You are right when you claim that " the only benefactors were, private corporations, and arms sellers."
The Afghan government is overrun by bent officials who hanker after personal gains, including its own president. At the same time, they didn't t pay heed to the fact that lots of low-level soldiers didn't get paid before being ejected by Taliban forces, since their wages had been purloined by high-ranking ones
Tribal loyalties and kinship also come into play, according to Anatol Lieven, who has written several books featuring the history of the Middle East and Russia.
I'd venture to say that Biden consider hiring Anatol Lieven to be his consultant instead of listening to AOC's gibberish. Otherwise, it's worrisome that he is going to get cozened by his befuddled advisers who still think that everything is going to be okay.
@snood,
You are supposed to fight for America if you are a soldier; that's your duty. If you think it's a drag, then Hollywood is waiting for you.
You know why America lost this war. Answer: America has lots of milquetoasts refusing to fight for their own nation. They seem to be outsiders.
By the way, a local court in China has filed a lawsuit against a black teacher who killed a Chinese girl. He's a Muslim despite being an American citizen
Hooooooooooooooooooo. Besides, rumor has it that China is asking online training schools not to hire black people or even foreigners. And authorities in Shanghai even told the press that pupils don't have to sit English exams. You know the view that most Chinese students don't have to study English has gained traction in China; some even suggest that Chinese is going to replace English as the most popular language on earth.
Are you happy now , progressives and supporters of AOC? Lots of foreigners are turning against Western values, alas, thanks to people like AOC and their own vitriolic criticisms of the rule of law and democratic norms.
They don't even want to study English anymore.
@goldberg,
goldberg wrote:
You are supposed to fight for America if you are a soldier; that's your duty. If you think it's a drag, then Hollywood is waiting for you.
Who's advocating that soldiers shouldn’t fight for America?
@snood,
Then stop being a whiner. Every American soldier stationed in the Middle East, Japan, and South Korea is a hero willing to fight for America's interests. If you don't have them protecting you, other foreign despots and miscreants will poison our earth with military rule around the world. America can't be an exception to the extent that it's part of this planet.
You can't flee to another planet like some billionaires.
@goldberg,
goldberg wrote:
Then stop being a whiner. Every American soldier stationed in the Middle East, Japan, and South Korea is a hero willing to fight for America's interests. If you don't have them protecting you, other foreign despots and miscreants will poison our earth with military rule around the world. America can't be an exception to the extent that it's part of this planet.
You can't flee to another planet like some billionaires.
Spoken like someone who’s never served in uniform.
The rank and file military was in favor of leaving Afghanistan.
Not wanting to fight in stupid, pointless, endless conflicts doesn’t make someone a whiner.
@snood,
"Training the Afghani army" was not fighting, not stupid, and not pointless.
@oralloy,
Call it whatever you want. Whatever you call it, we lost 6000 Americans and got plenty more wounded and maimed.
@snood,
Wrong. We did not lose 6000 Americans and get plenty more maimed and wounded when we were merely training the Afghani Army. We suffered very few casualties in that period.
@oralloy,
[img][/img]
oralloy wrote:
Wrong. We did not lose 6000 Americans and get plenty more maimed and wounded when we were merely training the Afghani Army. We suffered very few casualties in that period.
Service members killed: 2448
Civilian contractors killed: 3846
https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-business-afghanistan-43d8f53b35e80ec18c130cd683e1a38f
Soldiers wounded: Over 20,000
https://www.newsweek.com/number-us-soldiers-who-died-afghanistan-war-1619685
American service members killed in Afghanistan through April: 2,448.
U.S. contractors: 3,846.
2,448 + 3846 = 6,294 dead Americans
Estimated amount of direct Afghanistan and Iraq war costs that the United States has debt-financed as of 2020:
$2 trillion.
Estimated interest costs by 2050:
Up to $6.5 trillion.
https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-business-afghanistan-43d8f53b35e80ec18c130cd683e1a38f
The Afghan Military Was Built Over 20 Years. How Did It Collapse So Quickly?
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/13/world/asia/afghanistan-rapid-military-collapse.html
The US can help build and Army, but
Quote:An army marches on its stomach ... Save This Word! To be effective, an army relies on good and plentiful food. This saying is attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/13/world/asia/afghanistan-rapid-military-collapse.html
Read why the Afghan Army collapsed so fast. No amount of training can stop these mass desertion!
@Walter Hinteler,
Our military killed figures are similar. You don’t show the contractor casualties.
Did you post that to dispute my figures, or just have the last word?
@snood,
snood wrote:Did you post that to dispute my figures, or just have the last word?
Neither.
Just wanted to show oralloy the official figures.
@Walter Hinteler,
Then you probably should have posted your response to Oralloy.
