All things Middle East related

[nonniey]

Originally Posted by SunnySide

Thats interesting .. dont see many people thinking we should have stayed.

I get the impression those ANA guys we were training for the past 20 years were just Taliban fighters.

Now we get to save our 4.9B in aid annually.
Get to stop training Taliban fighters.
Save tons of money not needing to maintain 5k or so troops plus contractors.

I just feel so bad for the woman and little girls in Kabul and the urban areas.

As I said - I'm pretty sure leaving will ultimately will cost more in both lives and treasure (The 4.9B annually and other costs you mentioned), and significantly so. Most Americans were against lend lease in 1940-41. Good leadership sells it to them or even ignores it if they can withstand the political cost (Roosevelt did both). The best decision for US interests would have been to stay. The effects of this decision will not be localized look for China to become even more aggressive in the west Pacific.