Posted on 09/02/2014 3:51:36 PM PDT by tcrlaf
And then once we’re in getting our boys slaughtered they’ll be all over The Guardian and Italian newspapers attacking us. Oh, those wacky Euroweenies.
The DIFFERENCE was that back then ‘we’ didn’t know there were paid trolls influencing the public.
NOW, we do. (not that it has helped or anything)
It was brilliant, and it was one of the major factors in destroying the Soviet Union and ending the Cold War and removing the daily threat of total defeat and nuclear annihilation.
So far our total combat losses from 2001 through 2014 in Afghanistan, are fewer than an average year of active duty losses under Reagan.
“it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”
Never fails.
I have a friend who was stationed in Germany in the 80s. He said his only injury came from the German who threw a rock at the “War mongering American”.
“Well I sure wish they would study Reagan and his ability to win without a fight.”
Can’t do that...
Libs today believe Reagan was one of the most EVIL Humans ever born.
Reagan caused AIDS.
Reagan lowered energy prices.
Reagan revived the economy.
And worst of all, Reagan stopped World Socialism in it’s tracks, an utterly unforgivable sin.
“nothing like pasting crap from 5th columnist source”
Reuters via ZeroHedge is a “5th Columnist source”?
Who can count that high? Astronomical I am sure
Really? Wouldn't that actually be the guy who is invading peaceful countries and his supporters, both foreign and domestic?
There are claims were are bombing.
There are claims we are sending ground troops.
There are denials we are bombing.
There are denials we are sending in ground troops.
It’s hard to say what the truth is. Denials are usually the best bet (meaning it’s true if they are denying it).
I have read that several nations are involved, Britain being one of them.
Who knows? We can’t trust the US MSM to tell us the truth.
I think what the Putinistas are trying to explain to us is the following:
-Russia has many historical grievances.
-Putin has now appeared on the scene and is prepared to address these grievances and restore Russia to its rightful place.
-Addressing these grievances includes inflicting mass murder on your subjects (Chechnya) and on your neighbors (Georgia and now Ukraine).
-Anyone standing in the way of Russia’s rightful place of dominance is a “Nazi”.
-Putin, correctly, views any indication of support for Ukraine or other soon to be invaded nations as a direct threat to Russia. In response, it is perfectly correct for Putin to threaten the use of nuclear weapons.
-Putin is mentally ill; therefore, he may well carry out such threat.
-It is best to just give Putin what he wants. If we’re lucky, he’ll kill us last.
173rd Airborne all the way to the left. My dads Unit from Nam. Bad ass soldiers..
I agree it worked well. However, I think Russian defeat in Afghanistan was less important to the Soviet collapse than its obvious inability to continue to compete militarily.
Both on Star Wars and on general military spending. They just flat ran out of money.
But arming the Afghans led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Compared to the negative consequence of arming, feeding and fueling the Russians during WWII, which led to the deaths of 100K GI's due to Russian financing of the Chinese Revolution, North Korea and North Vietnam, I'd say we paid a nugatory price for arming the Afghans. Besides the problem wasn't that we armed the Afghans - it was that we subsidized Pakistan, which created, trained and financed the Taliban. Would we be better off if Pakistan had turned communist? In a word, no.
Did you miss the part where Mr. Durden adds his editorial comment?
Zero obviously is, that's why you picked it up, out of 100 other sources providing the same info. Why ? Because they add typical spin, making several dozens of US paratroopers deployed for a week to the opposite side of the country, to the exercise planned 2 years ago, look like “highly provocative escalation”... while thousands of Russians are just spending vacations there. Damn neo-cons.
Part of your excerpt is from Reuters, the other is from Daniel Ivandjiiski of Zero Hedge. Ivandjiiski’s father was a former Bulgarian intelligence operative.
In history, it just isn’t possible to say X caused Y. Too many factors intertwining.
Obviously, the Soviet defeat in Afghanistan was one of the factors that contributed to 9/11. It gave Osama the notion that HE had defeated and destroyed USSR, and could do the same to USA.
But it was only one of the factors.
As I’ve said above, I don’t think the Soviet failure in Afghanistan was a particularly major cause of their collapse. Other factors, primarily financial and loss of self-confidence, were much more critical. IMO
Not nearly as bad as they were.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.