Oswald in the doorway: the blog of the Oswald Innocence Campaign, by Ralph Cinque

I see a lot of chatter on the internet that the U.S. is going to get out of Afghanistan in 2019, that plans are in works right now. I wish it were true, but I don't believe it.  I hope I'm wrong, but I fear I'm not. 

Just think about it: What, at this point, would be the greatest concern of the United States? It would be to save face. To leave in a manner that that they could claim success, if not victory. 

Look what happened in Vietnam. We finally got out in 1973. Some Senator urged Nixon to "declare victory and leave." Then, in less than 2 years, the Viet Cong overran our puppet government in South Vietnam and unified the country under Communism.  And that persists to this day, as you know. 

So, we lost the Vietnam War, and anyone who thinks otherwise is, in the words of the vernacular, a fucking idiot. 

So, are we going to lose yet another war? Well, we have lost the war. Today, the Taliban controls as much territory in Afghanistan as they did in 2001. In vast parts of the country, they are the defacto government. The Kabul administration controls Kabul and that's about it.  And without us, they would fall faster than Custer. But, the question is: are we going to openly admit that we lost another war and leave with our tail between our legs? And that's what we don't want to do. 

Because, we are the world's only super-power, right? We are the world's 800 pound gorilla, are we not? So, how could we lose an 18 year war against an impoverished Third World country?

But, let's be crystal clear about what the options are, and there are only two: Either we get out, OR the war goes on forever. I'll say it again: Either we get out, or the war goes on forever. But, the problem is that our political and military leaders would rather keep fighting forever than admit that we lost.  In other words, they will keep the war going, with all the killing and suffering, just to save face. 

But, there's a difference between Vietnam and Afghanistan. We waded into Vietnam. One of the reasons they killed JFK was to prevent him from starting his planned withdrawal from Vietnam. And with JFK dead, Lyndon Johnson was able to do the opposite and escalate. 

But, in Afghanistan, we went in with guns ablazing from the very beginning. We started with "Shock and Awe". We bombed them back to the Stone Age.  Remember? So, after all that fire power, for us to sheepishly retreat after 18 years, it does make us look like the ultimate losers. And it's not that I care. I don't care about winning.  I'm not the least bit interested in it. I'm only interested in ending the war. 

Are the Taliban terrorists? Well, if they are, they sure are unusual because today, they provide humanitarian relief over vast regions of the country- to ordinary Afghans. You've probably heard that the Taliban conducts attacks on civilians, but have you ever confirmed whether it's true, or whether it's just another U.S. lie? But, regardless of what you believe about the Taliban, the fact is that of the hundreds of thousands of Afghans killed since the war began in 2001, most of them, the vast majority were killed by us and our minions. And that isn't even in dispute. 

The sad fact is that the War on Terror has been a War of Terror. 

In response to the killing of 3000 Americans at the World Trade Center (and never forget what the Architects and Engineers tell us about that) the U.S. response to it has been to go out into the world and kill over 1 million people. 

Now, how could anyone, with the slightest bit of intelligence, not regard that as a war of terror? 

A million people is the population of Austin, Texas, in which I live. 

And the amazing thing is that the guy who started this War of Terror, George W. Bush, is still walking around a free man. How many people do you have kill before the law catches up with you in this country? The killing of civilians in war is murder, and I thought murder was a crime in this country.  

I found an article I agree with, written by Paul Szoldra, entitled,
"We are never leaving Afghanistan". It was written in June of this year. 

https://taskandpurpose.com/us-military-never-leaving-afghanistan/

I think he's right, but I have to qualify it: We are never going to voluntarily get out of Afghanistan.  However, if things get so bad financially and economically in this country that we simply don't have the money to fight any longer, that would force us out. But, I am talking about something bordering on chaos and collapse, where money-printing doesn't work any more. And if that happens, there is going to be pain and suffering everywhere. But hey, it's Christmas, so Merry Christmas.