[tomder55]

Outstanding selection by Trump !!! You know he is right for the job because the people at MSNBC ,the Compost ,Democracy Now ,NY Magazine ,Axios and Politico have their hair on fire .

The reason he is not a General is because he has taken on the Swamp Defense Complex his whole career . The President should've put him in his administration from day one.

He has been serving as Ambassador to Germany . But this position is better suited to him. This appointment makes me believe that Trump will follow through with the total withdrawal from Afghanistan by either the beginning of his second term ,or on his way out the door.

[paraclete]

Tom, there will be no second term but if Trump does it, it will be a good thing

[tomder55]

Yes ;even if Trump has to leave Jan 20 ; our withdrawal from that endless war will be a major accomplishment.

[paraclete]

agreed, it is time is was over, no good purpose is served by prolonging it

[jlisenbe]

no good purpose is served by prolonging it

Leave Europe? Yes. Leave Afghanistan? Not so sure about that. You might be right, but it's risky.

[talaniman]

Old Joe may have yet another mess to clean up by the time he takes the WH.

[tomder55]

it will revert to status quo US ante . The Taliban (mostly Pashtun clients of the Sunni wacky Pakis ) will fight to control about half the country . The other ethnic groups and tribes will hold on to their territory being assisted by other external forces (primarily India which was the primary supporter of the 'Northern Alliance'. )

Afghanistan mostly exists to give strategic space to Pakistan. There is no real national identity . The West has been plagued for more than 2 centuries trying to play the 'Great Game ' there .We tried to tame it and to get the people to embrace democracy . We have to face up to the reality that will not happen.

So the only other reason to remain is to chase AQ which still has a presence there . But would they be tolerated if the US was not there ?Or would they be seen as just another outside force to be defeated ? Either way our electronic surveillance has become sophisticated enough that we can track any potential threat coming from AQ in Afghanistan and whack it accordingly .

The lefties immediately took Trump to task when he dumped Sec Def Esper . But Esper like Bolton was fundamentally opposed to the President's policies and behind the scenes undermined them.

Macgregor is one of the most brilliant military officers of our times. It was his battle plan in 1991 in the battle of '73 Easting' that turned out to be probably the most lopsided victory in American warfare . (full disclosure ,my Cousin Bill was an officer in his 2nd Armor Calvary Regiment ).The elite armor units of Iraq were destroyed with the loss of one American. When the battle was over ,the US had an unopposed route to Baghdad . We did not take it .

But unlike his peers ,who cut their teeth in the 1st Gulf War ;he did not conclude that having endless wars in the region was a good idea. His book 'Breaking the Phalanx: A New Design for Landpower in the 21st Century' proposes a complete restructure of American ground forces . Yes he has stepped on some toes and no doubt bruised some egos . He is not a 'stay in your lane' officer . That makes him perfect for Trump and his unconventional views about the use of American force projection.

[Curlyben]

Why do you think Russians left Afgan, they soon realised it was an unwinnable situation that merely drank money like a Friday night frat party...
USA, and others, really need to stop poking their collective noses into things that don't concern them.
Unless a sovereign state asks for assistance, or it directly impacts national interest, then leave well enough alone...

[Athos]

MacGregor is just another looney FOX talking head with strange ideas re Germany, Iraq, Muslims, and the usual right-wing baloney that Trump spouts daily (or used to before his pouting silence).

USA, and others, really need to stop poking their collective noses into things that don't concern them.

Ever hear of 911 and the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon?

[Curlyben]

Ever hear of 911 and the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon?

Yes, but that doesn't mean wading in to another country(ies) and staying there for a decade is justified.
They got the ring leaders/principle perpetrators, so job jobbed..

Hasten to add there was no legal process involved with that one, just some dodgy military intelligence.
Can you say WMDs ...

[Athos]

there was no legal process involved with that one, just some dodgy military intelligence..

Dodgy military intelligence? 3,000 dead and 6,000 injured in New York, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania? Dodgy military intelligence?

[Curlyben]

Dodgy military intelligence? 3,000 dead and 6,000 injured in New York, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania? Dodgy military intelligence?

While the body count and methods employed were indeed extreme, that's how terrorists work, there's a clue in the collective name.
The dodgy intelligence then led to a massive assault on a sovereign state, with all that entails..

[tomder55]

USA, and others, really need to stop poking their collective noses into things that don't concern them.

spoken like a true Trumpster .

I have no problem with our reasoning for going into both nations . When Afghanistan became a nation building project impossible to win then it was time to cut losses. Iraq was a different issue . The people embraced democracy :and it filled a national strategic imperative (not as much today as our embrace of domestic energy production has made us energy independent ) . The way we left Iraq was wrong because we handed over a third of the country to Iran and a third to Jihadistan. Leaving Afghanistan will not be the same . AQ/ISIS is unwanted there .

The supporters of the endless Afghanistan engagement are not being honest . What they really want is the rare earth minerals in the Afghan mountains .And those who want us engaged in Syria are really supporters of a specific pipeline plan.

[tomder55]

Curly . The Ruskies were there for about a decade . They mostly left because the Soviet Union was on the verge of collapse. I expect they will be tempted to carve out an area of influence there again with Afghanistan being their most direct route to aiding Iran.

[paraclete]

what does it matter what Russia does so long as they do it peacefully and with the consent of the country

[talaniman]

Forget all the politics folks, the dufus has his own reasons for doing what he does whether you agree with him or not. He bears a close watch until he's actually gone.

[paraclete]

Yes watch closely and learn

[tomder55]

He bears a close watch until he's actually gone.

another member of the Trump Accountability Project determined to purge Trump and his 72 million supporters .

[talaniman]

The dufus was purged at least until 2024. That doesn't mean the dems should celebrate and not see the tricks and traps the dufus and his sycophants will leave all over the place. The dufus may be losing badly in the courts over voter fraud, but if it would be insane to think he won't break stuff on his way out.

[paraclete]

Yes Dump will channel his inner BO, BO didn't leave him a clean slate. Yes Dump could pull out of Afghanistan leaving Biden nowhere to deploy troops to. They would have to stay home and Biden won't use them for border protection might be an interesting year, 2021, the Chinese curse in operation