Here is part of an opinion of why it was a good idea for Australia to be involved in Afghanistan:
"That's all true but the context now is that al-Qa'ida is largely defeated in-country, the Taliban is significantly weakened and the government in Kabul is pro-Western. These are important gains.
Progress in social and economic development has been made of a type that probably looks more impressive to Afghan than Australian eyes. Solid advances also have been made in training the Afghan military. They aren't up to the standard of the ADF but they will be able to hold their own, with the continued assistance of the US, Australia and others.
It would be deeply wrong to be triumphal about any of this: gains can be reversed, but there is cause to think that Afghanistan can remain unified and largely stable thanks to the efforts of Australia and the international community."
The original U.S. mission was to get OBL. This was defined within a day or so of 9/11 by the U.S. Later, some idiot decided to make it a nation building exercise of a culture that:
1.Thinks it is OK to abuse young boys.
2.Thinks its OK to abuse women.
3.A culture of corruption that can't be reasonably changed, at any cost (large PDF).
4.Is tribal and has no grasp (or apparent need) of a central government which is usually run by one tribe and its cronies.
There was and is, plenty of work for the very small ADF to do in the Pacific Rim. Every dollar wasted on Operation:USELESS DIRT 1, takes resources away from those efforts.
Allies are friends. They tell their friends when doing something isn't such a good idea. It doesn't seem we have done that in this case with the U.S.
The current Afghanistan facade will fold. Security forces that have had billions put into them will melt away.
Not worth the effort.
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