Maybe. Maybe not. Here's a scenario. Take a choice. Don't leave and still be stuck there. Leave in a shitshow, but now be free. It certainly could have been handled better (especially the abandoning of materials), but looking back, I'm so glad we are gone and never have to worry about that shithole ever again. I can't imagine dealing with the current world with troops still stuck in that black hole of rotten quicksand.
The Israeli’s were the last people to improve our tanks with nets of explosives. It’s amazing how you can spend as much as you want on r and d but real improvements come thru real life trials.
Regarding abandonment of equipment. We spent what, nearly 20 years propping up a new government and their military. I don't know for sure, but I would guess some of the equipment was intended to help them defend themselves going forward. But when we started pulling out, the government folded like a cheap suit. At that point how much would we have had to invest to go get the stuff that was being captured by the Taliban?
Could it have been done better? Yes. Was it always going to end badly? Yes. Am I overjoyed that we're out? ABSOLUTELY! This is why you think long and hard before committing yourself to nation building . . . in a "nation" where that has historically been a complete and abject failure.
We are on the same page. I was just wondering aloud if Trump's talking points about how we just abandoned equipment may be as bogus as most of his other talking points.
Trump and Obama knew something like this would happen, but both are political cowards who didn't want that mess on their record. So they didn't do what we all knew needed to happen. . . because they're cowards and narcissists.
I don't think anything we abandoned in Afghanistan comes close to the technology we left in Iran (F-14's). Iran could not maintain them or operate them properly, so they've been rusting since then. Might have provided some improvements for Russian aircraft, but that's about it. If that did not do major damage to our national security, nothing we left in Afghanistan will, IMO.
Starmer says Putin started Ukraine war and can 'end this conflict straight away' Amen. The part he leaves out is what Russia can’t do: end the war by winning it.
“Russia’s central bank hiked interest rates to their highest since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine more than 2 1/2 years ago. The bank raised its key rate to 19%” https://apnews.com/article/russia-e...nterest-rate-7aeaed4f26b8ce34eb91d16e46226d16
Yeah, but, like, look at the economic growth, man. And disregard that defense spending now makes up 40% of GDP. That’s totally sustainable.
I’m just hoping we get the confirmation that Lane Kiffin has been hired, as new Gator coach, before we all have to die … The Imminent Russia-US War