Defeat in Afghanistan-No matter how you slice it

No matter how you slice it, it's still baloney.  Al Smith.

Such were the words of an American politician.  They have that ring like PK Dick's definition of reality.  The question is almost ridiculous to ask.  It is not so much have we lost, but why did we think there is anything to gain in the first place.  Well, the Neutralist takes no pleasure in this.  The young men and others who have died there were a waste.  Some will do jail time because they gave in to frustrations they should never have been subject two.

We have two articles to link to.  The first is by Lt.Col. Daniel L. Davis.  In the Armed Forces Journal article, Truth, lies and Afghanistan,  Col. Davis outlines the falsity of all that is going on in Afghanistan.  His experience seems to shout that what we mere citizens are fed here is happy talk.

The other article is from Stratfor.  In Afghanistan: Moving Toward a Distant Endgame, George Friedman writes,

Ultimately, the United States could remain in Afghanistan indefinitely and there is nothing the Taliban could do about it. But the United States cannot defeat the Taliban. The Taliban have nowhere to go and no desire to leave. The United States has other issues to attend to and no overriding strategic interest in Afghanistan. From the American point of view, its presence in Afghanistan does not reduce Islamist threats to the homeland but it does absorb military resources.

Mr. Friedman is intelligent, but I doubt we can remain indefinitely.  Better to say, for sometime until we break.  Better to leave long before that.

One has to give great credit to Col. Davis.  To speak out so might not be considered career enhancing.  Or, does the fact that it was published in  AFJ mean something?

If everyone knows we are leaving, sooner or later without any real victory, then staying is a betrayal of the lives of the young men who serve.  Especially in light of Col. Davis' outline of the quagmire.