Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

We spent BILLIONS on equipping the soldiers of Afghanistan and now all that equipment can be used by the Taliban to war against the people we were trying to help. 20 years, untold billions of dollars, many servicemen k**led and even more wounded -- many crippled for life, and where are we now? It's like throwing our national treasures (citizens and money) away! We need to stop being the world's police force. Giving assistance is right. As the world's richest country (for now, China may overtake us in that area soon), we need to share our wealth. We do not need to sacrifice our young men and women to wars that have no end. Tribes in the Middle East have been waring against each other for thousands of years -- anyone that could believe we could stop that is deluded! For the next few years let's concentrate on securing our own borders, building back our crumbling infrastructure, and working on getting our citizens back to work, off unemployment payouts, and welfare.

letmedance Loc: Walnut, Ca.

👍👍👍

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

So you approve of the withdrawal from Afghanistan agreed to by Trump, and executed by Biden?

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

What I disapprove of is our government engaging in a conflict and not backing up our military. If we commit troops to a conflict we should let the Generals tell us how the situation is to be handled and when it is time for us to leave, not the politicians. We still have 30,000 troops in South Korea, troops in Japan, in Germany. While I don't think we should get involved in every conflict around the world, if we do get involved we should stay until the job is done. Do I approve of the Afghanistan situation? Good question -- I would like to base my feelings about that on what our military leaders say. So far, all I have heard is what the politicians are spouting. I base my feelings on first hand knowledge. I was in Viet Nam and not a single person in the military from privates to generals with whom I've spoken believed the South Viet Nam regular army could hold against the c*******ts. To me this is Viet Nam all over again. Turning the fight over to the Afghan army and now blaming them for the collapse is just passing the buck, not "the buck stops here" as Biden has said.

Frank T Loc: New York, NY

The US trained 300,000 Afghani troops and equipped them. When the US announced the withdrawal, those 300,000 troops decided to cut and run. There was never an ending strategy to this war, which was illegally started by GW Bush, and everyone knew that.
Even before the withdrawal began the Afghani military began accepting bribes from the Taliban to drop their weapons and walk away.
What the Afghanis actually wanted was freedom, but freedom, with the United States protecting it with the blood of our troops.
There was never going to be a peaceful ending to this war and it came down to leave or spend the next fifty years there.
Plenty of blame for the failure, including Trump signing a peace deal with the Taliban.
I h**e the losses that our troops have suffered but enough is enough. Let Afghanistan return to its tribal roots and let them k**l each other in peace.

InfiniteISO Loc: The Carolinas, USA

We went in to Afghanistan to clear out the people and bases that planned and attacked us on 9/11. Somewhere along the way the scope creeped. I think a decisive hit and withdrawal would have been a better strategy.

hondo812 Loc: Massachusetts

We've been there for a generation. And for an entire generation it's been nothing but a giant money suck and for what? What has actually changed?

We got Bin Laden. We got others on that deck of cards. No one had a well thought out exit plan after achieving the goals of capturing/k*****g the 911 terrorists. Afghans had 20 years to adapt to a more modern life. Clearly there were some factions that did not want that. I seem to recall that at one point the Taliban was all but wiped out. We backed off the throttle and let them re-emerge. Clearly, you cannot k**l an idea.

I feel bad for the brave Americans sent there, the families that will never see them again, the wounded that bare the scars seen and unseen. I feel bad for the Afghans that worked with the US military and Embassy that have been all but abandoned. Their future is in peril.

So, what's been gained besides a temporary testing ground for weapon systems?

It would be really nice if we were to take a break from embarking on another military action, still, I wonder where will US forces deploy next?

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

Oh! Most of us know the lessons of our recent history, problem is our politicians and bureaucrats don't learn from them.

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

Nothing but deflection trying to rehabilitate Biden's mismanagement of the withdrawal.

mjmoore17 Loc: Philadelphia, PA area

BS

Bill 45

You are dead on.

wilpharm Loc: Oklahoma

so....he didn't mismanage the situation?????????????

Bill 45

Say it a second time, you are dead on.

berchman Loc: South Central PA

Let the generals decide? How about General MacArthur being fired by President Truman after MacArthur insisted that we should bomb China in the Korean war? Read this and tell us that the generals should decide.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/redacted-testimony-fully-explains-why-general-macarthur-was-fired-180960622/

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

Isn't if funny how the "Father of our Country" in his "Farewell Address" offered his advice to the citizens of the United States. His key points were to warn Americans against the danger of political parties, and to remain neutral in foreign conflicts...

Washington's words now come back to haunt us...
His ghost is omnipresent... And his learned advice still ignored...

The larger question now is not banding of mask wearing but instead how can political parties be banded?
Think carefully here... The downfall of Democracies may be by allowing polarization of religious and economic interest.

Oft stated that the root cause of virtually all deadly conflicts (local, regional and global) are religious and economic interests.

Please stay safe folks... Thank you