Afghanistan = Son of Vietnam

Last August, I created a post about the heartbreak of the Vietnam war. 

The war in Afghanistan has worried me a lot.  The reason is...if you take most news items about Afghanistan, and make the following substitutions...

Instead of  "mountains"  insert "jungle"
Similarly:
                  "Taliban"      "Viet Cong"
                   "Pakistan"     "North Vietnam" 
  the result would be indistinguishable from a news article from the 60's about Vietnam.  It was the same sort of thing.  In the post last August, I noted about how during the Vietnam war, young men bled and died to take a hill that was abandoned after a day or two.  Just a few days ago, there was a TV news item about a soldier in Afghanistan who was receiving a medal for heroic action during a fight for a hill, which, guess what, was abandoned 2 days later.  Why????  The Viet Cong figured this out.  Just wait - the Americans will leave.  Why do we think the Taliban won't? 

Thank GOD we are getting out.  In Viet Nam, it was the only solution.  In Afghanistan, it is also the only solution.  The Taliban may come roaring back as soon as we leave - or not.  It cannot be helped.  Here's the big difference - this time we are leaving before hundreds of thousands are dead.