The Afghanistan and Pakistan Thread

I know I need to read that report, but it's probably just going to make me angry. And probably not for the reasons people think.

Brother, there are GO's quoted in the article making the same points we have made over and over. Some of them even have an acidic quote or two for those observations. The article is 50% "yeah, we knew better, but we chose to suck" and 50% "every president and SECDEF lied through their teeth" comments. I think the best was Rumsfeld writing a memo to various generals asking them how to disengage from Afghanistan while holding a press conference around the same time mocking the notion that Afghanistan will become a quagmire.

If you read it you either detach yourself emotionally or suffer from a combination of rage and depression.
 
Look on the bright side...

-How many of us would own a pakol if we had never gone to Afghanistan? (How many would even know what a pakol was?)
-How many of us would have a wicked cool bootleg CD collection if we had never gone to Iraq?
-How many Tuff-Boxes full of unused surplus field gear would you have in your garage? (great supplements for hunting season)

Ya' gotta look for that silver lining inside of every storm cloud.
Granted -I can only come up with those three "good" things to come out of the last 19 years worth of flimsy GWOT policy - but its the best I could do on short notice.
 
Brother, there are GO's quoted in the article making the same points we have made over and over. Some of them even have an acidic quote or two for those observations. The article is 50% "yeah, we knew better, but we chose to suck" and 50% "every president and SECDEF lied through their teeth" comments. I think the best was Rumsfeld writing a memo to various generals asking them how to disengage from Afghanistan while holding a press conference around the same time mocking the notion that Afghanistan will become a quagmire.

If you read it you either detach yourself emotionally or suffer from a combination of rage and depression.

"like," but also, "hate."
 
Look on the bright side...

-How many of us would own a pakol if we had never gone to Afghanistan? (How many would even know what a pakol was?)
-How many of us would have a wicked cool bootleg CD collection if we had never gone to Iraq?
-How many Tuff-Boxes full of unused surplus field gear would you have in your garage? (great supplements for hunting season)

Ya' gotta look for that silver lining inside of every storm cloud.
Granted -I can only come up with those three "good" things to come out of the last 19 years worth of flimsy GWOT policy - but its the best I could do on short notice.

Holy shit you know me far too well.

Plus, how can I humble-brag about my deployments if... I had no deployments?

and, AAFES pogs.
 
Plus, how can I humble-brag about my deployments if... I had no deployments?

Exactly !!!

Besdies, how can we have "Thank you for your service" threads without the GWOT to make civilians feel obligated to appreciate veterans ??
What would the "I was a SOF Operator" career pimps write their books about?
How many Fox/CNN/MSDNC news analysts would be out of work if they hadnt squeezed in at least one deployment safe on a huge FOB before they started talking about how to win the war on terror.
Worst of all - we wouldn't be able to blame our current ethical conundrum on things like PTSD and Moral Injury.

A lot of good things came out of this shit show if you have an active enough immagination.
 
Exactly !!!

Besdies, how can we have "Thank you for your service" threads without the GWOT to make civilians feel obligated to appreciate veterans ??
What would the "I was a SOF Operator" career pimps write their books about?
How many Fox/CNN/MSDNC news analysts would be out of work if they hadnt squeezed in at least one deployment safe on a huge FOB before they started talking about how to win the war on terror.

As someone who spent all seven (/humble-brag) deployments safe on the FOB, I approve this, and all similar, messages.
 
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