All US troops to leave Afghanistan in 14 months

submitted by bablarb from militarytimes.com

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[–]Nemacolin 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

I sort of figure Afghanistan belongs to the people of the country. Not just the strongmen. Not the family elders. Not just the men. Seems to me we ought to give their country to them.

[–]Velocity 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Right, bomb them into democracy. The strong men and family elders that used to rule them were just the wrong ones because they weren't US approved. Very typical ignorant and pompous western opinion on how others should be forced into adopting an unpopular government. I just wish people like you,while you're looking down your nose at others, were actually smart enough to perceive the larger picture.

[–]Nemacolin 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Well, I am an American. I believe in the equality of people before the law. I believe women are actually people who ought to be free to live as they like. Still, I am not trying to attack your Old World sort of thinking. I understand many like you still reject self-rule by the people themselves.

We could have freed the Afghans. We decided to try to do the job on the cheap and so we failed. I can only imagine the amount of suffering that will result.

[–]jamesK_3rd 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Afghanistan isn't Korea, on any level.

The Soviets at their peak had over 70000 troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. was lucky to have 16000.

I'm not sure why you believe an army of 16000 troops could reign in Afghanistan yet an army of 70000 couldn't.

And no we did do the job. Our job initially was to root out Al Quaeda that had been training in eastern Afghanistan and in waziristan. We did that quickly. And instead of calling it a day, we turned the Taliban, the Mujahadeen, the Pashtuns, the kuchi, and every other small tribe there against us because politicians decided that we should export some democracy there instead of just eliminate the bad guys.

You fail to accept that life isn't fair there, or a lot of places around the world. These are cultural issues, not military ones. We cannot solve these problems with the fist, although you guys feeling the bern must surely try.

Well you can solve them with the fist actually, but are you really willing to do that? You'd literally need to wipe them all out thanos style, and then import new ppl there and refer to them as Afghanis. That's a bridge to far for me I'm afraid.

And if the people want self rule, they Will take it. No one there needs a hand holding, especially for the countrymen who has essentially defeated both the Soviets and NATO allies.

[–]Nemacolin 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

You are getting what you want. We are turning our back on them. We are returning them to their medieval society. Congratulations.