there.

[JI7]

22. Yup, I read an article recently about some roads they are making all linking to China .

[Blue_true]

23. If China was not a dick with it's Muslim population and it's Asia and

Southeast Asia neighbors and Taiwan, it would bury us within two decades. The country is simply better at making some key strategic decisions in these modern times.

[Blue_true]

15. I would not be surprised to see China succeed there.

That country is not going in militarily. Time will tell. If China succeeds, it totally corners the market on heavy metals, Afghanistan is rich in them, completely untapped.