This outcome has been in the cards for the last eighteen years.
SecState Blinken, in the linked article, says: "This is not Saigon." He's right only in that Kabul is not a coastal city and that we no longer fly UH-1s. He also said that the Afghan mission had been "successful."
Right, and the Space Shuttle Columbia had a successful flight, at least up until it burned up on re-entry.
The Taliban is in Kabul, the American Embassy staff has been evacuated to the airport (and soon to be flown out). This war is ending the way that anyone who was not a paid flack, military or civilian, knew it would. It is ending the way that anyone who has paid any attention to independent reports from Afghanistan knew that it would.
In the next few years, we're going to see a flood of tell-all books from CENTCOM commanders, force commanders in Afghanistan, former ambassadors, intelligence "professionals" and all of the rest, all seeking to gloss over their part in this tragedy and explain how "it all would have been different, if they only listened to meeee!" Everyone one of them is without honor and should be so regarded.
My son was the first soldier from our town to be sent to Afghanistan. He served with the 10th Mountain Division. I was interviewed by a young reporter from our local paper and got my picture on the front page, holding a picture of my son in uniform-like they did in the Civil War. In the course of the interview, this lad asked me what I thought of the invasion. Among other skeptical comments, I replied "This will not end well". This comment did not make the published article as I live in a pretty red state. Maybe I should write a book-I'll call it "Right from the Git-Go" .
ReplyDeleteYou sure were!
ReplyDeleteIt ended pretty much like the other outside invaders efforts did. Those who don’t know history are bound to repeat it. It’s not like this story was hidden.
ReplyDeleteFrom Show Me Progress:
ReplyDeleteJason Kander @JasonKander
We defeated Al Qaeda.
It was mission creep to attempt to build a western style government.
We improved many lives during these 20 years.
The Taliban was always going to wait us out.
We succeeded. We also failed.
I feel pride, anger, and sadness.
All of it can be true.
-Doug in Sugar Pine
I understand the desire to make Bin Laden pay for his crimes. The former former guy did not do that even though Bin Laden was trapped in his remote mountain redoubt. But the Bin Ladens and the bushes were long time business partners and friends. I've always wondered why Bush the Younger didn't finish the job. But the reasons for staying there beyond getting Osama failed to stand the test of time. Pretty much anyone who was paying attention to the corruption and brutality of the government we instituted could see we were destined to fail. We should have left before wasting our treasure, and the lives of our service men and women, and the lives of countless Afghanis. What shame, what a sham...
ReplyDeleteAnd we have our frenemies in Pakistan to thank for a lot of this shit.
ReplyDeleteAlways in Pakistan's interest to keep it devided and weak. This had to happen sooner or later. Afghanistan mostly wants all foreigners out of the country forever. Its about that simple. We should have kicked AQ's ass, declared victory and left immediately. After 911 I don't think there was any chance we'd stay out of Afghanistan but staying so long just cost lives and treasure for nothing. The Iraq war had nothing whatsoever to do with AQ or 911, just Bush the junior saying 'you can't push my dad around. And neocon greed, hubris and folly.
ReplyDeleteThe graveyard of Empires claims another victim
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BVRhsqHE5M
Correction: Columbia burned up on reentry. Challenger exploded during launch.Right after "Go for Power Up."
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jack. I must be slipping. I;ll fix that RTFN.
ReplyDeleteThis makes the 1975 ARVN forces look heroic.
ReplyDeleteBeing old enough to remember Nam, but not having to be there...
ReplyDeleteAnd all the other brush wars and skirmishes...
Lather, Rinse, forget, repeat.
Eck!
I never could understand how we thought we would succeed there, when Russia couldn’t.
ReplyDeletePat Tillman should have kept playing football but instead he fell for the propaganda and lies of the evil US Empire. So he joined the US Army in May 2002 and he was dead 2 years later, killed by his fellow soldiers. As we use to say in Vietnam, he got wasted. Then the evil US Empire tried covered up how he really died, gave him a medal and tried to use his death to drum up more support for war. I feel bad for his family but I also feel bad for the families of the millions of people the evil US Empire has killed since the end of WWII.
ReplyDeleteA lot of money was made in this war. I'm assuming that's the main reason for the lengthy stay. Military contractors made huge profits off this nightmare.
ReplyDelete