The Associated Press reports that three hundred Marines are slated to return to Helmand Province in Afghanistan to train, advise and assist Afghan security forces fighting the Taliban in the region;
U.S. Navy Capt. Bill Salvin, a spokesman for the U.S. mission in Afghanistan, said the Marines will begin deploying this year and will remain in the province for nine months, where they will work with the Afghan army and militarized national police.
“The Marine Corps has a long operational history in Afghanistan, particularly in Helmand Province. Advising and assisting Afghan defense and security forces will assist in preserving gains made together with the Afghans,” he said.
The U.S. and NATO formally concluded their combat mission in Afghanistan at the end of 2014, but thousands of troops remain in the country….
Like we said at the time, a war isn’t over until both sides agree that it’s over.
Did they happen to get a quote from John “I Fought In The Viet Of Nam” Kerry on whether those 300 Marines should have studied harder in school?
“a war isn’t over until both sides agree that it’s over.”
Every now and then someone tries to tell me that the Vietnam war ended a long time ago and that I should put it behind me.
My response has always been that the war is not over until I say it is.
And the Vietnamese are asking us for help again, aren’t they? So what is the answer to ‘when is the war over’?
No winner in helping the PDRV or whatever they call themselves now. They wanted the communist utopia, let them solve their own problems. Or offer our help when they turn over every live Vietnamese who tortured or murdered American POW’s.
This train and advise business is (How you say? Oh yeah…) bullshit. That card has been played at least as may times as Crapernick has been on a knee for the National Anthem or Monica Lewinsky has gone down on Bill Clinton.
Word. I mean WORD!!!
What MOS is adivising and assisting in the Corps?
“three hundred Marines are slated to return to Helmand Province in Afghanistan to train, advise and assist Afghan security forces fighting the Taliban in the region;”
This has bothered me for decades. How may times must you train fuckers before they can fight? The idea is you train them and then they train others and so on and so forth, the way we continually train and maintain our fighting forces. Why do we need to continually send Soldiers and Marines into harms way to teach these clowns to fight? It just makes no sense. Well, it makes sense to me when I look at it from the ideological viewpoint. Combat training, once complete sort of sticks with you and once you’re accomplished in it you can train others. But you cannot train ideology. Never. You can not ever train courage under fire or courage of conviction into someone. Just doesn’t happen. They either want to fight and have a free nation or they don’t and if they don’t which in my mind they have proved over and over, then screw them. It’s time for us to stop this crap. It didn’t work in Vietnam and it hasn’t worked in Southwest Asia. The Kurds appreciate our training but they will fight with sticks and rocks if need be. Why are the Afghans and Iraqis different? Except for the reasons I already know. The biggest topping on the Sundae of American support and training is American money.
The Kurds don’t switch sides while the vast majority of Afghans do, they were that way even before the Reds invaded.
Then tell me why, API – why the hell do we keep sending our people back there? All I see is time and energy waster, never mind the imminent danger to our people for next to nothing.
Good will is fine at Christmas. These idiots are never going to drop their traditional habits. Never ever.
Jeeeezusss! Trump has to put an end to this shit. I bin pist off since 1966. We signed up to serve our country-not some sludge pond you need a small scale map to find. IF we go in, we kill the bad guys , blow up their shit and leave a note: If you fuck with us again we’ll be back and do worse. No “nation building”. Fuck ’em.
How about we send in a couple of companies of Marine infantrywymwyn and see how they do. That would be the ultimate test for the Maybus SJW experiment. Let’s give the wymyn the full infantry experience.
I nominate borderbill for secretary of state!
My biggest concern about this escapade is the Green on Blue risk to the Marines.
That can largely be avoided by ensuring all Marines have loaded weapons at the ready at all times, and if some fucking afghan does something remotely hostile or stupid, shoot the shit out of them. The rest may get something of an attitude about it, but they already know which of their brethren are enemy opfor.
Makes perfect sense, but won’t please the high mucky-mucks in Kabul or DC.