As American military forces arrived in Afghanistan, they began building a network of bases to rule the entire nation. This repeated the mistakes of the Vietnam war. Each base required clean water, electricity, security, and frequent resupply, which required guarding bridges, road mine clearing, weekly supply convoys, and helicopter runs. This was expensive, required much manpower, left forces dispersed, provided ample targets for the enemy, and alienated the population with frequent “search and destroy” patrols that caused much death and destruction.

Employing this failed strategy in Afghanistan was more difficult as the rugged terrain limited air power while numerous caves provided the enemy with great hiding locations. In some areas, it was not practical to establish military outposts on good defensive terrain since mountaintops lacked road access and a local water supply. Nevertheless, American Generals insisted on military outposts everywhere, no matter the vulnerability of the base.

American combat forces should have remained mostly out of sight as a reserve force to protect large cities and dispatch units to rural areas only when a large enemy force converged to attack local forces. American aid should have focused on improving the economic infrastructure and local militia forces in a long-term, passive effort that would minimize manpower requirements, causalities, and costs.

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Related Tale; “Osama Bin Laden WAS NOT Responsible for 9/11”;    • Osama Bin Laden WAS NOT Responsible for 9/11  

Related Tale; “American Bases Overrun in Vietnam”;    • American Bases Overrun in Vietnam  

“The Battle of COP Keating TRADOC G2 OE Enterprise G&V”; August 10, 2012;    • The Battle of COP Keating – October 3rd, 2009  

“Battle of Wanat Video Recreation; TRADOC G2 OE Enterprise G&V”; July 14, 2014;    • Battle of Wanat Video Recreation  

“11 Days and a Wake up; Battle of Wanat”, Afghanistan War Documentary; June 2, 2019;    • 11 days and a Wake Up  

“Afghan War Diary 2004-2010”; Wikileaks; July 25, 2010; https://www.wikileaks.org/wiki/Afghan…

Related Tale: “The False Tale of Killing Osama Bin Laden”;    • The False Tale of Killing Osama bin Laden  

Related Tale: “Did the US Military Withdraw from Afghanistan because of Fentanyl?”;    • Did the US Military Withdraw from Afghanis…  

“US Watchdog Rips Failed Nation-Building Effort in Afghanistan in Its Final Report”; December 2005; https://news.antiwar.com/2025/12/04/u…

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