What are your feelings as the Taliban reclaim Afghanistan after 20 years of US involvement?

Slap in the face! Same as what the Government did in Nam. Don't care about the lives that were lost, nor casualties that occurred.

Look, was active duty from 1984-1996 Air Force and 2009-2015 contractor. Spent 4 years deployed to OEF. Most with JSOC and there are some awesome Afghanis but most while in training were un- educated farm boys with zero will to fight for what they have. We did make life better for most but damn, to go down like this it really sucks!

I am pretty devastated. It has touched the depths of my person. What was the sacrifice for?

Below was my local newspaper posting--have been working many hours per day trying to help my 3 interpreters get to safety--on the phone and texting them as they live in such great fear. Maybe now we can't get it done--going house to house to find them I know. Incredible betrayal by this administration. Still trying and will not give up for them.

In 2011 I deployed to Afghanistan, serving with an amazing group of American Heroes—the Afghan interpreters. The first target of the Taliban, these souls risked their lives beside us enabling our missions and advising us on unknown cultural matters. For three years I have been trying to get one such Hero and family out; he/wife/children have been in constant hiding during this time; two more Heroes were since added to my list. The overseeing State Department SIV Office has been like we have come to expect from any bureaucratic office now wanting to fully take over our lives—going months without a response and denying an application for not crossing a “T” right. We have been back in forth in steady effort, with these families lives on the line, and now the fall of Afghanistan has occurred. Last night I am texting my Heroes to help them find a way out, knowing that they and their wives/kids may soon be dead. Children crying--great tears and grief. Surreal Schindler’s List experience to have in Sanpete County Utah. They, and our own sons whom I saluted those nights at the Kandahar airport when they returned in boxes back in the day, all dying in vain. Damn our leaders.

CDR Carl Thomas Sullivan, US Navy Retired
Disabled Combat Veteran, Afghanistan 2011-2012
(Information Effects, 82nd Airborne Division/Regional Command South Headquarters, Kandahar Afghanistan)
From my cabin above Palisade Lake State Park, Sterling, Utah

I was proud to have served in Korea 1953 7th Inf. Div. but now with our corrupt leadership, I feel betrayed!

First and foremost, NONE of this reflects badly on any US or Allied servicemember who fought there, they followed orders and did the best job they could under the circumstances. Without question, they are all brave heroes, all should hold their heads high. Those who died or were horribly wounded there did NOT do it in vain - they served their country honorably and bravely. They did their duty! All are heroes.

I spent a year in Iraq (2004), served other places and I was in Afghanistan in 2013 as a HUMINT OPSO, can't say more but I knew a lot more than the average Joe. Even then, I was wondering why we were there, there was no defined goal beyond a vague "establish an Afghan government that could take over." That was never going to happen due to corruption amongst the Afghans (government officials in particular), Afghan soldiers were not motivated (OK, there's a few exceptions), green on blue attacks and Afghan history going back to Alexander the Great - no one has ever ruled Afghanistan other than the most MOTIVATED Afghans. Even the Soviets learned the hard way and their tactics were brutal. Hell, we worked with an Afghan general who we knew was working both sides of the fence! He'd throw us a bone by giving up a Taliban weapon cache or even a unit just to make things look good while he enriched himself through vendors on certain allied bases. The minor "contributions" of certain allied countries who would send a handful of troops that would never leave a FOB was also an indicator of the true lack of NATO or UN commitment. The US and GB with a couple other NATO countries beared the brunt.

If US and NATO allies intend on actually winning a war - look back to WW2. Send a massive hoard of troops and supplies, kill or capture ALL enemy combatants and fully occupy the territory - control everything. You'd think Vietnam would have warned us away from how we fought this war, evidently we didn't remember much. You can't let politicians dictate the means of fighting wars. If we're going to get involved with COIN in the future let SOF manage and handle it, that's what they're trained for. If you're going to bring in conventional forces to "win" then do it overwhelmingly. All in all, I'm not at all surprised by this end and but I am surprised we spent 20 years there. Originally our mission in AFG was to capture those responsible for 9/11 and to destroy the terrorist training camps there, then it sucked us in more and more in larger and larger increments but never truly enough. I've been in the Army and Army Reserve for 43 years so I've seen it all since Vietnam beginning with the hostage crisis in Iran. I hope we learned our lesson this time about establishing exactly what our goal is before we get involved in future major engagements and stick to it - or get the hell out early.

But to you vets who served in AFG, please don't be unhappy with this result, you had zero control over it. It's not your fault. Know you did what you were supposed to do and you all fought valiantly and accomplished the mission, we did our duty. Your country is proud of you. In my opinion, our government (and NATO governments) as well as very high ranking military leaders blew it with undefined (or unrealistic) goals and expectations that were far fetched and unachievable.

The biggest disappointment for me... is that there are still so many Americans who thought this would end otherwise. Those of us who were on the ground were not able to properly communicate just how it was going over there.

A lot of good Americans paid the ultimate price.
To serve at the will of the President.

I am most upset at the lack of planning during this withdrawal. I think we all understood that a vacuum would have been created with our departure and the Afghan people would feel the negative effects. However, due to our improper exsit plan many more will die and it didnt have to be this way.

I was shocked when I saw our soldiers depart in the middle of the night without any pass down whatsoever. We’ll never know how much of the ‘bad taste in their mouths’ contributed to the AG downfall, but it was in serious bad form and not a reflection of true USA professionalism.

Seeing the Afghans clinging to the C-17 today made me want to vomit. It looked like a scene from World War Z…only that it really happened.