CNN produced this statistic on American's Longest War, Afghanistan

[JohnSJ]

We have spent more than 2 trillion dollars
Trained approximately 352,000 Afghan Security Forces
and nearly 2000 U.S. service members were killed in action

After 20 years it is quite obvious that the Afghan will to fight does not appear to be there

and it should be apparent that this was a lost cause from the start

[unblock]

1. We knew it was a lost cause in the 80s and we used that to help break the ussr

Then we stepped right into our own trap.

[JohnSJ]

2. yup, and we contributed to break the ussr involvement there

[zuul]

3. But some already rich assholes got richer! That was worthwhile, right?

[Klaralven]

4. It was not a lost cause - Bush screwed up

After 9/11 we worked with the Northern Alliance to rout the Taliban. The Northern Alliance was mainly Tajik, Uzbek, Turkmen and Hazara.

Then we listened to Zalmay Khalilzad, an Afghan American from the Nurzai tribe of Durrani Pashtuns, as well as others at State, and went through a transition that removed the Northern Alliance and reinstated Pashtuns in power in Afghanistan. Thereafter, our defeat was inevitable.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zalmay_Khalilzad#US_Ambassador_to_Afghanistan

[Beakybird]

6. Yes, I remember we had the Taliban on the ropes.

Also the Iraq war diluted our efforts and removed any sympathy the world had for our efforts in Afghanistan.

[dalton99a]

5. There is no Afghan nation. There are only tribes that live in a land called Afghanistan.

[Walleye]

7. The British fucked around and found out long time ago. Kipling:

Kipling’s poem the Young British Soldier:
“When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains, and the women come out to cut up what remains, jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains and go to your gawd like a soldier.”

[JohnSJ]

8. +++

[yonder]

10. That Kipling verse matches up well with the melody

from the Paul Brady ballad "Arthur McBride and the Sargeant":

Another song of powerful people trying to supply their armies with foot soldiers for their ill-advised adventures.

[Walleye]

11. Excellent song, nice recording. Dark humor and irony

[Bayard]

9. Far Afghanistan - James Taylor

"Far Afghanistan"

Back home Indiana, we just learn to get along
Civilized and socialized they teach you right from wrong
How to hold your liquor and how to hold your tongue
How to hold a woman or a baby or a gun

But nothing will prepare you for the far Afghanistan
You can listen to their stories and pick up what you can
You listen to their stories maybe read a book or two
Until they send you out there, man you haven’t got a clue

Oh the Hindu Kush, the Band-e Amir, the Hazara

They tell you a tradition in the hills of Kandahar
They say young boys are taken to the wilderness out there
Taken to the mountain alone and in the night
If he makes it home alive they teach him how to fight

They fought against the Russians, they fought against the Brits
They fought old Alexander, talking ‘bout him ever since
And after 9/11 here comes your Uncle Sam
Another painful lesson in the far Afghanistan

I was ready to be terrified and ready to be mad
I was ready to be homesick, the worst I’ve ever had
I expected to be hated and insulted to my face
But nothing could prepare me for the beauty of the place

No matter what they tell you all soldiers talk to God
It’s a private conversation written in your blood
The enemy’s no different, badass holy wind
That crazy bastard talks to God and his God talks back to him

[Walleye]

12. Nice. Very Kiplingesque

[Duppers]

13. Beautiful song!

I'm a James Taylor fan but this was the first time I listened to it!

Taylor says he has never traveled to Afghanistan but did talk to soldiers who had served there and drew from those conversations when writing this.

Thanks for posting this, Bayard!