Today on the CBS Sunday morning show, a three tour American veteran, Master Sargent Travis Mills, spoke words of encouragement to other veterans and Gold Star families who may be feeling let down and disappointed at the way the war has ended. His speech was laced with a three-word refrain, “We did good!”
He specifically mentioned the facts that we built schools and hospitals there, brought advances in modern medicine, and gave the Afghani infrastructure and economy an important boost.
We should all admire those who do the things that we could not do, and Sargent Mills certainly deserves our admiration and our thanks. The words “We did good!” coming from that patriot and defender of Democracy, should never be questioned or second guessed in any way.
Forgive me! We did good, but we lost a lot of fine young men and women, and a lot of our money ended up in the wrong hands.
Sargent Mills also said, “We probably should have left Afghanistan a long time ago.”
Respectfully! We should have never been there at all. All the good we did could have certainly been done without the catastrophic losses.
In 2001 the Taliban government protected bin Laden and his comrades at Tora Bora and elsewhere in Afghanistan. That was the reason for invasion.
While our troops were there, Bush crept the mission up to giving the Afghanis a chance at a civilized government and to deny international jihadists a refuge.
Obama thought Afghanistan was the good war, he did not quit.
Trump announced withdrawal from Afghanistan but reversed course upon advice and evidence that the Taliban broke recent agreements.
Mass murder of Afghani innocents has begun. Wretched totalitarianism remains for the survivors, especially for women. The cult of taliban, al-qaeda, isis, and jihad is allowed to metastasize again but now with a fresh supply of US military gear.
WinLoseorDraw believes in the Platinum rule (not the Golden Rule). The Platinum rule is to initiate interactions with a friendly and open demeanor, and after the initial contact, meet kindness with kindness and hostility with hostility. After 2001 we should have dialed up a measured and equally deadly response.
We are not, and should not be, responsible for the well being and democratic growth of Afghanistan. WinLoseorDraw regrets his own unhumanitarian stance on this issue, but that stance is not going to change.
The bible says, “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” The bible does not say, “An eye and and arm for an eye.” It also does not say, “Occupy the house of those who offend you.” It also does not say, “Give lots of money to foreign warlords.” They agreed with everything American while we were there. Like the old Italian who ran the whore house in
Catch 22
,they will wisely stand behind any and every occupying force. That is how they will win!
We could have done good there without the exorbitant losses.
I understand the Platinum rule would require us to wait for an attack before responding, but at least in that scenario the whole world knows our response was justified.