Afghanistan; did we waste our time, and even worse, our soldiers lives?

I think you’re right, the Taliban never went away and it wasn’t difficult to see what would happen. I’m fearful for the women of Afghanistan

Yep.
Complete waste of time.

The human toll of war is always a waste. Our son's friend, 21, lost his life in Helmand Province so I am still sad to this day.
Our troops were poorly equipped and to my mind we had no business ever getting involved, but that is from a military perspective.

I’m fearful for both the women and children Blossoming. The women will be forced to stay in their homes again, the children will probably not be able to go to school again, certainly the girls anyway. There will be executions and horrible maiming of offenders against the Taliban law. It makes me feel sick to be honest. The news were speculating that Russia and Iran will move in to support or whatever. It’s actually very frightening.

I agree tippytipsy that we should never have got involved.

It is awful isn't it? I can't imagine how people feel if they have lost loved ones like tippytipsy's friend they were all so young too.

Afghanistan was a lost cause from the word go. Every British soldier who died was an atrocity caused by the British Government.

I agree with all of the posts.
Lost too many lives serving our country and for what ?.
Just to walk away,shouln`t have been there in the first place imo.

Wars with Afghanistan have been ongoing since the 19th century, sadly I don't think that the Taliban will lose, heaven help the women there.

There was a good reason for the Americans and us going into Afghanistan, to flush out Bin Laden and his cohorts.
Once that was done, it was all about helping the government to oppose the taliban and helping the populace in many ways.
Ultimately though, we couldn’t stay there forever.
When you join the army you don’t pick and choose the battles, so no it wasn’t a waste of lives ( unless you are a pacifist, what is the army for?)
A friend of mine lost her son there, he was Army through and through and incredibly proud of what he achieved there, as is she.

lemongrove

There was a good reason for the Americans and us going into Afghanistan, to flush out Bin Laden and his cohorts.
Once that was done, it was all about helping the government to oppose the taliban and helping the populace in many ways.
Ultimately though, we couldn’t stay there forever.
When you join the army you don’t pick and choose the battles, so no it wasn’t a waste of lives ( unless you are a pacifist, what is the army for?)
A friend of mine lost her son there, he was Army through and through and incredibly proud of what he achieved there, as is she.

To the shock of us both I’m sure, (?) I think I agree with you here

It always was a lost cause in the long term - unless the Taliban were wiped out then they were just waiting in the wings to pounce when the west inevitably had to withdraw.

I am not a pacifist and commend the Army for fighting the fight. But governments should not send young men into battle without first training them to the highest standard and supplying them with the best equipment like adequately protected vehicles to do the job.

Lemongrove, Summerlove, hope you're both sitting down.

I agree with you both.

I think we thought this was a military operation which it obviously was to begin with, but we needed to help them build a new kind of country where the Taliban couldn't have the same amount of power they did. That's where I think we didn't step up to the mark.

I thought that Afghanistan had been a problem since Alexander the Great.
Yes we wasted our soldier’s lives. How many politicians died?

Correct Esspee Afghanistan has always been of strategic importance. The Russians tried to conquer the area and we the British had previously had two attempts.
I am not saying you can fight wars without casualties, is doesn't work like that. But the military operation was flawed so there was no hope of building a new kind of country. The ensuing results spoke for themselves.

The military operation wasn’t flawed at all.
You just can’t stay in a country forever.The government have been given the advice and tools ( and money) and at some point had to manage their own country.That means changing things.Power struggles and corruption within will probably mean the taliban take over many areas.Behind the scenes I hope that the US is still arming government forces but I have no faith in Biden on that score.

I agree, the US army DID have the right equipment and adequate personnel. The British army did not, so the military operation was for them was a completely different battleground. Our boys were lost unnecessarily.

Afghan mission flawed from the start, says General Sir Richard Dannatt
If anyone is interested I think his book is called something like Leading from the Front.

Dannatt is a controversial figure with an axe to grind.

There were issues with vehicles, it was well documented.

The OP asks if it was a waste of time....no it wasn’t.

Issues with kit, including vehicles is a whole other subject.

Sorry but issues with kit, lack of helicopters and unprotected landrovers equals lost lives. We cannot just ignore the consequences or see it as a separate issue. So in answer to maddyone's question, it was a waste of British lives for many.
I know our son's friend was soon disillusioned with the whole thing in his messages home.