Posted on Aug 16, 2021
What are your feelings as the Taliban reclaim Afghanistan after 20 years of US involvement?
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I can't say I'm surprised that this is all happening. Right now I'm just sad and frustrated.
Posted in these groups: 
Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) - Afghanistan
Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) - Afghanistan
Posted 3 y ago
Responses: 536
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I cant speak for anyone but I am grateful it's over. Bring our troops home to their families for supper again, it is what it is.No more IEDs, ambushes or Afghan government corruption. The American industrial war machine has handed too many invoices for payment that will affect democracy for many years to come. Let's learn from this and regret the outcome less as time goes by. I am a veteran of the USA and I stand with you in spirit and in conflict. Do not give in to despair and destroy the camaraderie we built for generations in bravery and valorous service. We cannot change everything, but we can change somethings! Let's lead the charge of being proud with discipline and dignity!
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It was one inevitable that this would happen it's another Vietnam war where we could have been helping those stateside instead of funding the Afghanistan army billions of dollars
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I did not serve in Afghanistan so I have no personal comments. From a national security standpoint, this is a disaster. Why would any country trust us? We don't know how to use force to destroy the enemy, and we don't have the patience to do occupation and nation building. We should have left after defeating the Taliban in 2001. Instead of having an orderly rear deployment, it looks like a rout. To all those that served in Afghanistan, you did your duty...
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I feel the Darkness engulfing every woman and girl in Afghanistan. I feel the loss that every living thing on our planet will now suffer because those women and girls have been cast into the Abyss. It feels like no accident that the Taliban took over now. They knew the US would not care what happens to the women and girls in Afghanistan. They knew because Americans have grown so docile that we let an Executive Order stand that says American women and girls are second class citizens in their own sports, Rape Crisis Centers and jails. If Americans would not stand up for their own women, why should they care what happens in Afghanistan??
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SPC Edward Drain
Sgt R J - No, it is about Biden. Let me explain. When I was in the US Army we had a culture of Risk Management. A formal way of doing risk assessments was very much practiced and mitigations were put in place. It was standard practice. To do a risk assessment one made a grid: On one axis would be the probability of an event happening. On the other would be the consequences of that event occurring. To be clear, even low risk events would be taken seriously if the possible outcomes were truly horrible -- think of 2 O-rings failing and as a result the Space Shuttle explodes in a huge fireball that kills all the crew. Now consider the fate of women left behind to face armed women-hating thugs called the Taliban. Did anyone have ANY illusions about the probability of that event happening? Did anyone deny that brutal repression of women's rights would occur? Did Biden make any plans for that? NO. He willfully denied making ANY plans to help the women resist or escape Taliban brutality. That is entirely on Biden.
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Sgt R J
No it is not about Biden. The military has always applied Risk Management in every situation. That is nothing new. Biden, as every President, makes his decisions based on how he is advised and that includes the DOD. As for women, let's get into REALITY. AFGHANISTAN is muslim country. They live by their MUSLIM BELIEFS AND MUSLIM LAWS. They do not care what America thinks, believes or wants, They assuredly do not care ABOUT WHAT YOU think. your voice here means NOTHING nor will it change anything. So if you are so caught up in the women, then take your azzz to Afghanistan and see where it gets you. Your whining here is not going to change anything, .
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SPC Edward Drain
Sgt R J - So Biden's talk about the buck stops with him, that is him lying? And you being Air Force, you know all about the people on the ground? No, I doubt it. And do you know much about Muslim Beliefs or Muslim Laws? Gee, how is it that women had good jobs while all these Muslim Laws were taking place while we were there? Your assertion seems to be that women are nothing more than chattel, not worthy of any assistance. Where are your American Values, Sgt??
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SPC Edward Drain
Sgt R J - If my voice means nothing, why do you feel the need to TRY to shut me down? Human Rights don't have a country and are not conditioned on nationality, religion, or culture.
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Ok, we should do something for the interpreters, but the evacuation planes where full over 300 each. We had that much Afgan staff? They better screen them for security and Corona. And some are here already here-"in houses." Americans have LOST their houses and are homeless due to Covid and don't have a job. But these people will get a job and house! They will be able to petition for the rest of their families to come over too. A big explosion of this group during an economic down fall. And you never know, they are grateful now , but their ideologies and loyalty may bend toward radicalism. They may join the American military and we'll think that's good because they speak Afgan and we can re-implant them in Afghanistan as spies, but you never know their loyalty because their Faith gets in the way.
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Unfortunately, we can't give the Afghan army what we paid for, trained and built, which is the size of Germany's, France's, or Italy's army; we cannot give them the will to fight for their own freedom... We tried for 20 years. Of course, we should always love, respect, and support out troops, but there is nothing they can accomplish in Afghanistan except to continue doing the job we trained the Afghans to do, which they won't do. They don't want it bad enough to fight for it, but they will take it if we continue to fight for it for them.
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PFC David Foster
TSgt Ann Smith - Out of an entire army of Afghan troops, there were probably many... Good point!
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SPC John Donovan
PFC David Foster - I too believe there were many "double agents". I don't trust many of the Afghan troops right now. Realize I did not say I didn't trust all of them, I just believe there were many who did care and did all they could to help us. What hurt was the ones you believed in who discharged bombs in our midst.
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In his rush to surrender, China Joe left aircraft, helicopters, drones, and our highest technology for the enemy, all to be sold to China.
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Remember folks, we served honorably and did what we needed to do to keep our country safe and help the Afghan people. Our current President is a fool and coward. He failed all of America and the people of Afghanistan. Anyone with half a mind knows that we would need to stay there permanently, just like Europe, Japan, S. Korea and other countries. When a war turns into a political game America loses, just like Vietnam. Aiman, soldiers, sailors, and Marines will always pay the price for some idiot politician. Don't let that destroy your morale or self worth.
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Seriously embarrassed by the cowardly actions and decisions of this administration towards our military and veterans! Exactly the same as
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Perhaps, it would have been different, if we did not focus so much on what we did wrong in Vietnam, however, focused more instead in what we did right with Japan and the Korean peninsula. Hence, this is a case of not expanding our view of history to make better decisions with present crisis. That old adage: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it (Santayana); to paraphrase it: Those who do not have a broad perspective of history will fail to make better decisions moving forward. Particularly with Korea, we (along with allies) divided the country between those who wanted communism and those who wanted democracy. Then we (with international organizations led by the U.S.) made sure that S. Korea had all they needed to rise up economically. Then JFK with is organized Peace Corps brought the American way of education; overall, it was declared a successful policy of the U.S. by 1981 (that started with HST, about thirty years before JFK).
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