Quote:
Originally Posted by gvidas
I wonder what changed his mind. ... I thought even as recently as mid 2011 he was optimistic about our chances of effecting lasting good.
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DejaVue Nam. History repeats itself. These military types who view everything from a battlefield and tactical objectives were gun ho. That changed after 1970. Even Army officers in draft boards would tell inductees that they would do everything possible to get each rejected.
Nam was obviously in 1965 a defeat. But America had to sacrifice so much before even the military men realized what was well understood in "Making of a Quagmire" and "A Bright and Shining Lie". Even after the lies were exposed in the Pentagon Papers, still, so many so hated the American soldier at to remain gun ho.
We surrendered to the Taliban in 2003. That made victory over the Taliban difficult - probably impossible. But America had to sacrifice even tens of thousands of soldiers in Afghanistan until bin Laden and his supporters were killed or captured. Addressing the strategic objective in Afghanistan did not start until about 2008. And is now done.
The other part - conquering bin Laden's supporters was possible in 2002. And probably impossible now due to fundamental military doctrine from 2500 years ago that includes many concepts such as nation building.
Top brass hate to admit to defeat. But no way around it. George Jr surrendered to the Taliban in 2003. The legacy of that mistake cannot be rectified without doing even more and major harm to the American economy. Military men are some of the last to realize those costs.
Yon apparently appreciates what was the bigger picture back in mid 2000s. As so many in Nam also refused to admit until after 1970.
Military men spending too much time viewing the tactical are some of the last to grasp the strategic. DejaVue Nam.