We lost Viet Nam, when we lost the peoples trust. We started losing the peoples trust on March 16, 1968 in Quảng Ngãi Province, in the villages of Mỹ Lai and My Khe, where over 500 mostly elderly women and some children were killed, some were also raped.
Prior to that we got good intel from the Villagers as to the where abouts Charlie was. After that all we got was glares when we passed a Hooche.
Afghanistan hasn’t gotten to that point yet but the longer we stay the more we chance of wearing out our welcome.
I think we've already worn out our welcome.
Think, if the tables were turned, and Afghanistan were a world superpower, and we were a small pastoral nation, would you have much patience for a bunch of foreigners kicking your door open in the middle of the night to check for your cousin Charlie because he might have weapons in there?
Would you have much patience if suddenly the local church got obliterated by an air-strike and your son were crippled by shrapnel?
I think not.
The easiest, most effective way of thinking about occupation is to put yourself in the shoes of the occupied.