I know there was a small push to change them to producing wheat instead, but two issues with that. One, it is not as profitable and two, it would make them a competitor to the US so we never really pushed hard. Doesn’t matter where it comes from, if there is demand then there will be opium coming into the US. We can’t control the whole world to stop producing drugs, we could put more effort into helping addiction here and lowering demand though.
So what?
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So, last I checked, opioid addiction is a big problem in this country.
Gee, no comment on the scene from “9 Rota?”
I’m disappointed!
Good scene, got me more interested the movie. It kind of reminded me of the briefing in Aliens where the soldiers aren’t taking Sigourney Weaver"s intel seriously. And all that Ha"ram talk made me think Abu Ghraib.
Meh. Thanks for sharing, though.
Was hoping to see the “Private Ryan” part. Not sure the war room scene is that interesting.
See the military.com link in my original post for the Russian Saving Private Ryan trailer.
As for “9 Rota,” another great Russian war movie, watch this trailer.
Actually, here’s the official “Battle for Afghanistan” Russian Saving Private Ryan trailer.
I would have never dreamed we would have lasted 2 decades (across 5 plus administrations) in that country after what happened to the Soviets. I thought we were smarter than that. Five years max to kill off OBL, al Qaeda, and the Taliban and establish and to assist with some level of government support and then get the hell out.
Going into Iraq changed our focus and was one of the worst decisions we made on many fronts.
As long as Pakistan was going to protect the Taliban then there could never be a final outcome. Seems pretty stupid on our part to keep giving money to Pakistan while they support the Taliban
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If 20 years wasn’t enough to do all that you suggested, then I’m not sure how you figure it could have been done in five years.
Hell, we had over 100,000 troops there in 2011 during my first deployment. Can’t see that we made all that much progress, all things considered, although I suppose we kept the Taliban from completely taking back over. We’ll see how long that situation holds.
Anyway, it’s for the history books now.
At this point…the military will do the same thing it does at the end of every other war: start preparing for the NEXT one.
Any guesses as to where the next fight will be, and with whom?
Well I imagine the Pentagon is going demand the budget for the next war being China or Russia. Though I highly doubt general war breaks out between the great nuclear powers no one wants to be the group who extinguishes humanity.
My guess is the next large scale deployment would be the big if, of Iran going nuclear. They get close then we might see it, if they successfully go nuclear then no. Kids in the nuclear club don’t get invaded, it’s why NK it’s off the regime change table as well.
But my ranking order of possible conflicts
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Iran and the Middle East are always the favorites.
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Sub Saharan Africa: unstable countries, lots of resources
3 My Dark Horse candidate: The American Southwest
Mods you asked me not to post about politics. What is this thread about? Our war in Afghanistan was/is about terrible d.c. politics. What gives?
Exactly and at the end of the day we have tens of thousands of American heroes that are either maimed for life or suffer from PTSD. The dirty prostitutes d.c. politicians could care less. They got $M’s out of it. Just this morning we are finding out that the Afghan army just left a strategic passage to the taliban. That passage alone cost us tax payers $40M’s.This is one minute example of many. All in all what is the final bill for the Afghan conflict? How many died for the taliban to come right back where they were after the soviets left? Our foreign war strategies has been disastrous for decades. This is just the latest example of it. It just happens to be the costliest yet. We have known for decades that Pakistan plays both sides. Instead of ignoring India we should have supported them a lot more than we have done since the brits left. This is just another unforced error that is biting us back in the kiester.
Folks, we can do better than this. It’s up to everyone to keep discourse civil here and communal. Please stop going after each other.
I am proud of our military. My father is a veteran. I am grateful to all who served and serve.
That being said, military threads always devolve into some kind of political angle and then arguments. You literally can go almost anywhere else on the internet and argue to your heart’s delight about politics. Not here.
So threads like this are not a good idea even if well intentioned.
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