$1:
“Looking backwards, I would have actually left the Taliban government in power and said (to them): ‘Stay out of the way. We’re here to find al-Qaeda. And as long as you stay out of the way, the special forces will go in there, they will do what is necessary to get al-Qaeda and we will leave,”
That was clear to me from day one. I fully supported Canada supplying troops to go after Al Qaeda. But NATO took their eyes off the ball almost immediately, contracted out going after Bin Laden and wanted to set up their own little puppet govt. There were people here like Penetrator, who told me I didn't know what I was talking about, that Canada was doing great work in Astan, made it a better place. And now we're finally getting the brass admitting it was a big mistake. Seemed clear to me from the beginning.
And of course the US went right on and made the same mistake in Iraq, with much more dire consequences. Fraser says the West didn't make the same mistake in Syria. Seems to me we did, supporting the rebels, which just empowered ISIS. Never seem to learn.