Our buddy, Doc Bailey, who goes by the name Mad Medic at his own blog “The Madness of the Combat Medic“, knows Ethan McCord, the clown who goes around the country talking to your kids in their school about the “Collateral Murder” video. He busted McCord for putting this as his cover photo on his Facebook page;
Yeah, the only reason McCord thinks Manning deserves the Medal of Honor is because Manning’s treachery made McCord someone, as opposed to the nobody he was before the video. But you need to read Doc Bailey’s post – Doc was there at the aftermath of the scene portrayed by the video, too, and for some odd reason, Bailey doesn’t see things the way McCord sees them.
Why does that picture give me the sudden overpowering urge to throat punch someone?
Thank you, Sparky. I thought I was the only one.
@1&2: Nope, you aren’t alone, I’m sure many are thinking the same thing.
I really don’t know what to say. Throat punch?
I can only hope that that picture is part of a series that ends with the President garroting Manning with the medal.
Was thinking something else, but throat punch will do.
All of the comments on his page make me want to quit defending these lowlifes who belief that Bradley Manning should get anything other than life in federal pound-you-in-the-ass prison. People are seriously saying that Manning should get the MOH, I can’t fathom how such people can stay breathing!
@7: I have long believed that Manning should get life in front of a firing squad. The reasons are plain and simple and have withstood the test of time from the days of the Revolutionary War. He is a traitor and deserves a traitors death. He has caused the death of countless assets (human lives) not because he made a mistake in planning an operational mission that went south. Not for hitting the wrong target with a missile. No, he cost lives because he was butt hurt about his boyfriend showing him the hatch and decided to hack classified material and give it to another piece of shit to publicly publish, because they are sooo smart and have to show everyone how smart they are.
Fuck him and every piece of shit that defends the actions of him.
WTF…. Throat Punching that ass would be going way to easy on him, but a good start
CAvFSO: regrettably, freedom of speech implies that idiots must generally be allowed to say stupid things in public. It’s a package deal. Not always pleasant to see, but kinda unavoidable.
Old Trooper: I agree that Manning deserves execution. But I guess I can live with the alternative of him spending life in prison w/o possibility of parole. Manning had best hope he can handle that.
I’m thinking more along the lines of a curb stomp followed up with ass raping his soul with my boot.
I’m also with Old Trooper – the punishment for treason should be no less than the firing squad. Anything else is crap and an insult to everyone who has put their life on the line for our country.
After the POTUS pardons Manning, pretty sure he’ll run for Congress billed as a combat veteran of the Iraq campaign, and using the GI Bill to further his education.
DaveO: Come on, your cynicism . . . I hope you are wrong, and that our country isn’t THAT bad, but there is KERRY, etc. — hey, this is TOO CORRUPT for words .
“. . . he took my real honest concern for his well being and went to all his buddies to laugh about it.”
(from Doc Bailey’s website, linked above — Doc Bailey is referring to Ethan McCord)
Such Man-To-“man” PERSONAL BETRAYAL is despicable and beyond the pale, over the line, morally inhumanly CORRUPT .
After reading Doc’s post, I’m inclined to believe that McCord here and Brianna Manning have a need to share a counseling session with an FLCCB cellmate, who might NOT give a rats tail about either of them and goes by the name of “Bubba”…Now, that would be *priceless*! Then stand them up in front of a firing squad. Why support the bastages for life?
I’m honestly not sure how he hasn’t managed to get, at the very least, a good kicking while incarcerated. I’d take my Article with pride if it meant bloodying that little bastard.
There are only two sides to this question. Every man must be for the United States or against it. There can be no neutrals in this war; only patriots and traitors.
To clarify, the throat punches are reserved for those who post and believe in that pic.
Manning still needs to be ass-raped with a pineapple and have rubbing alcohol poured on the gaping wound, THEN stand what’s left of him in front of a firing squad.
But this is a family board, so I won’t say EVERYTHING that I’m thinking, either.
“But this is a family board, so I won’t say EVERYTHING that I’m thinking, either.”
Since when and why the fuck wasn’t I notified about that shit!?!?
Sal Giunta must feel the same way that Sammy Davis did when Forrest Gump’s head was photoshopped onto his body.
OT…I didn’t say what kind of family. Start with dysfunctional and work from there.
Ok, Sparky, you had me worried there for a second.
