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2021-08-07 -Great Cultural Revolution

America's Generals Lied, Lost Wars, And Looted The People They Claimed To Serve

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Posted by M. Murcek 2021-08-07 07:02|| || Front Page|| [16 views ] Top

#1 You were never going to 'win' as long as the Taliban operated out of Pakistan. If you were not going to make Pakistan a parking lot there was no 'win'. Remember where OBL was found and killed. [which like when the 'Wall' came down was the proper signal to pull the hell out of the place]

Posted by Procopius2k 2021-08-07 08:02|| 2021-08-07 08:02|| Front Page Top

#2 /\ Remember where OBL was found and killed.

He was purchased from the Paks. He'd been riding the bench for years. Possibly a minor point at this late date.

Posted by Besoeker 2021-08-07 08:06|| 2021-08-07 08:06|| Front Page Top

#3 Jan 30, 2021 — SIGAR issued five financial-audit reports of U.S.-funded projects to rebuild. Afghanistan that identified $26,993,829 in questioned costs... A drop in the bucket.

Posted by Gerthudion Whomoper3485 2021-08-07 08:37|| 2021-08-07 08:37|| Front Page Top

#4 Ike warned about all this years ago.

Posted by JohnQC 2021-08-07 10:55|| 2021-08-07 10:55|| Front Page Top

#5 It's easy to lie to people if you keep them too busy with frivolous issues to imbibe the lessons of history and possess a fair knowledge of the world.

Posted by Dron66046 2021-08-07 11:19|| 2021-08-07 11:19|| Front Page Top

#6 #1 FTW. Also, trying to make 21st century democrats out of a 7th century civilization is a bridge too far.

Posted by Frank G 2021-08-07 11:49|| 2021-08-07 11:49|| Front Page Top

#7 Trying to make 21st century democrats out of Democrats is light-years out of reach too.

Posted by M. Murcek 2021-08-07 11:55|| 2021-08-07 11:55|| Front Page Top

#8 It's easy to lie to people when all you have time to pay attention to is your own individual career, rivals and maybe the occasional female biographer.

Posted by M. Murcek 2021-08-07 12:01|| 2021-08-07 12:01|| Front Page Top

#9 ...or driver?

Posted by Procopius2k 2021-08-07 12:05|| 2021-08-07 12:05|| Front Page Top

#10 To me the emblem of our later years in Afghanistan was COP Keating, which was the subject of the movie "The Outpost" and a couple of books ("Red Platoon", etc.) There was high ground and low ground. We built the outpost on the low ground so we could help the Afghan villagers (half of whom were Taliban and the other half grifters.) But giving up the high ground was militarily nuts, and the Taliban eventually used the high ground to launch an attack that came within a hair of wiping out the outpost, and failed only because of the extreme heroism of individual American soldiers and US airpower.

If we had to be in that part of Afghanistan for some reason I can't see, an alternative strategy would have been to occupy the high ground and build a pyramid of skulls on the low ground. The locals would have understood that.

Posted by Matt 2021-08-07 12:16|| 2021-08-07 12:16|| Front Page Top

#11 And we never went north of the DMZ except with airstrikes

Posted by Blackjack 2021-08-07 12:30|| 2021-08-07 12:30|| Front Page Top

#12 Benito Mussolini said that when given a choice between competent and incompetent generals he always chose the incompetent one. he said the incompetent general would know he was incompetent and be dependent on Mussolini for support.

Bill Clinton was the first U.S. president who used that same strategy. He is reported as having said he chose Gen. Shalikashvili for chairman JCS precisely because he was incompetent and would be more pliable as a result.

Obama and Biden have done the same thing. There is an article about the number of generals and admirals force to resign by Obama (usually for sexual misconduct). The number of Admirals is truly astounding.

Posted by Whusons Joluter4785 2021-08-07 15:06|| 2021-08-07 15:06|| Front Page Top

#13 Procopius2k is correct about Pakistain

Posted by 3dc 2021-08-07 16:55|| 2021-08-07 16:55|| Front Page Top

#14 BTW the warfighting has never been the problem.
The stupid focus has always been "Nation Building".

Posted by 3dc 2021-08-07 16:57|| 2021-08-07 16:57|| Front Page Top

#15 Whusons Joluter4785, Even the competent ones like Mathias kept the gravy train rolling as far as I could tell.

Posted by rjschwarz 2021-08-07 17:16|| 2021-08-07 17:16|| Front Page Top

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