The Taliban have WON in Afghanistan... (really?)

I think we would have found him without losing all those people in the meantime trying to prop up a government that is going to fall quickly anyway. He was in Pakistan not Afghanistan. Now I agree that we will have to accept a high risk of renewed AQ like groups but what's the alternative, occupation forever?

 

Our policy since WW-II has been to maintain some level of force in such places. Several thousand troops in Afghanistan + some level of involvement would ensure they remain a friendly nation. Or we can pull out and let Taliban take control and watch it go back to square one.

 

I have always been supportive of military action when our government decides to take it. I supported the Afghanistan invasion as well and I'm still good with whatever decision we take there. My preference is to let it go. I think it has run it's course and is no longer worth the lives it will take to hold on. I do not support the same for Iraq or the Syrian conflict although I must confess I don't understand just what our goal is in Syria.

 

I did read what you said .. and you were arguing against my premise that the war in Afghanistan was a waste of time and money.

 

Neither do I, except the obvious... break up another country for Israel, so Israel will have no serious enemies as neighbors.
On the other hand, it has been the policies of the big powers to subjugate and fragment weaker Nations for the benefit of long-term control and exploitation.
It is called "divide and rule!" They did that with Germany after WWII. Especially the United States is good at that strategy. I will always remember General Wesley Clark: "Seven countries in five years!"

Here is a good article, worth reading:
https://lobelog.com/the-dismantling-of-the-middle-east-state-system/

 

Pst... put a blanket over your head... wir sind doch hier in der Oeffentlichkeit!!

Ach, der arme Has kommt nicht mehr hoch... a veteran aus dem Siebenjaehrigen Krieg??

 

Entschuldigen! I forgot everyone was watching.

Nja, a descendant of the last Prussian mascot.

 

I see.
You are quite the Fruehaufsteher!! How many hours are you ahead of me?

Ich muss jetzt zum preussischen Matratzenabhorchdienst gehen!!

 

Ganz bestimmt. I get up usually around 04:00 every morning.

I don't know where you are. I am at GMT +1

LOL! Sweet dreams.

Gleichfalls!

 

How much are you willing to cut from the military budget?

We COULD cut the budget in half (or more), and close practically all overseas bases but it would require a drastic change in our foreign policy. However, I have a feeling people like you don't support that. You just want to increase the spending just for the heck of it.

 

What do you mean "People like you" - clearly you have not read may of my posts because I talk about the need for drastic change in our foreign policy on a very regular basis.

You then accuse me of wanting to increase spending when I am arguing against the increase in spending.

Do you have nothing better than Strawman fallacy ? -- accusing me of things I did not say - and in fact have said the reverse - so you have something to attack.

 

Must have hit a nerve since you avoided the question.

 

Of course you hit a nerve - Not many enjoy being accused of things they do not say - which is exactly what you did. Then in this post you avoid responding to my comments - while crying the blues about my not responding with how much to cut.

I have no problem responding to your question - and have done so numerous times in other threads. In 2000 "Total" military spending was roughly 300 Billion/yr. Spending increased to over 900 Billion/yr under Bush and under Obama topped 1 Trillion.

Had we maintained 2000 spending levels (increasing with inflation) we could have diverted 500 Billion/yr x 16 years = 8 Trillion to things like infrastructure, technology, ramping up our economy to compete in the 3rd millennium.

Instead we threw this money down the toilet by engaging in dumb wars - conducted on the basis of lies and deceit - to pad the pockets the big money interests that influence our foreign policy.

Now do try to respond with something other than fallacious gibberish.

 

Sounds like you are saying you would be willing to cut it back to 2000 levels ($300B). Is that it?

 

You are correct except you missed the "increasing with inflation" part - although even if we were to keep it at 300 Billion that is more than enough - as in 3 or 4 times more than enough - to defend the homeland.

The next step is to go to universal healthcare - like all other first world nations who manage - despite having inefficient bloated wasteful bureaucracies- to provide more for roughly half the cost. We spent 3.5 Trillion in 2017 - There is a Trillion dollars a year in savings to be had - just by mimicking these other systems - never mind if we streamlined what these other systems do.

 

Yes, I agree (that is would be enough, or even an overkill), but like I said it would require a big change to US foreign policy.

With savings that big, there would be plenty of money to either cut taxes, or spend on other things.

 

Yup .. our healthcare spend is beyond ridiculous. Its legalized extortion to pad the pockets of the big money interests that own the Insurance and Healthcare Oligopolies. It's a massive lobby that takes advantage of our pay to play system.

3.5 Trillion (in 2017) was almost equal to the the entire Federal Revenue for that year (3.6 Trillion). It is so obscene that you have some Republicans now calling for universal healthcare. https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-conservative-case-for-universal-healthcare/

 

There ARE conservative arguments for single payer, like the fact that it would save employers huge amounts of money if they didn't have to pay for employees health benefits.

 

Or just reducing the overall healthcare cost by half

 

The Taliban have WON in Afghanistan... (really?)

To quote a well known political figure "What difference does it make?"

 

“If any question why we died tell them ... because our father's lied.”
Rudyard Kipling

 

Well said!
The American soldier was lied to for every war since and including WWII.

 

Oh, who said that?

 

Yes, ma'am.

 

Colonel Nguyen Tuan?