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Lost Cause: A Special Forces Soldier’s Case For Leaving Afghanistan
The Federalist ^ | July 13, 2020 | Robert Gast

Posted on 07/13/2020 7:24:16 AM PDT by Kaslin

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1 posted on 07/13/2020 7:24:16 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

I feel like we are in the declining years of the Roman Empire — troops always fighting somewhere on a far frontier, while in Rome the politicians party like there was no tomorrow.

That didn’t end well...


2 posted on 07/13/2020 7:30:32 AM PDT by CondorFlight
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To: Kaslin

We’re not there to do anything. We’re there to spy on Iran’s nuclear program.


3 posted on 07/13/2020 7:32:15 AM PDT by CodeToad (Arm Up! They Have!)
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To: Kaslin

Trump is being undermined by senior generals and officials in the Pentagon, his own State Department and the CIA when he orders a withdrawal of American troops and tries to make a deal with the Taliban. America simply does not belong on that alien quagmire . You cannot pull people out of the 9th century and into the 21st by force.

Alsowould not be suprised if indeed the Russians ordered a bounty on Americans. Imagine for a minute you were a young Soviet officer in Afghanistan in 1985 and you saw your men and aircraft killed and destroyed by American supplied arms and aid. Now today you are in the field with Russian intelligence. You might be seeking some revenge. Most people would.

If Trump gets firm control of the levers of power in his second term, he will be able to get out of this quagmire.


4 posted on 07/13/2020 7:33:13 AM PDT by allendale
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To: CondorFlight

The similarities are alarming.


5 posted on 07/13/2020 7:33:47 AM PDT by Lurkinanloomin (Natural Born Citizens Are Born Here of Citizen Parents|Know Islam, No Peace-No Islam, Know Peace)
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To: Kaslin

The Constitution of Afghanistan is explicitly Islamic. There is no way the American people should have supported it after that. Islam is the enemy.


6 posted on 07/13/2020 7:34:43 AM PDT by Nateman (If the left is not screaming, you are doing it wrong!)
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To: Kaslin

Take everyone who has been a general or an admiral in the past twenty years and form an Infantry unit from them.

Have them sweep across Afghanistan until they have won or are gone.

Too much emphasis on promotions instead of winning.


7 posted on 07/13/2020 7:35:38 AM PDT by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer”)
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To: Kaslin

Afghanistan was legitimate at the outset after 9/11. It was the home base for operations of AQ under the wing of the Taliban.

However, what happened afterwards is that the state department and UN began to set unrealistic goals and objectives for the nation of Afghanistan. Afghanistan is not really a “nation” as we think of it. It is a collective of varying tribes and warlords that often shift allegiances as the sand blows.

We are now stuck in a vicious cycle attempting an impossible goal pouring blood and money into an effort that is doomed to failure in the midst of a continuing insurgency. I don’t think we are any closer to our “goals” today than we were 10 years ago. Sure, they dress it up pretty and talk about progress, but it will not last after we leave.

Trump’s instincts are right - get out of there.


8 posted on 07/13/2020 7:36:11 AM PDT by volunbeer (Find the truth and accept it - anything else is delusional)
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To: Kaslin

Nobody has ever been successful in Afghanistan. Not even Alexander the Great was able to pacify them.
We should never have sent troops. We should have just bombed them and gone home.


9 posted on 07/13/2020 7:37:01 AM PDT by BuffaloJack ("Security does not exist in nature. Everything has risk." Henry Savage)
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To: Kaslin

Yep.

When you go to war, it must be conducted in the most brutal and barbaric way possible to kill and destroy the enemy.

Insane feel good ROEs is a one way road to defeat.

“The Afghanistan War has been prosecuted in a manner that places almost no accountability on political and military leaders.:


10 posted on 07/13/2020 7:39:40 AM PDT by 2banana (Common ground with islamic terrorists-they want to die for allah and we want to arrange the meeting)
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To: BuffaloJack

“Where empires go to die” is an accurate description.


11 posted on 07/13/2020 7:40:10 AM PDT by SanchoP (We're passed the biological softening up and beginning the open warfare strategy. WAKE UP!!)
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To: BuffaloJack

Also, if we aren’t there to destroy, kill and win, then why are we there?
Get the politicians and the enemy friendly “rules of engagement” out of the way and let soldiers do what soldiers have been trained to do for thousands of years.


12 posted on 07/13/2020 7:40:14 AM PDT by BuffaloJack ("Security does not exist in nature. Everything has risk." Henry Savage)
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To: allendale

Only if he cashiers every general promoted by the Kenyanesian Usurper.


13 posted on 07/13/2020 7:40:35 AM PDT by Lurkinanloomin (Natural Born Citizens Are Born Here of Citizen Parents|Know Islam, No Peace-No Islam, Know Peace)
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To: Kaslin

I never gave two sh!ts if Afghan girls could go to school.

We were done there a long time ago.

But, there are trillions of REMs in them thar hills. And lots of opium to fund our black projects. Keeps the rabble down at home.


14 posted on 07/13/2020 7:41:00 AM PDT by Vermont Lt
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To: BuffaloJack

The Khan were successful. But we probably don’t have the stomach for their version of “war.”


15 posted on 07/13/2020 7:42:40 AM PDT by Vermont Lt
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To: Kaslin

I have advocated leaving Afghanistan for years as there is no definable goal and no end game. Just more and more of throwing our young men into the meat grinder and wearing our our machine assets.


16 posted on 07/13/2020 7:43:27 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Where do you find the word "except" in the 2nd Amendment?)
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To: Kaslin

Military-Industrial Complex. The bottom line is the bottom line.

Colonel, USAF TJAGCR (ret)


17 posted on 07/13/2020 7:44:14 AM PDT by jagusafr
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To: BuffaloJack

well, if you did some research you would stop typing gibberish.

Off the top of head - successful invasions and occupations of Afghanistan.

Tamerlane
Mongols
Hindu armies
Islamic armies
Even Russia. Without CIA help, the Russians were winning and would have pacified the country.

What do they all have in common?

Exceedingly brutal. As in killing millions.

And if you aint gonna do that - don’t invade the place.

“Nobody has ever been successful in Afghanistan


18 posted on 07/13/2020 7:46:09 AM PDT by 2banana (Common ground with islamic terrorists-they want to die for allah and we want to arrange the meeting)
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To: allendale

Yes revenge. Which is exactly why we supplied the weapons that killed the Russians. They did the same to us in Vietnam and worse. Problem with revenge is it never ends.


19 posted on 07/13/2020 7:47:41 AM PDT by FlipWilson
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To: CondorFlight

Sadly, you are correct


20 posted on 07/13/2020 7:50:53 AM PDT by Freee-dame
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