I think in this case, we need to take a lesson from the Russians. They expended huge amounts of money, lives, and hardware. They took no prisoners, didn't give a crap about civilians, and showed no restraint in killing their adversaries.

In the end they lost everything and gained nothing.

The questions that needs to be asked is : What do we stand to gain from a prolonged and costly war in Afganistan? What's our exit stagedy? Will the peace last after we leave, if ever?

The same questions also need to be asked about Iraq.

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