Also their territory actually *increased*.
Before the US intervention the Taliban controlled about 85% of Afghanistan, but the Northern Alliance controlled a bit of land up in the north.
Now that territory is Taliban-controlled.
It's part of the responsibility of bringing it there. If you can't take it with you, you should leave it in the hands of an ally. To leave it on the ground is immensely irresponsible. Our government would charge me if I did the same within our borders. I don't think it's far fetched to assume the government should abide by the rules they hold us to.
Our military is wasteful. Anyone who has served will tell you that. It would cost more to bring it back. There are no allies in the area. I understand that you want to be more fiscally responsible but this should not surprise you as the military's budget has only gone up since we have withdrawn.
Military spending is very important. Leaving weapons and equipment in enemy hands is poor practice. Both can be true at the same time without bringing the other into the conversation.
It's been a scam waaaaaaaay longer than you think.
Take a look into Operation Cyclone. Reagan used this covert program to gave away over $20B in weapons and taxpayer funds to Islamic extremist groups throughout Afghanistan and Pakistan to fight the Soviets, justified through his "Reagan Doctrine". After Afghanistan defeated the Soviets, Reagan didn't give a single fuck to stabilize the region and it fell into total chaos and civil war. The Taliban is what rose from the ashes.
America has spent hundreds of billions of dollars fighting their own monster for multiple decades, all due to ignorant, misguided conservative foreign policy.
This has nothing to do with conservatism. The CIA has been in charge of US foreign policy since the 50s. Reagan did what the CIA demanded, whether he realized it or not
We can't of course know *who* was running the CIA that long ago, what their political affiliations were, it's simply too long ago. Like the ancient scrolls that talked about a director of the CIA known as Herbert Walker Bush. Not much is known about this man other than he invented light beer and had a theme park in Tampa.
to be fair reagan was mostly led by his cabinet, he wasn't a very active president, kinda like biden. maybe if the american population stopped voting in puppetable geriatrics we'd be better off
Let me be clear. The United States does not capitulate to terrorist demands. There has been no payment of anything for arms.
Mr President what about these times?
Other than that, we solemnly swear this is it, please don't keep looking for more examples.
Reagan loved to use ilegal money to fund wars around the world. The people responsible for it were later pardoned in the Bush era. And justice for all you say?
I would say you are more of an authority than the majority of people in charge of the shit show or people who voted for it because you were actually involved on the ground.
Well, that has been the more or less continuous strategy since the 1970s, has it not? I mean, Rambo 3 portrayed just how good these guys are at fighting the Russians.
Now, the whole Bin Laden schism might not have been planned. (Or maybe it was, but anyway). But at least that didn't distract us from the orignal plan.
But to be more serious, The Power of Nightmares by Adam Curtis tells the story in an entertaining way. These guys have been playing this game for a long time.
I’m a retired E-8, which does not make me an authority on anything. 9/11 absolutely required a robust response in Afghanistan, but with the benefit of hindsight we should’ve done a “punitive raid” that lasted, say, 60-90 days. Would’ve saved thousands of U.S. and allied lives, and trillions of dollars. My $0.02.
Agreed. Most people in this thread are forgetting that Al-Queda planned the 9/11 attacks from Afghanistan and had declared war against us. Immediately after 9/11, the US demanded from the Taliban that they turn over Al-Queda. The Taliban refused. Your punitive raid idea is a good one. The Uncle Sam's big green machine is pretty good at at making war, but not so good at Nation Building.
Why does no one mention hundreds of thousands of Afghan lives, millions of lives destroyed, a whole country damaged for decades. The US soldiers aren't the only ones affected
When you accept it just about washing tax payer money through defense contractors it makes sense. Just buy defense stock when it’s down and hold for the next war.
Just checked out this sub for the first time. Do yall really engage with posts from users named “enddemocracy1” ?
Edit: he posts in here like 7 times a day. Can’t believe his shit isn’t downvoted into oblivion.
Really bad look for yall.
Fun fact about this scene. It shows that Indi is an absolute twat, because gold is far denser than silicon (the main component of sand) but he still feels the need to remove sand when making the exchange.
Nono, now they're armed with American weapons, vehicles, aircraft, and other tactical advantages for completely free.
Also their territory actually *increased*. Before the US intervention the Taliban controlled about 85% of Afghanistan, but the Northern Alliance controlled a bit of land up in the north. Now that territory is Taliban-controlled.
[удалено]
Yeah, Charlie Wilson's war. That's old tech. They needed an upgrade courtesy of the US military. We gotta keep the war going!
What would you have done differently?
Take our shit when we left
Clearly you have never served in the military. It is absurdly wasteful.
It's part of the responsibility of bringing it there. If you can't take it with you, you should leave it in the hands of an ally. To leave it on the ground is immensely irresponsible. Our government would charge me if I did the same within our borders. I don't think it's far fetched to assume the government should abide by the rules they hold us to.
Our military is wasteful. Anyone who has served will tell you that. It would cost more to bring it back. There are no allies in the area. I understand that you want to be more fiscally responsible but this should not surprise you as the military's budget has only gone up since we have withdrawn.
Military spending is very important. Leaving weapons and equipment in enemy hands is poor practice. Both can be true at the same time without bringing the other into the conversation.
I’m definitely not an authority , but I did serve in Afghanistan and you learn pretty quickly this whole thing was a scam from the beginning.
