this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2023
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[–] Varyk@sh.itjust.works 16 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The resources you're referring to during the first decade were not used for "fiddling", but well-spent on capturing and killing bin Laden and negating the threat of al-Qaeda. The occupation of Afghanistan following the raid on bin-Laden continued to be costly without reaping similar tangible rewards and that's all the more reason for the US to subsequently withdraw from Afghanistan.

The US didn't "lose Afghanistan", they stopped pouring resources and lives into a very costly and difficult occupation without significant local support that didn't make any sense or reap any benefit after achieving their stated goals of capturing and killing bin laden and dismantling al-Qaeda.

Nobody has forgotten Afghanistan, there just isn't a foreign power actively occupying and policing their country anymore.

[–] Honytawk@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The US didn’t “lose Afghanistan”

No, they were just overthrown by a handful of civilians with guns and thrown out of the country. Totally no loss at all /s

Let me guess, the US also didn't lose the war in Vietnam, but decided to just leave the country?

[–] Varyk@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago

In Vietnam, the stated US goal was to stop the Communist takeover of Vietnam as a means to "stop communism", which is ludicrous and vague and didn't work. I have to disagree with you and say the US military lost Vietnam since they did so poorly militarily and didn't achieve what they set out to.

In Afghanistan, they had specific goals of capturing and killing bin Laden and dismantling al Qaeda, two specific goals that were achieved while dominating the country militarily. So yes, the US "won" Afghanistan in that they achieved both of their goals and did well militarily.

I guess you're arguing that since communism didn't spread out from Vietnam following US military intervention, the US "won" Vietnam, but the US military didn't succeed in any practical sense or achieve anything tangible.