US and Taliban sign deal to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan

[The Grand Nudger]

The unstable political situation is what's kept us there - foreign and domestic, lol. The US does not want to be seen as a country that cuts and runs. Our power and authority on the global stage has been traditionally derived from our credibility. To be seen as a competent nation builder, while (hopefully) installing a regime that is more closely aligned with our interests is worth more than all of the dirt in afghanistan.

At the individual level, none of the above matters much. A kid from iowa isn't prospecting for gold in uniform. There is a genuine empathy and concern for the people you see every day. They're faces and people with families and businesses, not numbers, and not ideological props for anti-american sentiment. The regime in power victimizes them with routine vigor. Guys in armored vehicles fare alot better than civilian pedestrians when things pop off.

[WinterHold]

The same way you defeat any other kind of man.

And if war was a matter of one-on-one combat, that argument might actually mean something. The bigger problem is that the man has a whole shitton of people in line to take you on once the person behind you is taken out.

An army without faith would suffer defeat the more the war extends.
Taliban are Muslims, so they fight out of faith, Islam is a very strong faith; all Muslims (with all their sects; even me) believe that when pressure is at its max, it might be nothing but a heavenly test of faith from God. Add to that the rough nature that the warriors have since they are mostly nomads. Then you have the terrain that protects against airstrikes

In other words: the more you push, the more a Muslim pushes.
Imagine the result of this in a long guerilla war.

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Afghanistan is full of minerals that the U.S needs. That what kept it there, and made withdrawing a very tough choice to make.

I think you vastly overestimate the value of Afghanistan's mineral wealth compared to the costs of occupying that particular country in order to extract it. Afghanistan was never worth the two trillion dollars we poured into taking and holding it. We were never going to get all that money back. Afghanistan was never going to be a profitable enterprise for the USA.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining_in_...an#Uranium

It seems like a very wealthy landscape.
The invasion of soviets followed by Americans must mean something..they needed that land any my bet is on the Uranium.

[The Grand Nudger]

The taliban doesn't fight out of faith, or for islam.

[Mister Agenda]

I think you vastly overestimate the value of Afghanistan's mineral wealth compared to the costs of occupying that particular country in order to extract it. Afghanistan was never worth the two trillion dollars we poured into taking and holding it. We were never going to get all that money back. Afghanistan was never going to be a profitable enterprise for the USA.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining_in_...an#Uranium

It seems like a very wealthy landscape.
The invasion of soviets followed by Americans must mean something..they needed that land any my bet is on the Uranium.

If the Soviets needed it so bad, why did they leave? You can't have it both ways, either Afghanistan is so rich that it justifies all the effort put into occupying it, or it turns out that really just not worth it. There are lots of countries with vast mineral wealth that would be easier to occupy and hold than Afghanistan; if that was the motivation we'd invade one of them instead.

[The Grand Nudger]

Continuing along with relevant misapprehensions of the taliban - they were not capable of mounting a long term guerrilla war. The taliban was routed and what remained fled to pakistan for years.

[Rev. Rye]

And if war was a matter of one-on-one combat, that argument might actually mean something. The bigger problem is that the man has a whole shitton of people in line to take you on once the person behind you is taken out.

An army without faith would suffer defeat the more the war extends.
Taliban are Muslims, so they fight out of faith, Islam is a very strong faith; all Muslims (with all their sects; even me) believe that when pressure is at its max, it might be nothing but a heavenly test of faith from God. Add to that the rough nature that the warriors have since they are mostly nomads. Then you have the terrain that protects against airstrikes

In other words: the more you push, the more a Muslim pushes.
Imagine the result of this in a long guerilla war.

The fact that you, as one of our token Muslims, is using the "God is on our side" argument when talking about the fucking Taliban concerns me to no end.

[WinterHold]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining_in_...an#Uranium

It seems like a very wealthy landscape.
The invasion of soviets followed by Americans must mean something..they needed that land any my bet is on the Uranium.

If the Soviets needed it so bad, why did they leave? You can't have it both ways, either Afghanistan is so rich that it justifies all the effort put into occupying it, or it turns out that really just not worth it. There are lots of countries with vast mineral wealth that would be easier to occupy and hold than Afghanistan; if that was the motivation we'd invade one of them instead.

The soviets were defeated, their whole empire collapsed, they weren't ready for the proxy war America threw at them there; that's why they left, and their remenets in the age of "Putin" built another proxy to confront the Sunni American-backed proxy: the Shiites.

Looking at the map, you'll see that America inherited the Sunni region while Russians inherited the Shiite region equally.

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An army without faith would suffer defeat the more the war extends.
Taliban are Muslims, so they fight out of faith, Islam is a very strong faith; all Muslims (with all their sects; even me) believe that when pressure is at its max, it might be nothing but a heavenly test of faith from God. Add to that the rough nature that the warriors have since they are mostly nomads. Then you have the terrain that protects against airstrikes

In other words: the more you push, the more a Muslim pushes.
Imagine the result of this in a long guerilla war.

The fact that you, as one of our token Muslims, is using the "God is on our side" argument when talking about the fucking Taliban concerns me to no end.

I don't pick sides easily. My loyalty is to actions. Bring me a Muslim piece of shit and I'll call them out for their crimes. Bring me an atheist piece of shit, and I'll do the same.

Believe it or not, I saw and witnessed lots of good here; it is what kept me here all this time.

That's why you see me standing against both the Sunni institution and Shiite institution -trying to translate the terrible things in their books-; but I'll also stand against non-religious constitutions and parties that caused WW1 and WW2 and locked the world in a nuclear state.

Don't think I'll ever say yes to an invasion that went for decades and caused so many losses in life.
But also don't think that I'll say yes to an "Ottoman" who cut the balls and clits of slaves.

The Taliban were allies then enemies then allies back again to the U.S . That's very alarming.

[The Grand Nudger]

Is that what you find alarming about the taliban? Not the common drug cartel and extortion racket shit? Civilian casualties of roadside bombs not ringing any alarm bells?

[WinterHold]

Is that what you find alarming about the taliban?  Not the common drug cartel and extortion racket shit?  Civilian casualties of roadside bombs not ringing any alarm bells?

What I know about the Taliban is that they made drug trafficking hard until the Americans came.
On the other hand, the CIA is drowned to its ears in drug trafficking, and it even gives support to many drug gangs in South America and Mexico.

So, what's the next dirty sin the U.S does would be blamed on their enemies?
Everywhere America invades turns to a shithole, then we hear the U.S say "Not us not us ! it was already there !! "

It's getting old.

[The Grand Nudger]

Yeah, lol, just like Whitey Bulger made it hard.

Judging from your posts, you don't know the first thing about the taliban. They're a prop in some fantasy you have about the great satan. Just like the people they victimized are.