Afghanistan: A Preview of America Twenty Years From Now (middle east, Taliban, drugs)

[World_Travel_2011]

Afghanistan became a seemingly endless war for this country. Both parties and the military fought both Trump and Biden to try to keep us in the war. Now after twenty years and trillions spent, Afghanistan is back in Taliban hands with many lives and money wasted needlessly as a result.

It represents a lesson to us on our current situation. A virus that seemingly will have no end but we must keep fighting it regardless of the cost. Just like the “temporary” measures after 9/11, the covid measures will all soon become permanent. We will likely be forced into yearly vaccines for at least the next twenty years. Maybe longer. We only got out of Afghanistan because Trump was elected. If a similar leader doesnt put a stop to endless covid measures, we will likely never know a day without pandemic measures.

Tens of trillions spent fighting covid and its likely to end up like Afghanistan: another defeat where we are no better off than when it started. Likely worse off.

Afghanistan should be a lesson to not let covid become another endless unwinnable war with no end goals.

[ansible90]

I think you are really stretching it to make that comparison.

Maybe a better comparison for COVID and vaccines would be the unwinnable war on drugs. But even that is very different.

[BoSox 15]

After all of the bloodshed in Afghanistan, and the Middle East in general, your takeaway is that the United States of America is going fall victim to fighting a pandemic that every other country in the world is battling?

Call me crazy but my takeaway is that the Jews, Muslims, and Christians have been at bloody war for thousands of years and no matter how good the intentions, the United States is not going to solve the problem.

But that's just me.

[midnight_thunder]

General World_Travel_2011, how would America "win" in Afghanistan? The Taliban were kicked out of power 20 years ago, and it seems like in a blink of an eye they've taken over a large portion of the country (in reality they're doing it with very little fighting).

How was this not always going to be the result, whether we left in 2005, or 2015, or 2025, or 2035?

Like, are we going to criticize Biden (or Trump, for that matter) for not wanting to spend billions defending a patch of dirt with communities so detached from reality that when American forces arrived (a couple years ago), those communities thought they were Soviets?

It is uncontrollable land, an expensive boondoggle. I was glad when Trump got the ball rolling on leaving. I was glad when he defied the generals, who we have been listening to with no questions asked for 2 decades.

Kabul will fall. If we spent another trillion dollars, it would still fall. I just hope we get every last Afghan interpreter/collaborator out before the Taliban get to them.

[Freak80]

OP,

Obviously we should just let COVID run wild. Otherwise the USA will turn into Afghanistan.

What???

[Westerner92]

20 years from now, there will be few places in the world that aren't reminiscent of Afghanistan.

[CC Permit]

The war machine is in full swing. Biden and his band of idiots was handed over a stable country only to make it a terrorist strong hold