Was it PTSD? Probably that and a lot more. We need to bring our soldiers home. The pychiatric damage and injuries our soldiers have suffered will be becoming apearant for decades to come even if we brought them all home now. the physical injuries are visibly apearant now, but as they age, how much more suffering will they endure? How many more need to suffer with little to no gains in the war effort. Every time we kill a terrorist, another one or 10 joins the cause.
Russia learned the hard way Afganistan can't be tamed. Now it's our turn in the hotseat. No matter how good our intentions are, the lifestyle we are trying to impose goes agianst thier culture and religion. Short of killing everybody over the age of puberty and retraining everyone to our standards there is no "win" for us to stick around for. In my opinion, we should pull out. As the country modernizes, access to TV and the internet, people will learn to stand up for themselves and not follow thier tribal leaders blindly. Information is power, education is power. If you look at every despot regeim in history, the among the first people to be killed were the educated and the educators, the political and judicial elite that would resist, the news media all in the opening rounds. After they are established, information is strictly controled. Look at China and North Korea. That part of the world will not be forced to join the "western" world. Forcing them to do so radicalizes the faithful.
The only way to "win" this war now is to modernize their infrastructure so everyone has access to TV and the internet. Improve the powergrid, water and waste, the tranportation superstructure, and everyone have a dependable personal vehicle. When people have true freedom instead of being forced to do what the tribal leaders say, then we will make progress. Being that this isn't going to happen any time soon we should pull out in my opinion. Often our "improvements" are destoyed by local terrorists shortly after they are finished. Yes, I believe it will turn into a shit hole again if we leave, but the longer we stay, the less welcome we will be, the sucesses we have had will be lost, and the more losses and suffering we will have. When we stop our humanitarian monitary, food and medical aid, they will realize just how much we have been helping them. When our military personell and contractors are no longer there to spend their paychecks, they will realize just how much of their economy has benefited from our presence.
Oversimplified exagerated example: Americans... SUV driving, Iphone, latte loveing, internet junky with the 51' LCD flatscreen TV on in the background. They arn't going to rock the boat that is giving them that lifestyle.
This is just my opinion. I was never there, and form my opinions on the many news articles I've watched and read from many sources for as long as the war has been going on. I don't just absorb the popular "news" that is force fed Americans by the big media corporations. I try to access news from other countries and from both sides of the non-biased news in American media.
Sorry if this is rambling. Pain meds are kickin my ass and making it hard to concentrate. Lack of sleep isn't helping either.
