hedge said:
So we need to stay there forever or we will keep being attacked. No thanks I'm not gonna live my life in fear of a terrorist blowing me up. I truly feel for all those young men who lost their lives and didn't need to
It is a volunteer army. Arguably its no one's business what they do or where `work'. Its part of the job. The casualties had become very limited, most you talk to believed in the mission as a general idea, if not always the execution (that's the problem with civilian control).
It has nothing to do with staying there forever --- it was working in its assigned task, and the thing to do was to make sure the Ghani government was at least sufficiently poised to hold to half the country or major parts of territory, and not to literally pull out in a way like pulling a rug out from under a man on crutches.
Furthering our national security is a big part of the military's role ---- again, a *volunteer* one ---- its like lecturing on the dangers of miners in Africa, who freely chose their job. You can stay home if you want, but let the miners do their work. Same goes for reporters yakking about it.
You don't want to squander them in any way, but its not the "staying there forever" clods that are THERE, it is the soldiers and Marines that are THERE. `Forever' is meaningless. A given warrior is not there indefinitely.