Served in Germany also, but not drafted. I have studied and been trained and trained others, up to and including Command General Staff School. The Reason we were told we were going to Afghanistan was to get Bin Laden (a worth goal of limited scope with a definitive conclusion, when accomplished, all other than that, was indeed mission creep. Mission creep is long, and deadly for military and civillians. Mission focus is why Gulf War One was successful, focusing assembled combat power on specific, defined mission with specific defined goal and then leaving when it was achieved. Mission creep beyond state goals is why Afghanistan and 2nd Iraq war were and are failures, very expensive, very deadly to military and civilian.
You cannot sell American Democracy at the barrel of a gun, simply by invading and taking over, anymore than the USSR could sell Communism at the barrel of a gun, simply by invading Afghanistan earlier. Similarly to why they will ultimately fail to export Russian control to Ukraine. Military industrial complexes are slow learners, especially while there is civilian profit to be made supporting war, that those in uniform have no choice but to serve and fight. Most, if not many believed in the mission when it was the original mission, but many more had to stay and fight and survive when possible, even after the mission crept to something else, something not clearly define, without clear goals, or end point, and the military and civilian deaths and destruction, thousands of miles from here, out of sight, in that foreign land continued and it was wrong for the troops involved, yet, there they served, God Bless them. I was several years into retirement when this one started, but I served as a civilian contractor for Department of The Army, on this side of the world, doing logistics and support, so others in uniform could go. I was well aware of those that had served under me years earlier that did not make it back, some that did, permanently change, sometimes catastrophically injured, and those of the units I contracted to support, that also did not make it back, except for a twisted, burn melted weapon, in a vault with a serial number on it. I processed the paperwork, did the interviews and sworn statements from those that survived as I had to account for every weapon in that vault.
I do not know if this reconciles with your privately held opinion or training receives and understood or not. But, it is my opinion.
