EXPLAINER: What remains as US ends Afghan 'forever war'

I'll believe it when I see it happening COL (Join to see) , it isn't over until the fat lady sings sir.

Sir - I doubt we will ever really leave. My main reason is that there is no real defined mission. Without a defined mission, how can we ever really claim Mission Complete? I worked under GEN Petraeus at CENTCOM many years ago, and the mission has remained the same: Degrade, destroy the Taliban's ability to conduct operations against the homeland (or something similar to that). The Taliban is never going to give up on AFG, it is in the DNA at this point of the AFG people. Plus, if we actually were able to completely eradicate the Taliban, then we are right back into nation building, and we are really bad at that...

I don't think we will have too many people say we can't leave because we have lost too many people there to run away (and I have lost friends there as many of us have).

My sincere hope (probably will go unfulfilled) is that we as a country and military learn from this and realize that prior to going to conflict, there needs to be a defined mission and end goals.

Give a real thought to these soldiers as they plan to withdraw and the publicity that erupted ahead of the withdrawals. Withdrawing from a combat zone is one of the most dangerous activities especially if the withdrawal has been publicized.
The danger that exists as numbers and equipment decreases will be watched closely by the enemy and may precipitate an attack when they judge they have the upper edge.
I'm an RVN vet and can remember being in a last squad waiting for an extraction bird to lift us out as 5 guys tried to keep a perimeter watched and you could literally feel the eyes watching you. The stress was unimaginable.
So keep these soldiers in your thoughts as they try to exit in one piece.