GW Bush used the term āforcesā for troops or soldiers. No one else has to do it. What McCain will do is what the USA has always doneā¦a troop increase followed by troop deaths and then withdrawal. Troops, unlike āforcesā bleed, they go blind, lose limbs or get burned over 75 % of their bodies. They get caught in horrible, hopeless situations in which death is imminent and all thatās left until it comes is thoughts about family, girl friends, wives and kids. They do it fighting for āthe American way of lifeā in a place that has nothing in common with America other than the sun comes up in its East. They fight for āfreedomā trapped in the armpit of the world pinned down under sniper fire. āmaking the world a better placeā while their bodies itch from the sweat burns and they canāt stand the taste of their own sour breath and the grit on their tongues. The suffer an exhaustion that has to be experienced to know. Fatigued to collapse but high on adrenalineā¦canāt sleepā¦canāt stay awake. And the sadnessā¦
What we are talking about is young men and women. Not āforcesā. When a young American dies part of the American experience dies. When a 19 year old kid dies in some shit hole all thatās left is a flag for his mother. That mother never watches the kid graduate from college, get married or hand her a grandchild. All she has is that fucking flag and a picture on the mantle. America does not owe the world that. No part of it is worth that.
Iāve never been the same since I went through combat and it was 45 years ago. I remember the names and sometimes have to go into a bathroom so no one will see me cry. Why do we do this to our young people?
If thatās the case, could there be a better time to leave?
Our war in Afghanistan reminds me of a poem children do with their parents with fingerplay, when theyāre really young:
The grand old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men;
He marched them up to the top of the hill,
And he marched them down again.
And when they were up, they were up,
And when they were down, they were down,
And when they were only half-way up,
They were neither up nor down.
Thatās Afghanistan in a nutshell. Youāre either in or your out. No halfway shit about it. I say we get outā¦McCain says we go all in. After 16 years, I canāt see us doing better than Alexander the Great. Do we really want to be a permanent occupying force there only to see it all go to shit anyway because we really donāt belong there? Thatās really all weāre doing now with the remaining troops we have there, that are overseeing smaller and smaller areas of the country and basically just keeping the seat of govāt alive in Kabul. Weāre asking American patriots to fight to contain an idea, a warped ideology, and as horrible as that idea is, its one which has more than enough impetus to spread whether weāre there in country, or not. All those rebel fighters and terrorists still battling for their dying cause of an Islamic caliphate in that country have been degraded already, and we are never going to rid that country of all of them. It almost seems now like our being there gives them an excuse to keep their fight going against us as an occupying force. I have yet to see Saudi Arabia doing a fucking thing about this mess. It seems like wherever thereās Sunni terrorism, Saudi Arabia can be found playing both sides against the middle. That alone is total bullshit and crazymaking if we continue with this war. I want to see us leave Afghanistan. Enough is enough.
You tried your hardest to make a difference. You cared and still do. Thatās what gives real meaning to life not what conservatives call being being successful or a winner. There arenāt any winners in war.
Please stop beating yourself up for decisions made for all the wrong reasons by corrupt leadership. All the survivors on both sides of that conflict deserve to achieve some peace. It can only come when you share your experiences with the rest of us and tell it the way it really was. I wish more vets would.
It canāt be easy to relive those memories. Peace to you
McCain isnāt concerned about Afghanistan. If he was heād have demanded we leave after their first acts of treachery. Heās concerned with the decision to go there. It was a bad one but itās tied to a Republican administration. When you start a war you have 3 options. Win it, lose it or fight it forever. McCain is for option 3 as it keeps his GOP club away from the scorn that comes with option 2. Soldiers lose their facesā¦the GOP keeps theirs.
Yes. 10 years ago.
Trump might actually do something right if he just said itās not worth continuing any longer.
My Dad, who is one of the dwindling number of WWII vets still alive, feels exactly as you do. He enlisted as a teenager for all the right reasons, but has never forgotten the death and devastation he was part of. He didnāt really begin to talk about his feelings until he was older, but the impression his sharing has made on me and my young adult sons is immeasurable. He is vehemently anti-war, desperately afraid of the influence the military has in the Trump administration, and wants no more young people to be sent in harmās way by reckless politicians.
ā¦he unveiled a war strategy of his own that includes more U.S. combat forces and greater counterterrorism efforts.
John thank you for your service, you vote against Ocare repeal and sorry about the cancer.
Now leave congress, go home, say your farewells and let go.
He also recommends expanding U.S. training assistance to the Afghan security forces so they can capably fight the Taliban and other militant groups.
Yes, 16 years isnāt nearly long enough to build up an army. /s
This is like the claims that if we had just stayed a few more years in South Vietnam they would have been able to resist the North. Time to face reality. There is no functional government in Afghanistan and all we are doing to propping up warlords and opium operations.
McCain Drafts Own War Strategy, Says US Is āAdrift In Afghanistanā
Is that like an own goal in soccer?