‘Democracy Doesn’t Come in a Box’: Five US Veterans on Why the War in Afghanistan Is Unwinnable

The New York Times has an excellent video op-ed from five Afghanistan veterans, including Antiwar.com columnist Danny Sjursen.

The vets on the video: Lyle Jeremy Rubin served in the Marine Corps from 2006 to 2011. Donald White served in the Marines from 2005 to 2014 and had three tours in Afghanistan. Arti Walker-Peddakotla served in the Army from 2000 to 2006. Danny Sjursen served in the Army from 2001 to 2019, including combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Daniel L. Davis served in the Army for 21 years, including four combat tours, and was awarded a Bronze Star for valor in the first Gulf War and another for service in Afghanistan.

3 thoughts on “‘Democracy Doesn’t Come in a Box’: Five US Veterans on Why the War in Afghanistan Is Unwinnable”

  1. After tens of thousands of years of survival and countless attempts to conquer and exterminate them, you honestly think that you were sent over to show Afghan people how to vote? Are you really that stupid or do you just pretend to be because the truth is far uglier than you care to admit?

  2. “Democracy doesn’t come in a box.” This quote is a reference to Gen. McChrystal’s failed COIN surge in Marjah. Back in the day, I wrote about McChrystal’s failure in Afghanistan at my Feral Firefighter blog (many of my posts were centered on McChrystal, Pat Tillman, and Michael Hastings:

    For example, see my 2012 Feral Firefighter post ““SOMETHING TO DIE FOR” — “The [Untold] Tillman Story” Between-the-Lines of Michael Hasting’s Book “The Operators” (one of the best books about the folly of the Afghan War).

    Or read the chapter, “Something to Die For” — McChrystal’s Failed Afghan War COIN “Surge” (pp. 162 – 182), from my 2012 Feral Firefighter blog post “NEVER SHALL I FAIL MY COMRADES”– The Dark Legacy of Gen. Stanley McChrystal & His Memoir “My Share of the Task”: His Betrayal of Pat Tillman, Command of JSOC Torture, and Failed Afghan War “Surge”

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