Confidential documents reveal U.S. officials failed to tell the truth about the war in Afghanistan

"Confidential documents reveal U.S. officials failed to tell the truth about the war in Afghanistan"

I hate and mistrust anything and everything the Washington Post writes but this came across my desk and even though they act like it is some new thing, it's something many of us have known for a good long while. Yep! Once again, we got ourselves into a war that we have no way of winning...

First, when has U.S. Officials ever told the truth about anything?

Second, when has the Washington Post ever told the truth in the past 10 or 20 years or more?

Third, doesn't this seem to be a duplicate of the 'Pentagon Papers' of another war (Vietnam) we got into and couldn't get out? Washington Post didn't break that story (The NY Times did) but...

Like I said, I don't trust the Washington Post and always doubt their reporting but in this case the gist of the story is real in that - yes - we're in a war that bleeds us drop-by-drop and we can't get out without throwing up our hands and simply leaving.

I say this having spent a good portion of my career over there and seen first-hand what's the cost of this war. I say this knowing full well as soon as we leave, what will happen will be exactly what happened in Vietnam. I say this because if you cannot win in 18 years - well - then, for whatever reasons, you cannot win. Finally, I say this because I haven't a clue what the hell we are doing over there...even after 18 years.

It is hard to stomach that even after Vietnam we failed to learn those hard lessons and have to repeat them again. "Support the Troops!" My a$$! If we supported the troops and really wanted to "Thank you for your Service" then they wouldn't be there or put in these stupid wars with no way out except trying to live through the deployment and hoping they can get out of the next one...because there will be a next one and another and another...

The use of our military needs to seriously be curtailed and its mission, scope, and objectives 100% clear and defined before they are deployed. Hell, I would go so far as to institute a 'War Tax' on every single taxpayer to get them skin in the game whenever our troops are in harms way...18 years and for what?

Get them out and get them home. If you want to play 'bleeding hearts' then give the Afghans weapons and training but don't let our troops die for no reason except bad leadership, status quo politics and pure stupidity.

The stupidity of American foreign policy and political leadership seems to have no bounds and consists of simply 'kicking the can further down the road'...what did Einstein say about the definition of insanity?

Rant complete...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/grap...apers/afghanistan-war-confidential-documents/

 

The Pentagon Papers Part 2

 

YUP!
OIL, Greed, Power, Money, Control! And when they cannot get enough they go out and "privatize" war, selling it to the highest bidder, and the U.S. Mil. gets to pay the tab in blood! Not the first time in history all this has happened, and will continue to happen long after this nation hits it's knees!

Or'There, I witnessed such glorious waste, waste of BILLIONS of U.S. Taxpayer dollars, and a waste of U.S. Personal Lives!
I saw when we shipped in 24 brand spankin new C-127J aircraft, only to have them sit and go bad within a few very short months, now they are completely and literally useless, and would cost more to repair, inspect and return to flying status then they cost brand new! When I sort of Inquired about them, I was told they would practically give me one, but that the cost to ship it out of country, dissemble it, clean it, inspect it, certify it, and return it to flyable conditions, would cost such a fortune that I could buy one brand new here in the states and fund it's operations for a good amount of time after!
Then there is the "Private Contractor" guys making a fortune to basically supplant U.S. Mil. Personal in rolls that should never be handed to civilians! Again, such glorious waste!
Iraq is all of this writ large, Gazillians wasted for exactly what, We cannot possibly suck that much oil out of the entire earth, so it cannot be Oil, and it cannot be about control, as the Saudis are the ones who control everything, it cannot be about freeing the shit of of the people, because they have simply traded one dictator for another in the form of a far distant dictator from the Infidel, and make no mistake, as soon as they feel they can, they will revolt and bring it all crashing down!


As a Side note, I got an email from the DoD office of material, basically offering me the exact same Aircraft through the Regeneration Center ONMARK for a very reasonable price and some creative paperwork! I sadly declined, my days of adventuring are near their end! But WOW, the deal I was offered, makes me think long and wish I was still as invincible as I once was!

 

"General, your strategy seems to have failed".

"Yeah, Boss. Thought it would work, after all it seemed to work in SEA." After a short pause, he added "Until the politician sold us out... We'll never know for sure now, will we?"

"You've spent over a trillion dollars on your effort, what have you got to say about that?"

"Well, give us another trillion, I'm pretty sure the folks in congress lining their pockets will vote to give you/us the dough... We'll try something different."

"Just how different, General?"

"I believe the term used is Biblical...."

 

And, it's not just the military that pays the bill. It affects families for generations. It affects tax payers for generations. It affects the entire nation for generations in almost every way possible. What it doesn't affect is the fats cats, the corporations, the politicians...for them its a big win.

How could we have forgotten the harsh lessons learned in Vietnam so quickly?....

The truth is we don't care. 'We the People' don't care until it jumps up and bites us in the backside and our son or daughter is dead or ruined, lose a life-long friend...or some other personal tragedy. We just don't care because we're just trying to make it through the day, keep the wolf from the door, put food on the table, and pay rising taxes...and they know this. Our leaders, politicians, corporate CEOs - they all know this. They also know that it truly doesn't matter spit what we think. For, just like old Adolph Hitler every damn step they take, every thing they do is perfectly legal...and just in case it ain't then they also make the laws.

And, they're right...it doesn't matter what we think because there isn't a damn thing we can do about it except pay the rising taxes and send our young off to fight wars that have no rhyme or reason, no national purpose...Hurts to say it but there it is...plebs, serfs, we're piggy banks and cannon fodder to be used by our betters.

Okay, I got that out of my system...maybe I can sleep now, because I sure can't do anything about it...except accept it.

 

Nothing new - here is a poster



popular with many of the players of the former Southeast Asia war games....