An Unceremonious Afghanistan Pullout

IBD ^ | Oct. 28,2)014 | IBD EDITORIAL

[Hojczyk]

Afghanistan: President Obama's abrupt order to withdraw U.S. Marines from Helmand province with zero fanfare was an ill-fitting exit for U.S. forces after 13 years of sacrifice in the war's bloodiest theater. Is this the thanks they get?

No public acknowledgment from the White House. No official statements. No praise for extraordinary dedication or heroism. No proclamations of valor. And certainly nothing about victory.

Just a surprise order to abandon the two largest and most dangerous outposts of America's longest war, Camp Leatherneck and British-led Camp Bastion, side-by-side bases that at one time housed 40,000. The order came so fast that the Marines who had been there 13 years, and who put so much into it, didn't have "time to digest it," as one told the Wall Street Journal.

Because over the years, as the rest of us went about our daily lives, these courageous men and women were out on patrols in the baking sun over desolate badlands, suffering long separations from loved ones and enduring the alternating boredom and terror of combat with a depraved, Dark Age enemy and its drug lord allies.

Some of the bloodiest battles were waged in Helmand. The U.S. lost more than 350 in combat there and the British about 450, nearly a fifth of the war's total losses. Meanwhile, the injured returned home to bureaucratic insult, as they sought help from a behemoth Veterans Administration that Obama vowed to reform but didn't.

[caww]

Yep...I got more...

[caww]

History: Thousands of British servicemen fought for eight years in the heat of Camp Bastion,

[caww]

Soldiers tented accommodation is left deserted in Camp Bastion

[doc1019]

Wishful thinking, but wouldn’t have been nice if the Constitution had something in it that would have required all Presidents to have served in the military.

At least the President would understand military decorum in situations like this.

Wishful thinking, I know.

[caww]

Barren: Remaining equipment will be flown home with around 500 troops left in Kabul carrying out training

[caww]

A makeshift bus stop in Camp Leatherneck, which was until the last remaining major UK base in the country

[demshateGod]

National ennui.

[caww]

Memories:.... Staff Sergent Craig Worsley, 34, preparing to leave. Brigadier Darrell Amison, Commander of Joint Force Support, Afghanistan said:.... 'The soldier in 2006 is a very different one to 2014'

[caww]

At the beginning of 2014, about 38,000 Americans were still deployed in Afghanistan....these phptos just before departure

[caww]

Leaving but not before a good run at football!

[caww]

“Getting equipment out of a landlocked country is difficult and expensive,” Col. Doug Patterson, who heads logistics at Camp Leatherneck told CBS News. “We have to fly or drive everything out of here.” Here, US Marines sit on board a helicopter at Kandahar air base, east of Helmand province.

[caww]

The last U.S. Marines unit flew out of Afghanistan’s Helmand province on Monday, ending one of the toughest fights in America’s longest war.

[caww]

U.S. Marines march with flags during a handover ceremony, as the last U.S. Marines unit and British combat troops end their Afghan operations, in Helmand October 26, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Omar Sobhani

[JohnBrowdie]

there is an election in a week. Thus, the lack of headlines. and, it’s probably impossible for it to blow up in a week -it will take more like a month - so the timing was right.

[caww]

Camp Leatherneck, the largest U.S. base to be handed over to Afghan control, and Camp Bastion together formed the international coalition’s regional headquarters for the southwest of Afghanistan, housing up to 40,000 military personnel and civilian contractors.

U.S. Marines stand at attention during a handover ceremony, as the last U.S. Marines unit and British combat troops end their Afghan operations, in Helmand October 26, 2014.

[caww]

US Soldiers from the 234th Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kansas board a plane from Afghanistan

[caww]

I’m really p*ssed off as Britain has their troops photos all over the place where I have to “hunt” for our troops photos...Obam sucks! That’s all there is to it! (sorry for the rant...no I guess I’m not!)

[Flag_This]

"US Soldiers from the 234th Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kansas board a plane from Afghanistan"

I thought Ft. Riley was the home of the 1st Infantry Division.

[Windflier]

We need to plan huge celebrations when this POS is moved out of the White House.

Free Republic ought to have a national get-together to celebrate that glorious day. Find the exact central point of the lower 48 and hold it there.

I'd drop everything to party with you all.

[caww]