Originally Posted by tvbound

Afghanistan is not a 'country' in the way we think of one. It is actually a bunch of fiefdoms controlled by warlords and their armed followers. Of which, most of the money and weapons we have sent there have went into the pockets of those warlords. Our original intent to go there and stop Al-Qaeda and/or other international terrorist groups from having a safe haven under the Taliban, was a good one, but the failure was in thinking we could change centuries of their warring history. We need to stop trying to nation-build and recognize that at some point, enough is enough. Yes, it is a tragedy regarding what will happen to women and children under Taliban rule, but unless we continue to lose American troops for another 20 years and a few more trillion dollars (which still won't change anything and the money will still pour into the warlords pockets) - it is time to leave. Our biggest mistake was in not starting earlier in getting those who have helped us out of the country first, for their own protection. Our other mistake was not having good enough intelligence to realize how fast and easily the Taliban would fill the void, without the threat of Americans backing the joke of the previous 'government.'

History (British/Russians/Etc.) shows that a country's citizens are willing to fight to the end, against those who have 'invaded' their country. If the USA were invaded - we would be doing the same exact thing.