Unpopular and politically impossible Afghanistan take: It’s too late now, but we could have preserved Kabul & key areas, protecting Afghan urbanites allergic to Taliban extremism w/a very light footprint. This was the point of the generals who wanted to stay. Why stay at all? 1/x
One reason was to protect people to whom we’d made promises. They’re all going to die w/their families now. That’s at least an argument a politician can make on the stump. The real reasons can’t even be suggested in public by a politician. 2/x
Example: We don’t really have good domestic facilities for military training at a company or above level anymore. Afghanistan provided a low-risk, low-cost, live-fire training ground to cycle young officers & NCOs through to get real experience. 3/x
A SEAL friend told me how, when 9/11 happened, there were SEAL master chiefs who had never fired their weapon in combat. That is… not ideal. And before you go shedding crocodile tears for our poor boys over there, let me assure you: 4/x
This ain’t the Vietnam era. The guys who volunteer to be USMC or Army riflemen are exactly who you think they are, and they are not afraid of Afghanistan. Hell, they could probably have made it a volunteer-only assignment and still had a waiting list, if they did it right. 5/x
What does “did it right” mean? It means being honest about the fact that we’re not there to “win the war.” That we’re there to protect a strategic outpost in an ungovernable place, and for air strike capability, intel gathering, and combat experience. 6/x
When you tell people it’s a war that we can win or lose, the first thing they want to know is when will it be over. Afghanistan was never going to be over. I mean, it’s over now, but this could have been prevented w/minimal resources if the public had been told the truth. 7/x
All that said, I have no solid comeback for people who just say no, no, no, we don’t trust this batch of leaders to handle it in a competent way that benefits us, or even considers our benefit a priority, so GTFO, period. At the end of the day, I guess I’m w/you. Sad though. 8/x
Some good corrective info in this sidebar thread from guys who seem to know.
https://mobile.twitter.com/martyrmade/status/1426667863008370689
Several people providing correcting me on the first part of this, and their point is well taken. My source was someone who ought to know, so maybe I misunderstood his point about domestic training limitations.
https://mobile.twitter.com/martyrmade/status/1426662940334170116
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