Truth, lies and Afghanistan

Truth, lies and Afghanistan

armedforcesjournal.com

Entering this deployment, I was sincerely hoping to learn that the claims were true: that conditions in Afghanistan were improving, that the local government and military were progressing toward self-sufficiency. I did not need to witness dramatic improvements to be reassured, but merely hoped to see evidence of positive trends, to see companies or battalions produce even minimal but sustainable progress.

Instead, I witnessed the absence of success on virtually every level.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis, a brave man, has come out to show what the war over there is really like. He goes on to plea to not let any more American soldiers die under a fraudulent mission.

Now people have no reason to not doubt the foreign wars. The government tells us that everything is not only fine, but improving! All the while the officers actually in that mess are saying, no, we are failing over here. Very interesting read.

armedforcesjournal.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by superstatue


And what about all the other countries men who have had to fight and die in your stupid wars, what about the British, the French, the Canadians, the Germans, the Australians etc.
You fail to mention all of those countries didn't you?

In a documentary of Australia's Special Forces, an SASR soldier was asked a question: "Do you think the condition in Afghanistan is improving?" He replied with: "When we first arrived in Afghanistan in 2001, we were able to drive around in unarmoured vehicles, while now, you wouldn't leave the base without an armoured one."

He said, yes it has definitely gotten worse.

Now ,i'll give you this video:





Seriously though, this series "The Extreme Tourist Afghanistan," is an eye opener to the misinformed public of what Afghanistan is really like.

One of the senior enlisted leaders added, “Guys are saying, ‘I hope I live so I can at least get home to R&R leave before I get it,’ or ‘I hope I only lose a foot.’ Sometimes they even say which limb it might be: ‘Maybe it’ll only be my left foot.’ They don’t have a lot of confidence that the leadership two levels up really understands what they’re living here, what the situation really is.”

that was particularly powerful. a very good read. Thanks for posting.
So much to say. Removing americans from afganistan would allow everyone to be on the same side. except now they all hate the u.s.
Withdrawal in 2014 apparently.
The author appeared to have a pretty impressive resume.

reply to post by MeesterB


Did you know that Australia is staying there after 2014? Sucks balls.

Originally posted by daaskapital
reply to post by MeesterB

 

Did you know that Australia is staying there after 2014? Sucks balls.

I know its disgusting. Why can't we just leave?
I remember back in 2005 when the government declared Australia would be out by no later than 2007. Well its now 2012 and the government says we'll be there for at least another decade!!!
They don't call this the "long war" for nothing.

history repeating itself
can we say "pentagon papers"

I'm not so quick to believe this Colonel Davis. We have right here on ATS some soldiers that have reported that there are many building contractors building new what Afghans never had.Somebody is lying. for sure

People fail to take into the account the United States military teaches you to kill kill kill. When you get to Afghanistan its jail jail jail. You f up , you go to Jail. Problem is , everyone over there terrorist , civilian all look a like. Hell you'll kill terrorist and think you killed a civilian and you are going to prison , but in reality , his buddies just take his weapons for later.

If the government let us off the chain , we could annihilate any armed force. The problem is , wait wait ... wait for it! We getting shot at!? Not yet. What about now? You just had two guys shot , you cant fire unless fired at , or you go to jail or get busted.

We are a fighting machine , literally a killing machine. When you keep threatening us with jail and not permitting us to do our job , it gets hard. Though we are getting use to it , and it is just becoming numbing. You will be the F it mentality soon.

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This isnt hollywood. The terrorist are battle hardened and radical a death cult. When you get shot at , you have a mass and that bullet will make contact with your mass and its going to hurt like hell. Your out of the action. The heros and the cowards die just the same. That best friend you loved? He dies , well damn .. that sucks. So much for that Beowulf badassness. We die to quick.

If we can engage first , we die less.

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Ever wondered why special forces live as long as they do? Not only do they have the best training in the world / their nation can provide .. they shoot first and ask questions later. They dont have to wait , if it is a threat to the mission or possibly a threat , kill it.

