Hundreds of Thousands of Iraqis Were Killed in the War. One Was My Brother

Re:Hundreds of Thousands of Iraqis Were Killed in the War. O... by 908B64B197 on Tuesday March 21, 2023 @03:04PM (#35250932)

> there were messages broadcast across SIPR about troops being shot in the back during training and operations by their counterparts. I served with a Gunny that was awarded a Bronze Star with a V because when his counterpart patrol was ambushed all of the ANA ran and left them to fight off a strong contingent by themselves.

> rather than doing the arduous work of freeing Afghanis. [...] but I suspect this was out of fear and coercion knowing that they were not ready

Did they want to be free at all?

To me it sounds completely alien. A regime that abducts and coerce people into fighting for them should be fought tooth and nail by the population.

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Re:Hundreds of Thousands of Iraqis Were Killed in the War. O... by kodah on Tuesday March 21, 2023 @03:11PM (#35251033)

I think so. They've been through generations of fighting, from internal to external, and people are tired. Religion, and the extremism of the Taliban's doctrine is also very pervasive and not something to be underestimated.

To contrast this, if you go to Kabul people wear jeans, go to nightclubs, women attend university - it's very modern and still Muslim. Most of what I've described occurs in the rural parts of Afghanistan which are predominately not served by Afghanistan's government and are thus co-opted by the Taliban and other groups.

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