"Vietnam allusions are almost as tired and oft-misapplied as World War II Munich analogies. Still, there’s something striking about the shared hopelessness of America’s Southeast Asian and Afghan adventures – about their common hubris and delusional refusal to accept reality. In both wars, lots of Americans and locals were killed long after the game was in the books. In both, the lumbering superpower team and its crusty owners rested on expired laurels and played by obsolete old rules against a gritty and adaptable no-quit enemy. In neither Vietnam nor Afghanistan did the declining dynasty recognize its dynasty days were done, and change course to align with new realities, until it was long past too late. So neither ended, or will end, well."
Too many metaphors. I don’t know what you’re wanting to say about what or whom.
Not my words. Major Danny Sjursen (ret) is the author. The FB page that he linked it from acknowledges the gimmick of the theme, but I think he pulled it off and helped make the situation more readily understandable. Just like in Nam, where the big leaguers were getting beat by the team in black pajamas, the US is still in many ways "out of their league" against the Taliban.
I've seen "Moneyball" so that helps.
I'm pretty certain the main reasons for remaining there are the strategic minerals and the offbook money from the heroin trade.
@WilliamCharles And the Tonkin Gulf oil.