Afghan Heroin and JAG Witch Hunts: Afghanistan Lost, Again

"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."- Dick- Henry VI, Act 2, Shakespear

Brandon, today;s war is not about victory or reasons that are clear cut....it's about television, cameras, elections, money, and power. We lost Afghanistan the moment we set foot there because of poorly executed plans by the chain of command the war fighter believes in. False promises of quick victory sold to the Americ public and to our allies and the promises of a leadership more corrupt than the Taliban have sealed our country's fate. Afghanistan will fall apart once American and NATO fighting forces leave. Power will be brokered...and the Taliban will be right back into power. Our military gains will be in vain, and a whole new generation of terrorists who hate us will attack our country.....again. Sadly, its the price you pay for politics and false promises made by inept and often corrupt leaders in the chain of command who have no idea what messes they make...unless you are the one sent in to clean it up.

Brandon...thanks for your service. An may the fallen be remembered because they gave it all defending us from the evil that waits.

@BrandonWebb

Didn't realize if was a SOFREP exclusive. Great video! Is there a back story, do we end up confiscating these or are they allowed to continue for refining?

@Marcin Rak

Whether it's thru the illicit route or the pharmaceuticals, it will still be abused. opiates and psychotropic drugs via legit pharm companies are becoming the leading cause of death, addiction and problems. Deceptive because a doctor's are the ones prescribing. These drugs should be only prescribed by psych doctors not general practictioners currently handing them out like candy.

It's not so much the legal or illegal forms of these drugs but the why we are the biggest abusers/consumers of these, that should be addressed.

As usual all is complicated. For the poor guys from Afghanistan to plant a opium is only way to earn money for their families. And there are many opportynities to sell it. Once, do not remember where, I met the idea to make in Afghanistan manufactories of morphine used as a medicine. There is big need to morphine so the Afghan guys can still plant the opium but they can way to sell it legaly for nice money. It was briliant to me. Just invest a money to build those factories and it can work. But of course there is no responce for this briliant idea. Why? It is not necessary to answer for this rhetorical question...

What did you guys think of the video? Pretty gnarly....

Fuck lawyers, somewhere along the way we've put too much weight in lawyers.

With that said, the best way to look at this is that we lost. UBL won, he's dead but he won.

9/11 was designed to bring us to Afghanistan, like the Russians, to "bleed us dry".

We not only did that but we opened up Iraq too.

Blood & treasure lost, forever. But we now have the most technological, network savvy, best

kitted military, intel and law enforcement in the world. Let's keep that.

We lost, so we write off Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Iran. Put our cross hairs on China, not

militarily but economically in the market place. And we get ready for China.

Terrorism is not an idea, it's a tactic for those with limited means.

We will be dealing with terrorism, from fanatics and int'l crime orgs, this is small potatoes, we

don't over react, like we did in 9/11. We handle it, absorb it and move forward. We will get attacked again.

We can only manage this. Terrorism, whether home grown or from outside, will always be a problem,

but we'll wake up the next day and still be able to order a happy meal and what Meet the Press on Sundays.

If we lose to China, we'll stop being Americans, we'll be like Canadians or Australians. Let's not lose

to China.

Correct me if I'm wrong (legit question), but isn't opium one of the narcotics with the highest consumption rate among Afghans?

As with many things in life, I doubt there is a clear, single answer. And that goes for both the idea's of what the plan is or what victory means in AFG as well as JAG oversight issues.

One of the challenges faced by leaders today (or their oft under-powered stand-ins: politicians) is that sometimes the correct answers are not something a myopic, spoiled, weak populace from a G8 nation can stomach. I sometimes feel sorry for elected officials. If they actually try to be both honest and deal with the rest of the world in a rational way they will get crucified. And that cuts across both sides of the political spectrum as both sides have delusions about what the rest of the world is actually like.

My ranting aside, some standard principles likely apply to a preferred definition of success. A minimum level of security for the populace and a non-permissive environment for those looking for a base of operations. Achieving security and stabilization is complex alchemy and I would say probably involves undesirable ingredients. The devil is that Afghanistan is still a proxy battleground involving Pakistan and India as well as Iran so "solutions" can't be applied in a vacuum or "unilaterally". Unlike the Soviets we aren't looking to stay or secure right of way to Indian Sea or the like. Our only continuing strategic interest is removing a base of operations for terrorist activities. We shouldn't be overly idealistic about their chosen/functional form of governance (theological tyranny, communism, oligarchy, dictatorship, whatever). I believe in democracy but that's probably better learned on their own than given to them.

Of course now that we are 10+ years down a road spouting one ideology the whole way I wonder how many options we really have. That may be the reason it's so difficult for anyone to get a common plan and the whole team on-board with it.

It was a very bad idea to stay (both iraq and afg) The govt to over estimate its own strength and to under estimate the complex afghan (centuries of molding) way of life. This is what happens if you have UNCULTURED people in politics. They always forget to factor in the history and culture of their "agendas". They think they can just barge in anytime and use their hi-tech toys to do the job quick. 10 years, thousands of lives lost and trillions down the drain. They have to stop these war mongering or else they will destroy this great country starting from with in indefinitely. We are not the policeman of the world and no one gave us the badge to do so anyways.

Just to add something to think aboutr connected with Brandon's words please read "Operation Dark Heart" by Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer. I do not know Colonel but myself but this book hit me very strong. His memories from Afghanistan and his attempt to give the answer for the question "how to win in Afghanistan" at the end of the book gave me a lot to think about. Sometimes I think that soldiers in Afghanistan are fighting only for each other - to keep brother alive.

This is exactly what needs to be said. Unfortunately, the side issues of DC and pentagon politics are the problem. I don't think there's a single sane person who can sit back and not see that this has turned into one giant clusterfuck.