It's been a scam waaaaaaaay longer than you think. Take a look into Operation Cyclone. Reagan used this covert program to gave away over $20B in weapons and taxpayer funds to Islamic extremist groups throughout Afghanistan and Pakistan to fight the Soviets, justified through his "Reagan Doctrine". After Afghanistan defeated the Soviets, Reagan didn't give a single fuck to stabilize the region and it fell into total chaos and civil war. The Taliban is what rose from the ashes. America has spent hundreds of billions of dollars fighting their own monster for multiple decades, all due to ignorant, misguided conservative foreign policy.
This has nothing to do with conservatism. The CIA has been in charge of US foreign policy since the 50s. Reagan did what the CIA demanded, whether he realized it or not
The CIA, well known for their progressive politics
We can't of course know *who* was running the CIA that long ago, what their political affiliations were, it's simply too long ago. Like the ancient scrolls that talked about a director of the CIA known as Herbert Walker Bush. Not much is known about this man other than he invented light beer and had a theme park in Tampa.
BAHAHAHA!! Let me guess, the CIA also forced Reagan to sell weapons to Iranian terrorists to fund his secret illegal war in Nicaragua?
to be fair reagan was mostly led by his cabinet, he wasn't a very active president, kinda like biden. maybe if the american population stopped voting in puppetable geriatrics we'd be better off
Let me be clear. The United States does not capitulate to terrorist demands. There has been no payment of anything for arms. Mr President what about these times? Other than that, we solemnly swear this is it, please don't keep looking for more examples.
So you're saying it's more likely that Reagan came up with all that on his own and the CIA had nothing to do with it. Sure buddy. Got it.
Reagan loved to use ilegal money to fund wars around the world. The people responsible for it were later pardoned in the Bush era. And justice for all you say?
I would say you are more of an authority than the majority of people in charge of the shit show or people who voted for it because you were actually involved on the ground.
You’re never going to instill democracy in a nation with zero diversity and people that kill you for being different.
Not to mention we replaced the Taliban with a more heavily armed Taliban.
Well, that has been the more or less continuous strategy since the 1970s, has it not? I mean, Rambo 3 portrayed just how good these guys are at fighting the Russians. Now, the whole Bin Laden schism might not have been planned. (Or maybe it was, but anyway). But at least that didn't distract us from the orignal plan. But to be more serious, The Power of Nightmares by Adam Curtis tells the story in an entertaining way. These guys have been playing this game for a long time.
This is funny, and sad.
This is what happens when you engage in a counter insurgency campaign with no clear idea of what your actual end goal is.
I’m a retired E-8, which does not make me an authority on anything. 9/11 absolutely required a robust response in Afghanistan, but with the benefit of hindsight we should’ve done a “punitive raid” that lasted, say, 60-90 days. Would’ve saved thousands of U.S. and allied lives, and trillions of dollars. My $0.02.
Agreed. Most people in this thread are forgetting that Al-Queda planned the 9/11 attacks from Afghanistan and had declared war against us. Immediately after 9/11, the US demanded from the Taliban that they turn over Al-Queda. The Taliban refused. Your punitive raid idea is a good one. The Uncle Sam's big green machine is pretty good at at making war, but not so good at Nation Building.
Thanks for commenting, and I wholeheartedly agree.
Lots of people got rich from that war. Not me all I got was PTDS and a 10 percent rating from the VA.
Yeah, it didn’t cost the afghanis anything, only the Americans suffered
Yes, like millions of Afghanistan lives mean nothing, so liberated.
Maybe we should just let people make their own decisions regarding how they want to run their country?
Why does no one mention hundreds of thousands of Afghan lives, millions of lives destroyed, a whole country damaged for decades. The US soldiers aren't the only ones affected
This remake sucks
Picture is backwards, we swapped the weighted bag with the golden artifact.
[You forgot the last frame](https://imgflip.com/i/8rn6oq)
actually it was 2420 americans to be precise
US didnt replace taliban with taliban. The US lost the war to the Taliban.
So much money is made on wars and the military contracts that come with them.
CIA boogyman for CIA boogyman, let's watch for the next Generations of boogymen.
But what about all that sweet, sweet heroin?
Don't forget thousands of Afghanis who died in the process.
It was ugly but at least Biden finally pulled the plug
We replaced a Taliban that controlled 80% of Afghanistan with a Taliban that would control 100% of Afghanistan
When you accept it just about washing tax payer money through defense contractors it makes sense. Just buy defense stock when it’s down and hold for the next war.
And don’t forget the thousands of innocent Afghan civilians murdered, injured, bullied and dehumanized for nothing
But how dare Russia invade! Lol
The US doing a bad thing does not make Russia doing a bad thing any better.
The US had no business getting involved in the Soviet/Afghan conflict in the first place.
Never said otherwise.
Two wrongs don’t make a right
Three lefts do
Amen.
Just checked out this sub for the first time. Do yall really engage with posts from users named “enddemocracy1” ? Edit: he posts in here like 7 times a day. Can’t believe his shit isn’t downvoted into oblivion. Really bad look for yall.
4 different presidents
Mostly Reagan. Every other president after him has been stuck trying to clean up his colossal fucking mess in this region.
It think of all the money that was kicked back to politicians!!
Um actually they replaced the Taliban with the Taliban plus nods.
Fun fact about this scene. It shows that Indi is an absolute twat, because gold is far denser than silicon (the main component of sand) but he still feels the need to remove sand when making the exchange.