Lawrence O'Donnell has nailed it and been spot on all week re: Afghanistan.

[elevator]

People that say this a worse situation than Vietnam are either to young to remember, too stupid to see the truth or lying for political purposes. Of course the media is just blathering. His main point, and he is exactly
right, is that nobody can name a withdrawal from a losing a war that wasn't chaotic.

[treestar]

1. I was wondering too

aren't we deciding to get out here, whereas in Vietnam I seem to recall that we were defeated and had to get out. Why leave that different out?

[elevator]

5. You think we won this war? You'll find few who agree.

It's a difference without a distinction.

We decided to get out of Vietnam as well. We easily could have upped the ante there and continued the war. But, it was wildly unpopular and being reported on in the news, unlike Afghanistan.

[treestar]

6. "You think we won this war?"

Where did I say that? What makes you think you are justified in taking that as the meaning of my post?

Why should I read the rest after being greeted with that?

[elevator]

9. Really? Wonder why I would get that from your post. Let's see...

You said in Vietnam we were defeated and had to get out. And you intimated it was "different" in Afghanistan. Alright, what was the difference? Answer...very little. We lost both wars and "chose" to get out of both.

[treestar]

10. Either/or thinking is fallacious

thus you took "different" to be possibly only one thing - the opposite of losing.

[elevator]

15. OK explain or quit whining about it.

Please.

[treestar]

16. Now you are telling me I'm whining?

You've been unnecessarily hostile. Maybe when you make an OP you expect just support and praise? I didn't even specifically disagree.

"explaining" would just lead to more misinterpretation, either/or fallacy and hostility from you.

[elevator]

17. LOL. If someone tells you you're whining and you think that is hostile.

then you must have a tough time in life. By the way, aren't you whining now?
Take care.

[XanaDUer2]

2. O'Donnell spitting truths nt

[Scrivener7]

3. When you wage a war for 20 years for the purpose of enriching defense contractors and mercenary

billionaires, when you finally decide to withdraw, it is going to be chaotic.

[LiberalFighter]

11. Blackwater needs to be destroyed.

[luvs2sing]

4. War. Is. Chaotic.

Shit, LIFE is chaotic, just plain old normal everyday life. Anyone who expects war not to be chaotic has several major screws loose.

I’ve only seen a little bit of Lawrence this week, but I agree with your assessment from what I saw.

[treestar]

7. Yes, they are trying to say it is "bungled"

when really there is no way to do such a thing as withdraw from a war in any particularly "unbungled" way. They act like it is routine surgery or an ordinary task often done.

[Hoyt]

8. As I remember it, Ford didn't improve GOPers' position with the chaos.

[malaise]

12. A good friend suggested that we identify the connections of every Board member

of every Media House as well as their owners to understand the BS we're seeing and hearing.

[MoonlitKnight]

13. I would ask critics to name any successful non chaotic retreat in history

Not even Dunkirk was without chaos and tens of thousands of soldiers left behind- never mind the civilians.

https://time.com/4869347/dunkirk-aftermath-history/

Sure, they could have started sooner. But the Afghan government collapse would have been sooner as well.

And those saying we should have left 2,500 troops there fail to mention we still had troops there during the 11 days that the Taliban took over.

The criticism is completely emotional and baseless.

[GoodRaisin]

14. It's mainly "lying"

either for political purpose or for outright sensationalism of the news.

One thing I have always liked about Lawrence’s commentary is that he doesn’t hesitate to call out M$M coverage when needed. Here, his message reminds viewers that there is no model “ideal” withdrawal to compare this one with, that those railing that this is a “bungled” withdrawal don’t actually know what a “good” withdrawal looks like.