I would say what I think of this, but I think that I could get a call from the secret service…
I’m thinking along slightly different lines.
Start with an old-fashoned running of a gauntlet. Anyone military can stand in the double line, holding anything they want. If wo-Manning survives that, THEN stand him before the firing squad.
If he doesn’t, then just leave his corpse in the gutter.
After he’s dead (either way), then cut off his head, & place it on a pole in front of an appropriate military post as a warning to other similar assholes.
I like @18 then castrate him then follow @24’s lead…. sorry guys
Whoa, whoa, whoa guys. We gotta keep this fair. In the spirit of that I think it should be the responsibility of we women to help Breanna realize the error of her ways. I volunteer to be part of the punishment detail, and if picked will keep in mind all of your excellent suggestions!
How about this, bring it to Az. Surgically remove it’s hand and feet with a chain saw. Cauterize the wounds with roofing tar & a blow torch THEN drive it out to the Bighorn Mountains and drop it off. I know for a fact there are coyotes, mountain lions and rattlesnakes in those mountains. It would either sit there and die of thirst or try to crawl out in it’s hands and knees. If it did that there would be a blood trail…
Holding your government accountable is not only American, but has always been a UNIQUELY American trait! That is EXACTLY what the constitution is for! It’s for the people of this country to demand transparency, to question and even expose the corruption in the government/military/treasury etc.etc.etc. That’s why we have the first amendment which says that an American can say whatever they want AGAINST their government and there will be ZERO consequences! The fourth amendment that denies the government the right to detain us unless we actually commit a crime and then we are guaranteed (or supposed to be guaranteed) a speedy, fair trial by a jury of our peers.
The military is no sovereign, the country is! The military is a government run institution, and as such it is accountable and questionable just as the government is to the people. Many of us people here are sick of y’alls trailer park trash shit! You are raping and killing like animals over there and it’s disgusting and a shameful stain on our country’s name!
You’re all just pissed off because you got put back in your place. Out of control, honor-less, alcoholic infants.
You have all become the shame of America instead of the heros, and the laughing stock of the whole world! People mock you and call the US military the most pathetic military there ever was! You’ve been getting your asses handed to you by people in tents for over a decade and you are worried about Bradly Manning?
You are uneducated. You have no loyalty to America. You have no love for our country or her freedoms. You just want to show your asses. I laugh at you so hard when I see you out and about. You can’t even feel like a man without your little camouflage uniforms LOL! Ethan Mccord is honest and brave. HE is what we all dream of our whole military being. If the whole military was full of men like him, I might not find myself apologizing to the world for our drunk bastard ADHD fat alcoholic soldiers ugh! gross!
If you would have died back there no one would have even missed you, but most of you commenting on here are closet homosexual arm chair commandos! WAAAHAHAAHA! you’re so pathetic. More of you kill yourselves than are killed by the Muslims! pathetic. sad. ugh.
@Anonymous. Wow. Probably the most ignorant comment I’ve ever read on this blog. First off, for someone who talks about education, your sentence structure is atrocious. It sounds like you’re the one trying to be an arm chair intellectual. Second off, as to your comment, “More of you kill youselves than are killed by the Muslims! pathetic. sad. ugh.” Really? And you think it’s only the pro-war soldiers who kill themselves?
You talk a big game like you’re above it all, but then you come on here and post about freedom of speech and then bash a bunch of guys for what, talking? You’ve just done the same exact thing.
Oh, that is FUNNY!
Why didn’t Hondo put this in his SPAM post? It’s clearly unintelligible and from some sort of bot.
Y’all are a bunch of cowardly chickenshit trash, hiding behind fake names and talking about all the nasty stuff you want someone else to do to Bradley Manning. You’re not fit to be Americans, you’re fit to be slaves and that’s what you’ll end up being.
@32 – “anon” wrote “Y’all are a bunch of cowardly chickenshit trash, hiding behind fake names….”
Thanks for the laugh “anon”.
Back in the 1770s the split was 1/3 Rebels, 1/3 don’t care, and 1/3 Loyalists. You guys are Loyalists, that’s all. You support the fascist state and corporate socialism and the New World Order – that’s the choice you’ve made. “If you love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.” S. Adams
anon, we didn’t realize you were an Occutard. Thanks for clearing that up.
And thanks for posting the cut and paste quote, it’s readily apparent you don’t have original thoughts.
Oh, and what CI said, although you won’t understand it until someone else in the tent explains it to you.
