We need to destroy the Afghan drug fields.

Very true if the citizens of Afghanistan wanted freedom they had a responsibility to fight for it. As long as we funded the govt they went thru the motions.

We should also destroy all of the military equipment the Taliban will be getting.

I cannot believe we had no idea the Taliban would be taking over in a matter of days.

Let's see, how to vett the refugees? I know! We can give them ALL truth serum and put them on a lie detector. As to American values? I see American values as figuratively and literally, "all over the map"! For example, a Texas Cattle Rancher would have different American values than a San Francisco rock and roll singer. They are BOTH Americans. I just wanted to point out that "American Values" is sort of a generic term.

After we eliminated the training camps and chased bin Laden out of Afghanistan, but stopped strangely without killing him, we should have left. No reason to stay for 20 years. The Russians were more brutal than we were and they could NOT stay there. Nation-building was some kind of rationalization to keep us there. The Afghans were FULL of corruption and we had OUR share. US MONEY was flying into various pockets on all sides there with NO good ACCOUNTING going on.

Likely, the future for Afghanistan involves civil war. And maybe even a war with Pakistan. It will be curious to see if Russia or China end up AHEAD because of this chaos?

I suspect that to defoliate the poppy fields we would have to fly in at low altitude and low speed and have a pattern. I suspect that whatever aircraft we used would just be easy targets for shoulder-fired and other low-tech missiles.

I don't know what the point of a post is that thanks someone that will never read it...

Do you know that a VP about that time opposed the raid on the home in Pakistan that held bin Laden and resulted in his death? Maybe that accounted for the hesitation. Poor judgement.

Cannot bring myself to “thank” or even acknowledge such a terrorist organization, but appreciate their help in getting folks to the airport and out. And thanks to those who negotiated this exit.

Taliban members escorted Americans to gates at Kabul airport in secret arrangement with US - CNNPolitics

War in Afghanistan | Global Conflict Tracker

Not sure about how many Taliban soldiers there are in Afghanistan but they are not the same as the people of Afghanistan.

When bush 2 when in said it would take at least 50 years of occupation. No free country has the patience or money to stay that long.

Taliban - Wikipedia

Not sure how up-to-date this is. It estimates the Taliban military size of 75,000.

FYI
Washington Post
——————————-
Can the U.S. Recover From the Afghanistan Debacle? - …
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/can-the-us...
Aug 20, 2021 · President Joe Biden’s defense of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan was callous, self-serving and deeply unconvincing. Above all, it was beside the point. The question is no longer whether U.S ...

Interesting twist.

Your link goes nowhere....does not exist.

But I can find the words in a Bloomberg editorial.

Will not go into the actual editorial, as I was put “on the bench” for linking almost exactly the same words a few times in the last few years.

But laws matter not to some.

CNN Source.. :1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl: