They would be good Americans. Several I knew had been schooled in Pakistan and were multi-lingual, intelligent and none of them were flakes. Maybe they were the cream (SF guys)...not sure? 12 years in MidEast...you get used to most being sketchy flakes. So many of the Taliban I saw (dead) had makeup and AK’s had gay stuff on the stocks. It was strange to see frankly. But all the Terps I knew were young Patriots. We’ll see...just another mess.
Gay stuff usually means you're dealing with warlords' expendable dancing boy soldiers. The Taliban was an idea to end warlordism, Omar's idea. Without Omar it was just warlords LARPing for street cred to gain better position. The warlords were on our "side" too. They were using us to knock off competition and take our money and resources. Only people that were fighting for a unified secure Afghanistan were John Rambo's tribe and the Afghanis they personally trained and a few odd patriots who got out and came back to translate, thinking they could help. The rest of Afghanistan was just using us to position themselves and their tribes in better standing in warlord wotld. Which only we didn't get the memo on that. The US big military units were basically just slogging through it. Do the job you are there to do, then go home. Colonel gets his Star, new Colonel for the next go.
What a fascinating peek into reality you painted. I was at countless “GI funeral” processions and I would seeth in anger over the sheer waste of our young troop’s lives. Regarding those dancing-boy gaylords…I recall a few sickening videos way back showcasing that stuff. It matched what I saw there. Regarding those warlords; was at one FOB near Parrot’s Beak where we’d taken over some gaylords compound. He & his band of homeboys would sit down by the gate bemoaning the loss of his mud castle…every day. They never attacked or did much, but slyly paid-off the ANA cretins ON THE BASE with hashish who would stage halfhearted attacks at night INSIDE THE WIRE. Our guy’s Cmdr finally wised-up. The whole thing was an incredible waste of our time & human resources but hey that’s what we do best?
They would be good Americans. Several I knew had been schooled in Pakistan and were multi-lingual, intelligent and none of them were flakes. Maybe they were the cream (SF guys)...not sure? 12 years in MidEast...you get used to most being sketchy flakes. So many of the Taliban I saw (dead) had makeup and AK’s had gay stuff on the stocks. It was strange to see frankly. But all the Terps I knew were young Patriots. We’ll see...just another mess.
Gay stuff usually means you're dealing with warlords' expendable dancing boy soldiers. The Taliban was an idea to end warlordism, Omar's idea. Without Omar it was just warlords LARPing for street cred to gain better position. The warlords were on our "side" too. They were using us to knock off competition and take our money and resources. Only people that were fighting for a unified secure Afghanistan were John Rambo's tribe and the Afghanis they personally trained and a few odd patriots who got out and came back to translate, thinking they could help. The rest of Afghanistan was just using us to position themselves and their tribes in better standing in warlord wotld. Which only we didn't get the memo on that. The US big military units were basically just slogging through it. Do the job you are there to do, then go home. Colonel gets his Star, new Colonel for the next go.
What a fascinating peek into reality you painted. I was at countless “GI funeral” processions and I would seeth in anger over the sheer waste of our young troop’s lives. Regarding those dancing-boy gaylords…I recall a few sickening videos way back showcasing that stuff. It matched what I saw there. Regarding those warlords; was at one FOB near Parrot’s Beak where we’d taken over some gaylords compound. He & his band of homeboys would sit down by the gate bemoaning the loss of his mud castle…every day. They never attacked or did much, but slyly paid-off the ANA cretins ON THE BASE with hashish who would stage halfhearted attacks at night INSIDE THE WIRE. Our guy’s Cmdr finally wised-up. The whole thing was an incredible waste of our time & human resources but hey that’s what we do best?