Anonymouse & anon, would either of you august gentlemen please explain to me, without the profanities or insults please, why you come here if you find us so reprehensible? That is illogical. Also, your use of the afore mentioned profanities and insults negate any point you try to make. Obviously you’re not going to change our minds or opinions so why bother? I don’t attend Democratic party functions because I don’t believe in their philosophy. I know I’m not going to change their minds so I don’t bother. I DO attend Republican party functions because we have the same philosophies. See what I mean? One last thing, if you’ll notice, I’ve expressed my opinion without using a single profanity or insult. I guess that’s the difference between being educated and not.
The super wealthy has been feeding all of bunch of bullshit to keep American soldiers over there. They are making billions while the economy is near depression status. T here has NEVER been a legitimate reason to be in Iraq or Afghanistan. . There are shocking numbers of vets and soldiers exposing war crimes they have been ordered to do and had followed those orders. Only to come home and be filled with guilt and disgust for what they did. There are more suicides than fatalities happening. So far 84,005 Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) veteran patients have been granted VA disability compensation; of that about half for PTSD that’s 45 percent of the 1.6 million from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Veterans are filing for disability benefits at a historic rate, claiming to be the most medically and mentally troubled generation of former troops the nation has ever seen. 6,442 soldiers have died unnecessarily. It is such a waste.
Do you really believe that war crimes should not be reported?
Do you believe we are preventing more terrorists form theMiddle East?
I really do appreciate your service and would never claim to know what experiences you endured. I would just like to see more kids join the service to be used by those Wall Street greedy pigs.
In order for that to happen there e is a need and responsibility for soldiers and vets like Ethan to come forward
@37… I personally believe that 9/11 gave us a legitimate reason to be in Afghanistan. I’m amazed at how many people have forgotten about that.
Cyndi,
Name some for us, and back up your claim of “record numbers”. I’m talking people with verified service and substantiated claims, not some kind of Matthis Chiroux “The Army made me rape people” kind of bullshit.
So, Cyndi, lying is OK as long as it is lying approved by you??
Anyone but me see the irony of anon castigating us for “hiding behind fake names” while posting anonymously?
Anonymous: we more than anyone want to ensure the military is held accountable for any wrongs committed. Try spending five minutes searching this blog and you’ll clearly see that instead of assuming anything about any of us you actually do some independent investigation instead of playing the role of mindless sycophant.
None of us have an issue with documents being exposed if there is illegal activity. The issue is how he did this. Young Mr. Manning didn’t even do this out of any altruistic motives. He was sad about his boyfriend dumping him, and he was pissy because he realized the Army is for real and he would have to actually follow orders and think about someone other than himself for a change. Therefore he downloaded as much as possible until he could pass it off to some random guy on the internet whose identity he had no legitimate way of verifying, nor did he have any guarantee of proper redaction to protect the safety of those put at risk (and it wasn’t all those evil soldiers you love to defame.) Then he blamed it all on the conscience he doesn’t have, and anti-gay bullying despite being in one of the most gay friendly MOSes and units in the military. I think only the medical and linguist fields beat out intelligence for highest ratios of LGBT to heterosexual personnel. He was not in some dour forward posting getting mortared all the time in a line company who beat him up every day. He was in a nice FOB that allowed him to get fast food, modular housing, in-housing internet service, etc. I’m sure it was rough on poor little Bradley once he realized he couldn’t physically attack his superiors (who happened to be a small woman that wasn’t exactly suited for physical intimidation.)
Bradley Manning is nothing but a petulant spoiled brat with severe emotional disturbances. Try performing an actual legitimate study of military personnel, and you’ll discover few if any of us have ever attacked our own Mothers (much less in a way that requires a 911 call), our bosses, or regularly boil over into incoherent rage. Everything he’s ever said have always ultimately been about him. Everything is about him, even these documents were leaked because of how much HE felt affronted by them. He tries to use the LGBT community, the Iraqi people, international law, and whatever other nonsense he thinks will grant him an Oprah spot. If you actually look into any of what he says you quickly find it’s all a front for his own petty grievances. Boiled down to it he was pissy that he wasn’t liked because he was prone to numerous fits of violent crazy, his family was estranged from him due to this, nobody noticed him due to his own insignificance, and even his boyfriend dumped him. What better way to get all the attention he could ever want, AND get a shot at winning back his super-leftist hacker subculture boyfriend?
