I suppose this could have been posted in a number of existing topics but I didn’t want to add more clutter. Unfortunately this link tells us what in our hearts most already knew.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/confidential-documents-reveal-us-officials-failed-to-tell-the-truth-about-the-war-in-afghanistan/ar-BBXY8l1
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Did anyone else watch Restrepo? It’s one of the hardest hitting war documentaries I’ve watched, in any category. Despite a very tight focus, it captures the lack of direction and overall failure of the venture. That part where the CO explains how their operation was a success, and you can see in his eyes that he’s desperately trying to believe what he’s saying, gave me the shivers.
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A useful summary: Why is Afghanistan the Graveyard of Empires
It seems little in the US government has changed since Sam Adams wrote War of Numbers – if you can’t work the problem, work the image.
Earl
A great book. Highly recommend.
The ONLY reason the US is still in Afghanistan after almost 20 years is a lot of contributors to both parties are getting rich off the ‘war’. In addition, military officers get promotions and bigger budgets to command . If there was no war there there might be a reduction in the defense/offense budget and there might be a reduction in the number of military people needed. We can’t have that now can we? At present it is a self licking ice cream cone machine.
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A very good friend of mine did a deployment over there. One of his succinct comments was that you can’t bomb them back into the stone age because most are already there.
I would like to think that we have people within our foreign service, intelligence and elsewhere that have spent a good portion of their careers studying the people and cultures of various places our leaders decided to send our troops into. One would endlessly hope they would be listened to as far as what may or may not work. Trying to set up systems of government in our image is doomed to failure if the people there do not support it.
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Nope, it is not to the advantage of the military to listen to them. Example: At the end of World War II there were 2,000 generals and admirals overseeing 12 million U.S. military personnel. Today, nearly 1,000 flag officers preside over only about 1.3 million people. The generals today not only can’t command as many troops as in days past they also can’t win a war but winning is not the point. Making rank and keeping the money flowing is if you want to retire with a nice pension and go to work with a contractor. As USMC Maj. General Smedley Butler said, “War is a Racket”
Hilarious. Another little known fact is our “friends” the Saudis don’t have that many of their own countrymen in their military among the enlisted ranks. A large percentage are from Pakistan. Seems the Saudi citizens aren’t that keen on defending their country.
Members of the Taliban at former Unocal Vice President Marty Miller’s house in Sugar Land, Texas for pipeline discussions [Al Jazeera]
there was a reason Bush senior said dont go there like anywhere in the middle as it wont end well…
“Hilarious. Another little known fact is our “friends” the Saudis don’t have that many of their own countrymen in their military among the enlisted ranks. A large percentage are from Pakistan. Seems the Saudi citizens aren’t that keen on defending their country.”
Undoubtedly the Saudi’s all think being anything but an “officer” in the “Royal Saudi Military” is beneath their noble bloodline. Seeing as how seemingly the whole population are all sheiks or princes or blood of kings or whatever…
A typical case of only Chiefs and no Indians.