The war in Afghanistan isn't a 'stalemate.' The U.S. has lost

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    • December 19, 2018 at 8:20 AM - Views: 35 #2315
      "Afghanistan-Where Empires go to die."
      Hobbit709
      Afghanistan is not known as...
      Ohio Barbarian
      Afghanistan always reverts to what...
      HassleCat
      N2Doc
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      The war in Afghanistan isn't a 'stalemate.' The U.S. has lost

      By Andrew J. Bacevich

      With the sole exception of Vietnam, the ongoing Afghanistan war represents the greatest failure in U.S. military history. Today, all but a few diehards understand that Vietnam was a debacle of epic proportions. With Afghanistan, it’s different: In both political and military circles, the urge to dodge the truth remains strong.

      This may explain, at least in part, why the present commander in chief has yet to visit the war zone. For a president with an aversion to accepting responsibility, traveling to Afghanistan would call attention to a situation he prefers to ignore. After all, Donald Trump campaigned against the war and vowed if elected to end it forthwith. Once in office, however, he caved in to advisors urging him not only to continue the war but even to dispatch a contingent of reinforcements. Steering clear of Afghanistan allows Trump to sustain the pretense that the war is not actually his.

      If only by default, it becomes incumbent on the military itself to explain what’s going on. With the Afghanistan war in its 18th year, Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, characterized the war as a “stalemate” last month. Other high-ranking officers regularly use the same term.

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    • December 19, 2018 at 10:04 AM #2332
      Hobbit709
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      "Afghanistan-Where Empires go to die."

      History repeats

      I don't waste my time teaching pigs to sing.

    • December 19, 2018 at 1:20 PM #2420
      Ohio Barbarian
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      Afghanistan is not known as the Graveyard of Empires for nothing.

      Persians, Greeks, Arabs, Mongols, Indians, British, Russians, and now Americans have all tried to conquer and subdue Afghanistan at one time or the other and have failed.

      The only thing different about the American Empire is that our leaders haven’t figured out yet that the closest they can ever get to victory is to withdraw. Permanently.

      Never let your morals stop you from doing the right thing.--Isaac Asimov

      The United States is also a one-party state but, with typical American extravagance, they have two of them.--Julius Nyerere

    • December 19, 2018 at 1:41 PM #2431
      HassleCat
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      Afghanistan always reverts to what it was.

      Most Afghans could care less about freedom and democracy. They are very happy with a primitive, feudal system of warlords and tribal conflict. They have lived this way for a long time, and they actively resist all attempts to change things. Let’s leave them alone. Our attempts to improve, modernize, educate, etc. are not what they want.

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