I was never anything close to being intel, and I still got enough classified material handling procedure and misconduct reporting classes that I’m just about have them all memorized. There are many ways for reporting that he knew about, and chose not to take advantage of because I assume he wanted the attention (it might have taken a few more months of going through classified systems logs, but he knew damn well we would have found him eventually.) Trying to tell an overworked officer about some random file you have problems with because you only managed to see a small sliver of the incident and found by snooping around instead of actually working isn’t due diligence. For a movement who cries about needing to look at the whole picture you certainly didn’t attempt to find it when given some highly edited clip of a situation you knew nothing about. I guess if it supports all your deepest held biases then it’s okay to not do the research. He could have easily given a disc to CID without any threat of punitive action. Seeing as how these were the guys who, among other things, busted Abu Ghraib despite virtually nobody knowing about it it’s safe to say they wouldn’t have buried it. He could have the dozens of anonymous reporting systems available to service personnel, including the investigation agencies of other branches such as NCIS. If he really was so scared of reprisal or worried about nonaction he could have anonymously mailed, personally given, or paid some random person to drop off the discs to any elected official. I know Barbara Mikulski, Patrick Leahy, Kirsten Gillibrand, Ben Cardin, Barbara Lee, Bernie Sanders, Chuck Shumer, Jack Reed, Sheldon Whitehouse, Barney Frank, Harry Reid, Tammy Baldwin, Judy Chu, Linda Sanchez, Debbie Stabenow, Nancy Pelosi, Sherrod Brown, Dennis Kuchinich, Carl Levin, Henry Waxmen would have had a field day with this. I know some of these people were not in office at the time, but it still is an excellent example of the numbers of sympathetic officials he had at his disposal. Even Ron Paul would have pissed himself with joy if he’d discovered this. If politics isn’t trustworthy then why not some super liberal tax exempt group or a reputable national news group? As much as many of the TAH denizens dislike much of the national media they all chose not to publish detailed accounts of what was leaked out of concern for the safety of those in the documents. It’s this marvelous thing called having a conscience, something Mr. Manning has no concept of.
What he gave away to be published all over the internet has highly sensitive information. Highly sensitive doesn’t stop at diplomatic sniping, this involves reports from the war. Since so many of you say it’s only fair to endanger the military I’ll ignore them in this. AARs aren’t all fast paced tales of derring do, they’re often very innocuous. They often involve the names of citizenry who have no side in the war. The insurgency are well aware of this, and don’t care. Even the children who get candy from random soldiers are considered collaborators. Do you want to know what they do to collaborators or even those they just don’t like? Look up all the beheading videos they love to post. Most of them involve aid workers or unfortunate locals. Or the images of sectarian violence. Unless using power drills, blow torches, pliers against captives and prominently displaying their body parts in public is justified so long as you are on the side of those who use them?
The types of individuals named in these documents? A child who tells us where an IED is, a local who tells us there is a machine gun forcibly set up in a neighbor’s house, a noncombatant informs us of a weapons cache that if not reported endangers the neighbors should we otherwise learn of it and are forced to use a raid or drone strike against it, someone telling us who in the neighborhood is torturing and murdering ‘collaborators’ or members of other sects, someone who tells us there are dead bodies ahead, someone who reports a missing loved one, the names of local national policemen or soldiers (whose families are murdered along with them), the local who works on base doing innocuous things like washing clothes often because they can’t get any other work to feed their families (again, the entire family will die), the actual names of interpreters who help us ensure we are going after the right individuals (again, family dies.) Congratulations, they’re all on the list to be horribly murdered if they haven’t been already. You know why? All those unredacted documents are floating around online, and a quick Google search will show you how much fundamentalist Islam loves the internet. Even dearly departed Osama used the technology of the infidel to disseminate his pep talks. Naser Jason Abdo was using an English jihadist magazine he found on the internet (between child porn browsing sessions I suppose) to build a bomb targeted at a restaurant filled not only with military but their noncombatant dependents and the unfortunately single mother or teenager with the temerity to want a job.
