What About Afghanistan?

#1
n_huffhines

n_huffhines

What's it gonna cost?
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#1
Trump gave a speech in front of the new NATO headquarters in Brussels and did not even mention Afghanistan, which is the longest running war in NATO history. It's as if this **** doesn't even matter.

Yet things in Afghanistan are deteriorating and we're about to decide whether or not we're going to deploy thousands of additional troops.

What say ye? Are we going to just do this forever? Should we?
 
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#3
#3
n_huffhines said:
Trump gave a speech in front of the new NATO headquarters in Brussels and did not even mention Afghanistan, which is the longest running war in NATO history. It's as if this **** doesn't even matter.

Yet things in Afghanistan are deteriorating and we're about to decide whether or not we're going to deploy thousands of additional troops.

What say ye? Are we going to just do this forever? Should we?
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I say leave em and **** em. They don't want peace, they like their tribal wars and revenge killings. Drone them from time to time but there's no point in us staying there. The moment we leave the army will capitulate and be in bed with whoever wins the Taliban/ISIS/al qaeda power struggle. Empires have tried to straighten out Afghanistan for hundreds of years with nothing to show for it.
 
#4
#4
n_huffhines said:
Trump gave a speech in front of the new NATO headquarters in Brussels and did not even mention Afghanistan, which is the longest running war in NATO history. It's as if this **** doesn't even matter.

Yet things in Afghanistan are deteriorating and we're about to decide whether or not we're going to deploy thousands of additional troops.

What say ye? Are we going to just do this forever? Should we?
Click to expand...

Yea we have been waiting the last couple of months for Trump to even mention Afghanistan. NATO has committed to send an additional 5,000-6,000 troops along with the proposed 6,000 U.S. Troops that will begin to arrive next year. Marines started to go back to Afghanistan last month. From what I've been told this is going to be one last push to 1) get the Taliban back to the peace table, 2) train more Afghan soldiers and 3) take back territory that the Taliban has taken the last year. There is also now the issue of Russian influence and them giving direct financial and military aid to the Taliban.
 
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#5
#5
Nobody that has ever invaded or occupied Afghanistan has ever come out victorious.

The most anyone can hope for is to put in the faction they desire and run like hell as the situation deteriorates.

Personal opinion? We never should have gone past the SOF and airstrike levels there. Occupy a single staging base, let SOF do what SOF does best, bomb the hell out of targets and call it a day. Don't even try to implement any of this Western style democracy the people neither want or care for.
 
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#6
#6
n_huffhines said:
Trump gave a speech in front of the new NATO headquarters in Brussels and did not even mention Afghanistan, which is the longest running war in NATO history. It's as if this **** doesn't even matter.

Yet things in Afghanistan are deteriorating and we're about to decide whether or not we're going to deploy thousands of additional troops.

What say ye? Are we going to just do this forever? Should we?
Click to expand...

It may be the longest running war but without a clear goal it will continue indefinitely. In other words, we've been in Afghanistan for one year, fifteen times.

Every year, the mission changes due to leadership, political expediency and mission creep. NATO could be there another 15 and nothing would change. It's a money pit.
 
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#10
#10
AirVol said:
Probably forever. We're still in Korea, still in Germany and most of Europe.
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Way different situation in the countries you listed (except maybe Korea). 15 years after WWII, we weren't still fighting in Europe or Japan.
 
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#11
#11
n_huffhines said:
Trump gave a speech in front of the new NATO headquarters in Brussels and did not even mention Afghanistan, which is the longest running war in NATO history. It's as if this **** doesn't even matter.

Yet things in Afghanistan are deteriorating and we're about to decide whether or not we're going to deploy thousands of additional troops.

What say ye? Are we going to just do this forever? Should we?
Click to expand...

Why it is still going on past 2011 is a question that needs answered. Obama f'ed that one up. Yet another of his campaign promises that never materialized.

We shouldn't be in Afghanistan anymore. We shouldn't care about Afghanistan anymore. We shouldn't be sending more troops to any Crapistan or other ME country.
 
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#12
#12
Septic said:
It may be the longest running war but without a clear goal it will continue indefinitely. In other words, we've been in Afghanistan for one year, fifteen times.

Every year, the mission changes due to leadership, political expediency and mission creep. NATO could be there another 15 and nothing would change. It's a money pit.
Click to expand...

100% accurate. When I first went to Afghanistan it was in September 2001. A year later I went back and our mission was to get ready to go to Iraq...
 
#14
#14
Septic said:
It may be the longest running war but without a clear goal it will continue indefinitely. In other words, we've been in Afghanistan for one year, fifteen times.

Every year, the mission changes due to leadership, political expediency and mission creep. NATO could be there another 15 and nothing would change. It's a money pit.
Click to expand...

Sounds a lot like the US fed govt today.
 
#16
#16
Velo Vol said:
We've been training for almost a generation!
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It take 15 to 20 years to train a army from the ground up. Remember we are training people before the U.S. and NATO arrived couldn't read write or do math. Those are all things that are need for a modern army to be successful. Afghan soldiers in their Artillery Corps are just learning the basics of how to fire rounds down range over mountains accuracy. Afghan Engineers only know the basics and conduct route clearance and CIED in way that American and British Army engineers would say hell no too. Afghanistan is going to have to be given the same aproach as South Korea.
 
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#17
#17
carlos86 said:
It take 15 to 20 years to train a army from the ground up. Remember we are training people before the U.S. and NATO arrived could read write or do math. Those are all things that are need for a modern army to be successful.
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I've met some in the Army that couldn't add. They should be disqualified imo.
 
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#19
#19
carlos86 said:
It take 15 to 20 years to train a army from the ground up. Remember we are training people before the U.S. and NATO arrived couldn't read write or do math. Those are all things that are need for a modern army to be successful. Afghan soldiers in their Artillery Corps are just learning the basics of how to fire rounds down range over mountains accuracy. Afghan Engineers only know the basics and conduct route clearance and CIED in way that American and British Army engineers would say hell no too. Afghanistan is going to have to be given the same aproach as South Korea.
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The Afghani people did a pretty slam up job at combat way before the Americans and probably will after we leave.

It's not like they haven't taken on the world's greatest powers at one point or another. NATO, the Soviets, the British, etc. Your arrogance concerning the education level of a people who practically have combat written into their DNA is sadly misplaced.
 
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#24
#24
Grand Vol said:
Why didn't you just say PJ?

I'll buy you a beer if we ever get together. Tell some stories about the Cop-PJ fun I had in Iceland.
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Because over half the people on here don't even realize that the Air Force have special forces I imagine.

Keflavik? You Navy?
 
#25
#25
Grand Vol said:
The Afghani people did a pretty slam up job at combat way before the Americans and probably will after we leave.

It's not like they haven't taken on the world's greatest powers at one point or another. NATO, the Soviets, the British, etc. Your arrogance concerning the education level of a people who practically have combat written into their DNA is sadly misplaced.
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I'm not being arrogant. I'm staying facts. Afghan soldiers use to complain that their weapons wouldn't fire. Well their weapons weren't firing because they weren't conducting weapons maintenance. Not every member the Afghan Army has fought before. Not all of them know how to clean a weapon or how to zero their rifle.
 
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