They learned the hard way during operation Red Wing.

reply to post by daaskapital


after watching the video I have to point something out as some of you have never been in an Arab culture.
Men commonly hold hands. I dont know but they do. It was something for me to see first hand, I had a Suburban with 6 young GI's and pulled onto the flight line in Riyadh Saudi Arabia. There in plain view were 2 pilots walking the tarmac hand in hand...imagine my situation I have going on in the Suburban

just sayin...thats all

If Americans were able to compare the public statements many of our leaders have made with classified data, this credibility gulf would be immediately observable.

It's funny because it's true.

Just read the report. Very sobering. Either let them off the chain or bring them home. I think the current administration plans to do neither.

Originally posted by Jace26
reply to post by superstatue

 

And what about all the other countries men who have had to fight and die in your stupid wars, what about the British, the French, the Canadians, the Germans, the Australians etc.
You fail to mention all of those countries didn't you?

Your asking a Ron Paul supporter about "his" stupid war?

UK, France, Canada, Germany and Austrailia. There I mentioned them, happy? Now what?

These wars were never intended to be won. Some country, whether it be western controlled or eastern controlled will be there for "humanitarian" reasons...to oversee the poppy fields and guard the oil pipelines.
The vast resources in the regions WILL be controlled by some government that is itself controlled by some big corporations with their own mercenary force.
This soldier should come back and tour the country, telling his story and advising Americans to take care of our own country, guard our own borders, and rout out the enemy that controls OUR government.

reply to post by Jace26

And what about all the other countries men who have had to fight and die in your stupid wars, what about the British, the French, the Canadians, the Germans, the Australians etc.
You fail to mention all of those countries didn't you?

I suppose the dead Afghans don't count for you either?

Originally posted by daaskapital
He said, yes it has definitely gotten worse.

Now ,i'll give you this video:

Yeah looks very war torn

Just an observation from the video you posted to prove some sort of contradictory point.

Originally posted by rebellender
I'm not so quick to believe this Colonel Davis. We have right here on ATS some soldiers that have reported that there are many building contractors building new what Afghans never had.Somebody is lying. for sure

He has been in since 1985 and is only a light colonel, so that says something about him as an officer when you factor that we've been at war for almost 20 of those years.

But I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that it hasn't gotten better since I was there in 2003.

The only real construction going on then was roads.

Truth, lies and Afghanistan

In re the OP...

This reminds much of the press coverage of the Tet offensive in the Nam. The Johnson administration had been building on the progress being made when this happened. The well-timed, well planned and coordinated attack by both VC and NVA across the broad stretch of South Vietnam was eventually defeated. In fact, it was thoroughly thrown back. Both the Cong and the NVA suffered horrendous losses but... they won the battle in the press.

When Walter Cronkite ran a news special on the event that closed by saying that the US wasn't only not winning, but actually losing, the enemy gained a strategic victory. Johnson realized that even if the US had won Tet, we had lost in popular opinion based almost solely on the Cronkite report.

The dissemination of news/information today is far different than it was in 1969 but the battle for support in the general public has not because our enemies in any way understand how this part of the democratic society works; public opinion matters. Creating a situation where the folks at home can be convinced that a war is being lost is worth almost as much as actually winning it on the battlefield.

One very good source of what is going on in Afghanistan can be found in the video/movie, 'Restrepo'.
IMDb link: www.imdb.com...

There are a number of websites that offer this video, besides those like Netflix and your corner video outlet. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants a firsthand look at what war is like... and what the war in Afghanistan, is really like.

...

reply to post by AGWskeptic


new bridge
problems assoc. with new construction
New Schools

Bottom line is Taliban blows it up and GI's rebuild and so the cycle goes,,,Yeah. I guess the answer as one says is,another pull out and the cycle will end ,,,,,,,with destruction by the Taliban...this makes up my mind YOU are CORRECT.