Let’s take this a step further. You whine that because the government is involved the populace deserves to know everything, and that you believe there should be any secret nonsense. So, put up or shut up instead of being a hypocrite. Did you receive any government grant money for education? Of course you did if you went, I’m in school know and I’ve yet to find any American citizen I attend with to not take advantage of any. So since your taxpayers fund your education then we should also have access to your detailed transcripts and assignments submitted. Do you get WIC or foodstamps? Let’s see those receipts. Medicare or any other medical aid? Let’s see your medical records, and get a detailed accounting of whether or not you smoke or drink. Does your child get free or reduced lunch? Then the public deserve your full tax returns. Housing assistance? Then how about a live webcam in your house ensuring you’re efficiently using the public money. Send your child to head start? Then we need some detailed explanations and regular randomized inspections of your childcare methods. Again, all of this should be made immediately public. Especially if you’ve been found in violation of anything. This will all go a long way in reducing scamming the system so it also fulfills your love of accountability for wrongdoing.
Anonymous, you do realize that most of the posters here have received at a minimum bachelor degrees. A significant number of them have graduate degrees or better. I am certain they’ve received more education than you’ve managed. There are also several of us in college. I’m currently an Auburn undergrad pursuing a biochem degree for medical or veterinary school. I even managed a few scholarships courtesy of my test scores, and FSM knows I’m nowhere near the smartest regular poster on this blog. The average veteran is just as well educated as the average non-veteran, though I would say it’s likely that they’re more educated than the populace at large.
Where is evidence of this raping, pillage, and murder? Your professional IVAW liars like Ethan McCord? He can’t even figure out that a person not being physically present or able to access live feed disqualifies you from being an eyewitness. They rest of the IVAW nut brigade? Were never in the military, made it out of bootcamp, left the US, deployed, saw combat, law aviding, or even managed honorable discharges. Try talking to actual veterans. Then you might learn the ones who kill the most Muslims are other Muslims.
As part of my job I watched what now must be thousands of hours of live feed footage from all over the AO and the myriad units in it. I had the advantage of being a neutral third party with the capability of seeing the big picture yet I never saw anything qualifying as a war crime committed by NATO. I DID see lots of pleasant things such as children being forced to lay IEDs alongside insurgents to avoid getting blown to smithereens, insurgents shooting from schools/mosques/clinics/crowds, IEDs placed on pathways mostly used by civilians, IED factories in residential neighborhoods, etc.
Evidence shows the insurgencies aren’t doing so hot. Considering the nature of insurgency it takes time to pacify, especially when unlike them we do not consider war crimes to be an acceptable tactic. NATO aren’t the ones selling heroin, cutting the noses and ears off of people for voting, throwing acid on little girls for going to school.
Whenever NATO personnel have been found to have committed illegal acts we do this marvelous thing called prosecute them. Steven Dale Green with thankfully never see the light of day. His scumbag compatriots in his vile act and in incidents such as Abu Ghraib have some nice long sentences. Those that do get out will forever be tainted and viewed as repugnant by society and their fellow veterans. Lynndie England, whose sentence was lenient due to factors such as her newborn baby, is a pariah in one of the most conservative communities in the nation. That sort of diligence has never been found in the insurgencies. Where was the castigation and punishment for those who allowed rape victims to be stoned to death? Or those who snatched random people off the street for a fun night of blow torches, power drills, and beheading for being the ‘wrong’ sect? Or tried to blow up and use chemical weapons against a school full of girls for wanting to learn to read?
No closet homosexuality for me, I’m obnoxiously involved in my collegiate GSA.
I guess you’re right on my manhood lacking. Phooey. Though I do find it amusing that one of you enlightened sorts is stooping to using emasculation as an insult. You’d better hope Code Pink doesn’t find out before you find your house picketed, especially since nobody cares enough about you to counter protest.
Anonymous and Anon, such badasses! Such brave men who hide behind Guy Fawkes masks and bandannas then cry like bitches when they get a little pepper spray. WWWWAAAAAHHHHHH!
Anon, you silly boy I’m a liberal (I’m even against the death penalty, including for Manning the sociopath.) That doesn’t mean I don’t despise the sort of self absorbed treachery committed by Bradley Manning and his ilk. As far as any of the injury wished upon Manning I find it more than fair considering the actual torture (being forced to live in a smock because you’re suicidal despite getting visitation, protected housing, and three meals a day doesn’t count) he’s condemned countless civilians to who trusted us to protect them. They had the courage to report actual crimes in spite of discovery being a death sentence, and he simply spat in their face. I would say he should be forced apologize to the families of those he’s condemned, but the insurgents like to make them culpable as well so they wouldn’t be around to see him.
