Operation Enduring Freedom: 10 Years in Afghanistan
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-10-06/operation-enduring-freedom-10-years-afghanistan
On October 7, 2001, the United States launched the war in Afghanistan in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Operation Enduring Freedom scored early victories and ousted the Taliban government in Kabul. But the U.S. invasion of Iraq two years later diverted attention away from Afghanistan and the Taliban reemerged. In the decade of fighting that followed, the war has claimed the lives of more than 1,700 American soldiers and cost the U.S. government $560 billion. Guest host Laura Knoy and her panel will discuss what’s been achieved in America’s longest war, and the future of U.S. involvement in the region.
Guests
Fernando Lujan
U.S. Army Special Forces major
Jonathan Steele
former chief foreign correspondent for the Guardian; author of the forthcoming book, "Ghosts of Afghanistan" (November 2011)
David Kilcullen
CEO and president of Caerus ("CARE-us") Associates, former senior counterinsurgency adviser to General David Petraeus in Iraq
Lt. Gen. David Barno
former Commander of the U.S. and Coalition Forces in Afghanistan: "Operation Enduring Freedom," (2003-2005) and senior adviser at the Center for a New American Security
Comments
Please familiarize yourself with our Code of Conduct and Terms of Use before posting your comments.
Judge Grady's Verdict: If more than a third of Occupational War veterans can confidently state these actions were a mistake (after heavy indoctrination and training), then 3 or 4 trillion dollars and many lives were flushed down the toilet. But when one considers that the Defense Establishment has little purpose besides making the world safe for corporations without these fabrications you realize it was worth it for the Oligarchs. This morning Brian Moynihan (Moneyhands) says businesses have "the right to make a profit." But they don't! They don't even have the right to try when it costs lives. (Don't join the military. If you have some money put it in a credit union. Occupy Wall Street, not Afghanistan.)
No matter who and for what reason, all occupying forces fail over time.
We should leave and tend to our own business.
What is the end game you ask? A bankrupt United States, and a much richer China & Halliburton...
Working as a logistics ad visor from 2007 to 2010, in Afghanistan, I saw corruption, theft, and false record keeping performed by Afghan Military.
The War Lords which the U.S. put into power after the defeat of the Taiban, only have the goal of making as much money as possible while the U.S. is in their country providing everything. I observed the Afghan Army selling supplies of food, fuel, weapons and ammunition, paid for by the U.S. government. The War Lords have their mansions and bank accounts in Dubai, where a lot of the money stolen from the war effort is stashed.
Critical to win the Peace as it is to win the war.
World War One we won the war but not the Peace. The Third Reich is historical testament to that fact, and the murder of millions of people.
World War Two we did a pretty good job of winning the Peace. Current circumstances contrast to the Third Reich.
Afghanistan - Charlie Wilson quote at the end frame of that historical movie is unequivocal.
No one has won a war in Afghanistan yet. No central government has ever been able to control the rural Pashtoon area of Afghanistan. Tribal law has always been the system of governance. I suggest we cut our losses and just leave as soon as possible. But we need to do it smartly. Stop engagement of our military in warfare. Train afghan national army to do the job and let them be the only source of engagement in Afghanistan.
Oh great... not only are we torturing people, openly assassinating our citizens, and starting wars on false pretenses, but now we are perfidiously donning the uniforms of other country's armies without batting an eyelash? How much lower will we have to stoop before we will realize we may lose what was worth fighting for in the first place?
If it weren't such a serious subject, General Barno's comments would have been humorous: "we" have made progress in Afghanistan because girls are now being educated and more roads have been paved. Wow...I didn't know those were the goals of our military...do they have courses on such things at West Point? Imagine if these bozos were exposed to anything other than sycophantic interviewers.
A friend of mine respects Ms. Rehm. Based on that, I actually took time out from my work day hoping that I would hear something other than the usual imperial hogwash that corrodes our nation. While it was refreshing to hear the other guests at least recognize the futility of "our" military assault on Afghanistan, overall I was so disappointed in the guest host's lack of healthy skepticism that I won't waste my time on the show again.