Was the war in Afghanistan lost when it turned into a woke crusade?

How could the war in Afganistan have turned out better for America? The Taliban harbored terrorists who bombed a few of our most iconic buildings by exploiting serious security flaws in our airports. In a world of high technology and globalization, such orgaizations will always exist in the shadows somewhere. Did that justify our attempt to impose "Disney" style values on a backwards country trying to find its identity after centuries of opression?

Is it true that if the Afghan people really wanted to convert to western values, they would have? I suppose we wouldn't have had to fight them for 20 years to "save" them. Thoughts?

What should we do in the future in some similar situation? Thank you.

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hippyjoe1955 · 70-79, M

I am reminded of the lines written by Rudyard Kipling

"When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier."

irishmolly72 · 56-60, F

@hippyjoe1955 fascinating

hippyjoe1955 · 70-79, M

@irishmolly72 Afghanistan has been a wild land for as long as history records. It is not as the neocon/lib assume a place where democracy would ever exist. Kipling wrote during the time of Queen Victoria when the Brits were trying to tame it. Funnily enough one of my wife's great uncles helped design the Khyber Pass railway. He brought back a chair that we still have in the family.