Quote:
Originally Posted by john41
a long held theory was that if we engage with a non democracy like china or afghanistan they will gradually become a democracy. We overestimated the degree to which technology could replace dedicated boots on the ground. Remember the academic whizz kids war planners in vietnam. The experts were reluctant to give up their theories. How wrong they were. Our soldiers paid the price.
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. A la the domino theory which caused the korean and vietnam wars so to the afghanistan conflicts were a means to a geopolitical victory over the ussr.
The elder combatants and leaders of the current taliban were the same teenage boys in the 1980's , who armed by the cia with lethal stinger missiles climbed to the mountaintops and cost the soviets billions of dollars monthly by shooting down their aircraft and troops supplies. This event is one of the preminent reasons the ussr collapsed financially hastening the implosion of the ussr.
The rest is details, not to us average citizens, but to our government leadership hence the term given to those killed and injured as " collateral damage". This geopolitical conflict is always ongoing eg middle east and the china sea.
This current afghanistan war was punishment for aiding and abetting the 9/11 attack. Mission accomplished and over.