Or is it okay to condemn thousands of innocent Iraqis who displayed their fascist sympathies by reporting an IED in their neighborhood, a house being used to make IEDs and thus endangering the entire neighborhood, the body of a victim of sectarian violence, or a missing family member because the person who facilitated it because their boyfriend broke up with them shares your views? You’ve just proven yourself to be the biggest sociopath I’ve ever had the misfortune of talking to.
Cyndi, I’ve been to Afghanistan twice and I’ve never felt one iota of guilt (and I’m someone who became vegetarian primarily for ethical reasons.) The other contributors to this blog are primarily veterans, most of whom have deployed, and they also feel they’ve never been party to any sort of wrongdoing. They’ve never struck me as anything less than honorable.
So let’s see the proof of unpunished war crimes you imply you have? The only ones I’ve heard of have all been prosecuted. We don’t have a reason to be over there? How old are you? I’m 23, and I vividly remember being thirteen and seeing Septemember 11th unfold on the tv in my eighth grade homeroom. In case you don’t believe me: it was a history class, we’d been interrupted from watching the Channel One report on what it took to make a dollar in the Congo to produce precious metals needed for cell phones, my teacher was Mrs Hentz, and I was sitting in a middle center desk. IMO, people getting blown to bits and being forced to choose between jumping to their deaths or burning alive is mighty good reason to go to war. A similar event sparked WWII despite ‘only’ a military installation being involved. Why has this justification suddenly lost merit?
2BlueStars, it’s disturbing how much the whole movement thinks alike. Most of my posts here have been pulled almost verbatim from a stock document I made once I got tired of retyping the same points from running into these nutjobs all the time. They also share a refusal to even attempt a counterargument.
Well said, Ann and others.
This is for Cyndi:
In all this discussion, has anyone bothered to mention that in every war, there are both traitors and atrocities on both sides of the war line? Need I bring up Benedict Arnold, who jumped the fence to the Brits in 1779 for a peachy sum of cash (360 pounds per year, plus 6,000 pounds lump sum), when he reached West Point? Or the horrifying treatment of prisoners by the Japanese on the Bataan death march during World War II? Maybe you should talk to some of the survivors of that trek.
We were ASKED by the Afghan government to help drive out the Taliban in 1999, after the Taliban trashed that country and turned it into a refuge for Al Qaeda. So we did, we helped them as asked and were subsequently attacked two years later by a bunch of brain-dead psychopaths funded by Osama bin Laden.
So, WHO has been committing atrocities? Don’t you think you should include people like Pol Pot, who ordered the murders of two million of his own Cambodian people? Or how about Idi Amin Dada, the cray man who made war on his own people, the people of Uganda? Need I bring up the children who were forced into warlord armies in Sierra Leone?
Are you actually naive enough to think that these things are only done by American soldiers?
You’re not real bright, are you?
@ #36, while I applaud you for making your point without a single profanity….what about all of the other terrible things that people are saying? I’m kind of appalled to be honest. I knew you guys said some bad stuff on here, but some of these posts are just straight up ridiculous.
@47 – I’m a bit confused. I don’t disagree with most of your post, but since the Taliban ruled from Kabul since 1996, who asked us for assistance in 1999; and what exactly did we provide?
#49 — Sorry, I thought I made that clear. And I typed in 1999, when I meant 1998. The non-Taliban Afghan government of Ahmad Shah Massoud (Northern Alliance) asked us.
The Soviet Union (USSR) invaded Afghanistan in 1979. The Afghan resistance, mostly mountain tribes (mujahideen) pushed them out with some help from the US. The USSR withdrew in 1989 and by 1991, the Taliban had established a small stronghold in Kandahar. By 1996, the Taliban had established the Islamic Emirate of Aghanistan, and between 1996 and 2001 had committed 15 massacres, put the Afghan population under virtual house arrest, destroyed property and commerce. The US fired cruise missiles into terrorist bases in Sudan and Afghanistan in August, 1998. There were US boots on the ground in 1999, and news camera crews with them, broadcasting on C-SPAN and CNN. I sincerely wish I had taped this when it was broadcast, because I could provide more details. The destruction was shocking.
Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) began officially on Oct. 7, 2001, and we’ve been there ever since. The US began bombing the Taliban with British support, joined by Northern Alliance and ethnic Pashtun anti-Taliban forces, and in 2003, NATO officialy took control of internation security forces.