NSF - quite an alarmist stance you have there. Similar to one held by the American government in dealing with the 'menace' that was Vietnam! That country and its people, not to mention the world, seemed to cope eventually once its western occupiers left en masse. I have no doubt that Afghanistan will return to how it was
when we leave and the locals will shrug their shoulders at yet another failed military campaign inflicted on them.
Yes, 'global terrorism' will once again have a foothold there but 'twas ever thus. While we're there, it will simply go elsewhere, and so we may as well try and empty a river with a bucket. Its time to accept that this notion of going back to "good old fashioned soldiering", so sought after when we first went in, has backfired spectacularly. Lets pool our resources into a world class, terrorist defeating intelligence system and bring an end to this half-baked operation in the desert.
A parting shot from the late Robert McNamara: The US government, knowing Vietnam was un-winnable, planned a withdrawal years before it decided to action it. In that time,
thousands of troops died. He is quoted as saying "the achievement of a military victory by U.S. forces in Vietnam was indeed a dangerous illusion" and that quite simply, they [the politicians] did not know what they were doing. Sound familiar?
