Watch videos and respond briefly to one classmate.
https://youtu.be/uqZ-ToXjCz0 https://youtu.be/4t7GADjRIuA https://youtu.be/XKVDXbIpW9Q https://youtu.be/m2cPiNfK6H4 https://youtu.be/ka8csjsmX6I https://youtu.be/xMaE6toi4mk
As time rolls on in your personal life and our national psyche, the present rapidly becomes the past. In 2001 we occupied Afghanistan and Iraq with passion and hubris. After two decades of vast amounts of blood and treasure, both Trump & Biden concurred we are done with all of it. We are completely out of Afghanistan, and mostly done with Iraq. American foreign policy oscillates between military interventionism versus isolationism. American foreign policy oscillates between military counterterrorismintervention [soldiers, Humvees, drones] to kill the enemies, versus counterinsurgency investments [food, education, infrastructure] to win hearts and minds. After TWENTY years in Afghanistan and/or Iraq, what did we get right, or where did we go wrong? If you had a time machine, would counterterrorism or counterinsurgency work best in Afghanistan and/or Iraq? What lesson have we learned [or failed to learn] from this double debacle? In the wisdom of The Clash, should we stay or should we go?
Classmate 1: Should we stay or should we go? I personally think that we should’ve stayed, the country was well under control while our troops were there, and the minute we left, the Taliban took control again. I do think we went wrong trying to rebuild the country, we put so much money into building the road, and using our troops to help, when it didn’t seem that they would want the help. I think if we would’ve stayed in there when the were closing in, we would’ve had better results. I think we learned that we can not rebuild a country that doesn’t want it, I know that the Taliban was the ones responsible but there could’ve been better options.