We deserved it, since this was a war Johnson created to create money to pull the American economy out of a doldrums. (that part of it was fairly successful) Somewhen around the time of JFK’s death, he’s quoted as saying he asked some economists: Historically, what has pulled the US economy out of a tailspin, and they answered “War….”. So that’s what he gave us and our economy improved. I don’t believe Nixon knew that and so he lost the war as well as his domestic crookedness

And then technically GWB lost Iraq, tho his luck was in that he could hand it to President Obama who just ended it, and he ended the war on terror, and is ending the war in Afghanistan. Obama didn’t try to win or lose any of those. He just ended them.

And finally, there is GWB’s war on corporate taxes. It looks like corporations won’t win as big as Republicans talked they would, tho this dance isn’t over.

Let me say to theanarchistmedic that I apologize for anything in the post that may have been disparaging towards the men and women who have served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Vietnam. As theanarchistmedic points out, there are many things that American troops have done for the Afghan people. There have also been problems. I should not have painted the picture with such a broad brush. For that I am sorry and hope that you will accept my apology.

in regards to your comments about afghanistan…having been deployed to afghanistan in the full “counterinsurgency” phase of the war, i can honestly say that you don’t know what you are talking about. counterinsurgency is what happens when an IED producer lets his 9 children get blown up in their living room because he didn’t build his bomb properly, his only only living son gets brought to my aid station by his neighbor and we not only save the boys life but the army fronts the bill for this 8 year old boy to receive prosthetic eyes that cost $10,000 dollars a piece, and then after that boy gets medevac’d to a higher level of care, you load up in your trucks, drive out to where this whole shindig took place and you help everyone else that suffered only minor wounds. they then tell you that the father who built the IED has family in such and such village and you can most likely find him there, not because we put a gun to their face and said “WTF IS THIS GUY” but because we saved a boys life, and then we came to make sure the rest of the village was alright.

US torture camp at Bagram…there’s a detainment center at Bagram, where bad guys caught doing bad things are held temporarily, sure some people probably mistreated the prisoners but in the military we ARE held under various laws that relate to how you are to handle POW’s and detained civilians so by calling a detainment facility a “torture camp” you’re once again just holding a big sign that says “i’m ignorant and blindly obedient to everyone else that opposes all war”

90% of the world’s opium is produced in afghanistan…i highly doubt it’s 90%, especially since now the Afghan National Army and the Afghan Uniformed Police arrest opium farmers and burn down their fields (seen firsthand), but you probably read 90% somewhere else that had uncited sources and thought “YEAH THIS WILL DEFINITELY HELP THE CAUSE OF MAKING AMERICA’S MILITARY LOOK LIKE THE BIGGEST PIECES OF SHIT IN ALL EXISTENCE” and just stuck with it, or you don’t actually know how much opium is produced in Afghanistan so you just put a high number there for shock and awe purposes.

“despite” total American control of the country for a decade…HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA i shouldn’t even say anything to that but that would just be ignorant of me and I don’t wanna stoop to your level…when you’re deployed to Afghanistan (excluding big fobs like Bagram of course), you will most likely be on what’s called a COP (combat out post), most COPs usually hold about 30-40 Soldiers and sometimes they’ll have up to 100. Each COP usually has an area of about 5 to 30 square miles that is considered its “battle space” meaning that’s where those Soldiers operate out of…do you honestly think that 30 Soldiers can have “total” control over 5 square miles? Do you honestly think 100 Soldiers can have total control over 30 square miles?

I’m not saying America is right being in Afghanistan, I’m not saying we’re making the world a better place…but after helping to build clinics, schools, police stations, and other necessary infrastructure facilities that facilitate a government taking care of its citizens, I can honestly say that the US Military does more to help in Afghanistan than anyone else is currently trying to do.

And the sad truth is, until you’ve been there and experienced firsthand what’s going on, until you’ve had to save the life of the guy that just shot your best friend in the chest with an RPG from 20 feet away, until you’ve seen the respect and appreciation that the majority of the Afghan civilians show for the things the US has done in Afghanistan, you won’t understand any of this. all you’ll comprehend is the bullshit you read from people that do what ever the hell they can to make the military look like shit, all you’ll get from reading this is “this ignorant grunt, he probably supports a war with Iran, too. fascist pig. Barbarian. Statist. Probably a Christian republican from Texas that thinks everyone needs to carry a gun with them at all times and thinks that women belong in the kitchen or in the bedroom” and that’s really sad if i’m right.

With that latitude, I guess the REAL question would be if ANYONE has ever actually won ANY war.  There’s no more Rome, no more Qin dynasty, no more British empire.  But that might seem specious, but then so is your comment.  I, personally, do think that American Revolution thing worked out okay.

Well, they didn’t invade very hard, as “Americans then believed that many in Upper Canada would rise up and greet a United States invading army as liberators, which did not happen.”

Sounds familiar, eh?

As for the Kosovo war stopping ethnic cleansing, the US role was wholly negative. The US stage managed the KLA, directing them to attack Serbs to maximize retaliation. When the KLA got beat, the US imposed a “ceasefire” to allow the KLA to regroup and rearm. The Kosovo war was also finished with ethnic cleansing, but of Serbs, Roma and other non-Albanian groups.