(08-22-2017, 12:03 PM)Adam2012 Wrote:

(08-22-2017, 11:47 AM)realtorpat Wrote: Please watch the pbs documentary losing iraq.  It faults both Bush and Obama for messing up Iraq.  Fact is we are not good at nation building, we are pretty good at killing terrorists.  We then sink a ton of resources into nation building and it doesn't seem to work out.  If Trump is effectively able to wipe out the taliban the nation building can come from within without another countries intervention.  
Also watch Charlie Wilson's War it has some valuable lessons.

tldr;  I get it you aren't going to watch any of that crap because you don't want to question your own opinion.

Why'd you have to show yourself to be a jerk with that last sentence?

You think you're some foreign policy expert because you watched a documentary and a movie? 

I'm very aware of our past screw ups re foreign policy. Doesn't take a genius. What I don't see is you offering an opinion as to if Trump is a fool now or was simply a fool while he was campaigning. Oh - and Trump ain't "wiping out the Taliban" unless we plan on keeping forces there for the next fifty years. Which apparently is the plan.

(08-22-2017, 01:11 PM)Adam2012 Wrote:

(08-22-2017, 12:21 PM)realtorpat Wrote: I spent 14 months in Iraq finding and detonating roadside bombs.  I've followed the conflict.  I've proposed 100s of people to watch that documentary and no one ever has, so sorry if I'm to the point of annoyance with asking people to watch it.  If you have an opinion on Iraq in any sense it is a very good detailed documentary explaining exactly how we lost Iraq.  I'm not an expert but I have had boots on the ground, interacted with the locals, interpreters, and the Iraq army. 

How is he a fool? for disagreeing with how a major war has been handled? For attempting his own solutions to the problem which is actually quickly eliminating Isis controlled areas?

having an occupational force in Afghanistan just causes us to have a never ending insurgency, deal as much damage as you can to the head of snake and let the country handle its own business we don't need to be the world police.

It seems to me Donald Trump is a clueless moron who convinced enough people that he's not as dumb as he acts.

Last night's talk was an empty hole - no specifics at all. He's just going to leave it to the generals and go play golf, I guess.

Although I never trusted Trump as to ever having a plan I did like his inclination to get out of Afghanistan. 

It hurts my heart to see young men or woman return from deployment missing an arm or a leg. For what? I've never bought into the "fighting for our democracy" or "if we don't engage them there we'll have to do it in Kansas City", etc. They are there to kill Muslims, and whoever they kill there will be someone to take his place.

So, I was hoping for a rational, fairly short term strategy to get out of that hell whole. Oh well. Your grandchildren will now have the opportunity to see the mountains of Afghanistan. Unless things don't go well. Then I could see Trump having us leave in a week's time and blame it all on the generals.

There is nothing Donald Trump can do for you to like him. You went into this with a closed mind. I understand that. I think he pretty well detailed the lack of specifics such as time-frame and troop count and if the reasons for this don't make sense to you, then that is your problem. You, and people like you try to pigeonhole DJT as some hothead who won't listen to anybody and that is exactly what he did in this case. He listened to his generals whom I am guessing are much more in tune with the situation than you are. Obama didn't listen to his generals. That didn't work out so well.

You do understand that what happens in that hell "whole" impacts the US as well, right? It is in nobody's best interest for these terrorists to gain ground and momentum.

---