A bunch of badly dressed, evil smelling mussies beat the US Army ...

[dogtag]

They had AKs and RPGs plus Toyota pick ups.
The US had the World's best Air Force, Navy and maybe Army.
So what the Hell happened ?
Of course the British didn't do so well either, nor did the Russians
(thanks to Ronnie giving the mussies Stingers).
Actually, the place is the World's toilet bowl and we're best out of there
but the exit could have been more dignified in it's execution.
If they attack us again, bomb them back to the stone age (they're not far from that anyway).

[Art]

I only hope we're spared the sight of Americans being evacuated from the roof of they Embassy by helicopters as in Vietnam, or worse the bodies of Americans being dragged through the streets.

Biden said that if they attack the Embassy they won't get any foreign aid. The Taliban doesn't care a lick about that. They're only concern is the "day of accountability" has come for their enemies and they intend to extract payment in full.

[one shot]

Without the act of total war we will never win a war , America just don't have the stomach for total war . We all know our armed forces can win if left loose without any restraints shame to see our blood and treasure wasted this way .

[Art]

Without the act of total war we will never win a war , America just don't have the stomach for total war . We all know our armed forces can win if left loose without any restraints shame to see our blood a treasure wasted this way .

We also have to know which wars to fight and what the objectives are, such as how long we're willing to stay. South Korea is independent because we are still there and made a commitment to stay which in that case was an excellent call. We won the First Gulf War because of a limited obtainable objective to evict Saddam Hussein from Kuwait.

Dogtag is right. We should have pounded the Taliban after 911 and made it plain that if their were any further problems we'd be more than happy to pound them again. Not a perfect solution but a lot better than what we have now. Nation building in Afghanistan, or Iraq or Libya were really bad calls that resulted in chaos and hundreds of thousands of dead folks an unfortunately high number of which were ours, not to mention creating breeding grounds for more bad guys.

[dryheat]

Sure would be nice to win one. When we went to defend the little country about the size of your appendix five minutes after we left the communists took over. And they have been perfectly happy since. We have devoted a lot of time and lives to bring democracy to the Aphgans(one of the dummer things I ever heard) and in five minutes(or less) the Taliban takes over. Joe says he sticks with his decision. I agree. long over due. You can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear.

[lyman]

Sure would be nice to win one. When we went to defend the little country about the size of your appendix five minutes after we left the communists took over. And they have been perfectly happy since. We have devoted a lot of time and lives to bring democracy to the Aphgans(one of the dummer things I ever heard) and in five minutes(or less) the Taliban takes over. Joe says he sticks with his decision. I agree. long over due. You can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear.

the corporate political war hawks don't want a win,

win means it ends,

end means no more money

[dryheat]

Sadly, I think you have a good point.

[barretcreek]

Bowe Bergdahl as the new U.S. Ambassador?

[Johnny P]

The U.S. Army has become too politically correct. Have a friend that is in law enforcement now, but was in the drone program. You are sitting there watching the bad guys flee the scene while awaiting orders as to whether you can fire on the enemy or not. Can't win wars waiting for clearance on whether the enemy can be killed or not.

[dogtag]

The Chinese will be in there in no time flat with financial aid. They'll own the place just like they now own Africa

[dryheat]

The Chinese will be in there in no time flat with financial aid. They'll own the place just like they now own Africa

Lucky them. I suppose there is some benefit in running crappy places.

[dogtag]

Lucky them. I suppose there is some benefit in running crappy places.

The benefit is they then own those crappy places and can militarize them. It also expands their empire.

[dryheat]

What goes around. The emperor who(I forget his name) consolidated most of China and created the terracotta army. The civilization at that time was on a roll. Their crossbows wouldn't be duplicated for hundreds of years. Mass produced with interchangeable parts. Kind of like the Garand.

[togor]

We did smash the Taliban flat. Trouble is, there's a Taliban factory next door in Pakistan that just keeps making more. It's the Pakis not the Amis who want to keep Afghanistan a dysfunctional mess, but one that they control, as opposed to India or anyone else. Pakistan loses any peace in Afghanistan, except a temporary one with the Taliban running the show....maybe.

For Pakistan we can thank the British and their indifferent cartography when they quit their South Asian empire after WW2. Come to think of it, pretty much every post-colonial border drawn in Whitehall has caused problems.

[Art]

We did smash the Taliban flat. Trouble is, there's a Taliban factory next door in Pakistan that just keeps making more. It's the Pakis not the Amis who want to keep Afghanistan a dysfunctional mess, but one that they control, as opposed to India or anyone else. Pakistan loses any peace in Afghanistan, except a temporary one with the Taliban running the show....maybe.

For Pakistan we can thank the British and their indifferent cartography when they quit their South Asian empire after WW2. Come to think of it, pretty much every post-colonial border drawn in Whitehall has caused problems.

India/Pakistan/Bangladesh wasn't the worst move the Brits made, much bigger screw ups were made in Africa and the middle east. It was an attempt to keep Hindus and Moslems from killing each other and preventing a possible chaotic "Balkanization" of the Indian sub continent once the Brits left. It was moderately successful at that. There were, of course, unintended unpleasant consequences that, as you note we're seeing some of the results of today.