I just saw a headline about the Taliban.

[TNNurse]

It was how quickly they are taking over. I compare it to someone who is taken off life support and dies almost immediately.

Those machines were the only thing keeping them alive and we were the only thing with any control in Afghanistan.

Both things were not sustainable. Nothing was going to get any better. There was no chance of survival.

[Sneederbunk]

1. It was now or later. Although now should have been several years ago.

[Ocelot II]

2. Or never there in the first place.

[littlemissmartypants]

6. Exactly. nt

[FBaggins]

3. Less like life support than essential (but expensive) medication.

People on life support generally don't have much quality of life. Millions of people in Afghanistan had a much better life than what they're headed to now.

We were reportedly down to just a couple thousand troops in-country supporting the Afghan government and US embassy personnel.

In retrospect... we could have maintained that level for many years if it meant protecting the masses from what is about to happen to them.

We still have close to 30,000 troops in South Korea almost seven decades later.

[bearsfootball516]

8. Keeping those troops there was costing us obscene amounts of money, though.

We spent 20 years there. We trained their army. We did everything possible. Keeping troops there costs billions that are better spent here, and it puts American lives at risk every single day.

In the end…it’s not our job to keep a presence there and maintain order. That’s their job. We gave them all the tools to do it. We trained an army more than capable of defeating the Taliban and running the country. At the end of the day, it’s their job, not ours. And they chose not to.

The atrocities that the Taliban will commit will be awful. But at the end of the day…it’s not our responsibility. It’s Afghanistan’s.

[Jon King]

10. And how much will it cost to contain the hot bed of terrorism now?

We will spend the same amount or more trying to contain what is going to happen as it again devolves into a safe haven for terrorist training.

[maxsolomon]

16. Debatable.

Surveillance is cheaper, I'd wager.

[evolves]

14. Oh, but I'm sure

someone was getting rich from it. Cheney, bush, etc., I'm looking at you.

[Irish_Dem]

4. Good comparison. We now know that we were propping up the country artificially.

The Afghan government and military were not functional in the least.
And the Taliban was well funded, well organized and well armed than we were led to believe.

[The Magistrate]

5. That's A Good Way To Phrase It, Ma'am

[pandr32]

7. Excellent analogy

[burrowowl]

9. Yes and it made our weapons suppliers a fortune!

[George II]

11. My guess is that most of the Afghanistan military are secretly Taliban supporters.

[Red Mountain]

13. We were there long enough

for everybody with any responsibility to make and hatch their personal plans.

They put away plenty of money.

We got played.

[George II]

15. And Biden is taking the heat for it.

[Tommymac]

12. K & R for a great analogy

It's a lose-lose scenario.

[Warpy]

17. Yeah, pretty much, however Afghanistan is not going to die, it's joust

going to go back to being Afghanistan and there is not a damned thing we can do about it.

I have a faint hope the Taliban will surprise us, that they have moderated their harshness toward women. So far, the only thing I've seen is a call for all women to wear the hijab, something most women already did. It will undoubtedly get worse than that, but it's a good start.

[Martin Eden]

18. Good analogy

The US military was a life support machine for a terminally Ill patient.