U2Edge
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- Sep 15, 2012
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- #361
The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan’s rural countryside when Bush invaded IraqWe gave back territory to the Taliban after the Iraq invasionYou left out the part where he allowed the Taliban to reestablish itself in Afghanistan when he invaded Iraq and that we are still in Afghanistan 18 years laterBush removed the Taliban from power in Afghanistan and destroyed much of Al Quada's base there. He accomplished more in fighting and defeating this particular terrorist threat than any President before or since.
That never happened because United States troop levels INCREASED In Afghanistan as the invasion of Iraq began. Also much of the ground forces used in the invasion of Iraq were heavy armored forces that have only been lightly used in Afghanistan. The United States still had forces in reserve as well. Not a single active duty National Guard Combat Brigade had been activated yet, so the idea that the United States short changed the mission in Afghanistan to invade Iraq is grossly false and anyone who understands the size and disposition for United States ground combat brigades both Active Army, Army National Guard, and Marine Corp, knows that.
Really? Which, if any, of the 36 provincial capitals in Afghanistan has the United States and NATO EVER "given back" to the Taliban in the last 18 years? NAME ONE!
United States troop levels and NATO troop levels INCREASED in AFGHANISTAN after the ground invasion of Iraq. So this idea that it was neglected because of the invasion is false. The United States military actually launched a large scale operation against the Taliban in March 2003 during the Iraq invasion.
The US controlled the cities
It was Obama who had to win back lost territory
Much of the Taliban retreated to the rural countryside after the invasion. They did not have to seize since they already had bases there. That's where they have continued to try and survive for the past 18 years, regardless of which administration has been in power or troop levels on the ground. The 2003 invasion of Iraq had nothing to do with it. The Taliban did not make any major territorial gains in 2003. Moving into a district that is largely unpopulated in order to survive is not an advancement.