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Foreign Affairs

C0RI0LANUS

(2,140 posts)

4. The USIC and military leaned that arming guerillas (the Taliban) against the Soviets worked.

Reply to C0RI0LANUS (Original post)

Fri Jan 3, 2025, 10:18 PM

Friday

Relatively inexpensive Stingers shot down expensive Soviet aircraft from 1980 to 1989.

But the US taking over Afghanistan (and Iraq) was all about lucrative reconstruction contracts and opportunities for generals to pin on another star. Hence we see the SIGIR.mil and SIGAR.mil reports on fraud, waste, and abuse.

Peacetime armies do not promote nearly as much as wartime militaries nor does peace provide opportunities for awards and medals.

The head of Switzerland's army: Corps Commander Thomas Süssli — © DDPS/DDPS

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Highlight:

Staggering Toll of US Failure in Afghanistan on Taxpayers is Laid Bare by Government Auditor [View all] C0RI0LANUS Friday OP

This is a mash-up of a couple of different but also disastrous interventions and outcomes. erronis Friday #1

SIGAR's latest quarterly report is Oct 2024. The final report is due any day now. C0RI0LANUS Friday #3

Didn't we learn anything from Soviet failures in Afghanistan? bucolic_frolic Friday #2

The USIC and military leaned that arming guerillas (the Taliban) against the Soviets worked. C0RI0LANUS Friday #4