Vietnam redux...
At what cost freedom?
When I was a kid I was surrounded by Vietnam Vets, and as I grew older I learned about what a debacle it was and how the military industrial complex benefitted from it while all others ate a big shit sandwich. Then we learned about how awesome we are by kicking Saddam out of Kuwait and then again after 9/11 when we went into Afghanistan and subsequently Iraq to finally rid the world of Islamist extremism and make it safe for all good little Xtian's and their progeny. Woohoo, 'murika...
I had a ringside seat for much of this idiocy, and saw firsthand the costs-physical, financial and spiritual. From the outset, I opined to anyone who would listen that this should be a Special Operations war. Surgically precise, shock and awe...then get out. Get the bad guys, get out. Leave a vacuum...no worries. Just get the bad guys, leaving calling cards and messages for the next ones that we would come for them too if they tried exporting their shit to the rest of the world. Eventually, they would get the message. I had forgotten that war is big business. Companies many of have never heard of got their hooks into things and made fortunes. From small time equipment manufacturers to big time weapons of mass destruction corporations, everyone made $$ while the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines, along with the average people of Afghanistan and Iraq, ate shit sandwiches. (I would be remiss if I didn't state for the record that I was very fortunate personally during this time. I spent almost 2 years deployed, but never stepped foot in either country. Many, many friends did, some of them leaving pieces of themselves behind, and all of them coming home changed.)
Back to my point. I am torn and twisted about our withdrawal from Afghanistan.
As in Vietnam, we were not militarily defeated. We dominated the battlespace in every way, shape and form. Period. However, we were once again defeated politically. As I also opined, winning the battles was the easy part, winning the peace was the hard part.
On the ground, we did a lot of good things. We also did some bad things, I get it. Those who are taking over there today do and will continue to do much worse than we did.
Is it right to leave there, leaving good people to suffer under the despotic rule of the Taliban? Is it right to spend more human and financial capital there in a losing fight against a different blend than ours of small minded extremism? I know now that in contrast to the optimistic yet deluded 20 something I was upon my first enlistment that war is a losing game...as they say, it doesn't determine who is right, only who is left. How far could the trillion$ of dollar$ we spent there have gone if invested wisely in our countries infrastructure/education/healthcare systems? How much is too much?
Next asshole who wants to start a war needs to send his/her sons and daughters to lead the first charge.
///rant///
At what cost freedom?
When I was a kid I was surrounded by Vietnam Vets, and as I grew older I learned about what a debacle it was and how the military industrial complex benefitted from it while all others ate a big shit sandwich. Then we learned about how awesome we are by kicking Saddam out of Kuwait and then again after 9/11 when we went into Afghanistan and subsequently Iraq to finally rid the world of Islamist extremism and make it safe for all good little Xtian's and their progeny. Woohoo, 'murika...
I had a ringside seat for much of this idiocy, and saw firsthand the costs-physical, financial and spiritual. From the outset, I opined to anyone who would listen that this should be a Special Operations war. Surgically precise, shock and awe...then get out. Get the bad guys, get out. Leave a vacuum...no worries. Just get the bad guys, leaving calling cards and messages for the next ones that we would come for them too if they tried exporting their shit to the rest of the world. Eventually, they would get the message. I had forgotten that war is big business. Companies many of have never heard of got their hooks into things and made fortunes. From small time equipment manufacturers to big time weapons of mass destruction corporations, everyone made $$ while the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines, along with the average people of Afghanistan and Iraq, ate shit sandwiches. (I would be remiss if I didn't state for the record that I was very fortunate personally during this time. I spent almost 2 years deployed, but never stepped foot in either country. Many, many friends did, some of them leaving pieces of themselves behind, and all of them coming home changed.)
Back to my point. I am torn and twisted about our withdrawal from Afghanistan.
As in Vietnam, we were not militarily defeated. We dominated the battlespace in every way, shape and form. Period. However, we were once again defeated politically. As I also opined, winning the battles was the easy part, winning the peace was the hard part.
On the ground, we did a lot of good things. We also did some bad things, I get it. Those who are taking over there today do and will continue to do much worse than we did.
Is it right to leave there, leaving good people to suffer under the despotic rule of the Taliban? Is it right to spend more human and financial capital there in a losing fight against a different blend than ours of small minded extremism? I know now that in contrast to the optimistic yet deluded 20 something I was upon my first enlistment that war is a losing game...as they say, it doesn't determine who is right, only who is left. How far could the trillion$ of dollar$ we spent there have gone if invested wisely in our countries infrastructure/education/healthcare systems? How much is too much?
Next asshole who wants to start a war needs to send his/her sons and daughters to lead the first charge.
///rant///