These 15 Incredible Photos Show The Remnants Of The Trillion-Dollar Afghan War
More than a year ago, the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) looked on as the white flag of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was rolled up, marking the end of America's "13-year combat mission of peacekeeping and reconstruction in Afghanistan."
After spending nearly $1 trillion on the mission, President Barack Obama said that the International Security Assistance Force was coming to a “responsible conclusion.”
As the US gradually withdraw its military presence in the war-torn country, Reuters' Lucas Jackson went to Afghanistan to photograph the remnants of what Obama refers to as "the longest war in American history".
The photos are incredible, no doubt. But there's always a depressing feel to them, especially when you think about the thousands of lives lost, on both sides, in pursuit of peace. See for yourself.
"A tent covered in insulating foam about to be demolished on the massive Bagram Air Field in the Parwan province of Afghanistan, January 2, 2015. The base is being shrunk by demolishing large groups of housing in order to hold an estimated 13,000 foreign troops, mostly from the US, who will remain in the country under a new two-year mission named “Resolute Support” to train Afghan troops."
Reuters / Lucas Jackson
Signs on a post declaring the distance of Bagram Air Field to various U.S. bases across the world, Parwan province of Afghanistan, Jan. 2, 2015.
Reuters / Lucas Jackson
Burned Afghan National Army trucks soon to be demolished on the massive Bagram Air Field, Parwan province of Afghanistan, Jan. 2, 2015.
Reuters / Lucas Jackson
A door lies on the floor of a dismantled tent, Parwan province of Afghanistan, Jan. 2, 2015.
Reuters / Lucas Jackson
Cases of water bottles waiting to be cleared in order to shrink the massive Bagram Air Field in the Parwan province of Afghanistan, Jan. 2, 2015.
Reuters / Lucas Jackson
A view of filled sand bags stand stacked around concrete shelters to protect from rockets and mortars in Bagram Air Field, Parwan province of Afghanistan, Jan. 2, 2015.
Reuters / Lucas Jackson
Tents waiting to be dismantled, Bagram Air Field in the Parwan province of Afghanistan, Jan. 2, 2015.
Reuters / Lucas Jackson
Concrete barriers stored in a yard after being removed during work to dismantle huge swaths of the massive Bagram Air Field in the Parwan province of Afghanistan, Jan. 2, 2015.
Reuters / Lucas Jackson
Reuters / Lucas Jackson
Russian guns seen in front of debris left over from demolished housing, Bagram Air Field in the Parwan province of Afghanistan, Jan. 2, 2015.
Reuters / Lucas Jackson
Doors of deserted container housings tand waiting to be demolished, Bagram Air Field in the Parwan province of Afghanistan, Jan. 2, 2015.
Reuters / Lucas Jackson
A massive field of demolished concrete inside Bagram Air Field in the Parwan province of Afghanistan, Jan. 2, 2015.
Reuters / Lucas Jackson
A message is scrawled on debris left over from demolished temporary housing, Bagram Air Field in the Parwan province of Afghanistan, Jan. 2, 2015.
Reuters / Lucas Jackson
U.S. Army MRAP vehicles loaded onto local trucks about to be shipped to Kuwait during work to shrink the vast Bagram Air Field in the Parwan province of Afghanistan, Jan. 2, 2015.
Reuters / Lucas Jackson
Shipping containers waiting to be either shipped back to the US or disposed of are stacked inside Bagram Air Field in the Parwan province of Afghanistan, Jan. 2, 2015.
Reuters / Lucas Jackson
The US fleet has not been in a war since 1945, the air forces since 1975. nor the Army in a hard fight since Vietnam. Bombing defenceless peasants, (women and children) is the chief function of the American military.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.unz.com/freed/unused-militaries/
What a waste.
ReplyDeleteCan we just have a moment of truth here?
ReplyDeleteThe Afghanistan poppy fields have grown by about 70 TIMES since 2000. This massive growth is fueling a World Heroin Market worth well over ONE Trillion a year and helping to kill 70,000 Americans a year.
It is also making a few Americans incredibly wealthy.
Afghanistan also has trillions of dollars in lithium. At least this looting will not probably kill 70,000 Americans a year. But if it does I am sure those profiting will not give a damn.
Get the feck out NOW.
WHat a sweet contract.
ReplyDeleteGet paid to build it (war zone, far away, 24 hour construction, fast delivery)
Get paid to maintain it (food supply, diaper service, plumbing, air conditioning, lighting)
Get paid to demolish it.
Waiting for the next war.
Wash Rinse Repeat
Wash Rinse Repeat
Wash Rinse Repeat
Colonel Gritz has aptly titled his lecture tonight "A Nation
ReplyDeleteBetrayed." On the cover of his informative and controversial
book, for which tonight's lecture is so named, he states, and I
quote,
"While on a White House sanctioned mission to verify the
presence of U.S. prisoners of war being held in the secret
camp of General Khun Sa, the heroin overlord of Burma's
Golden Triangle, the identities of the world's largest
purchasers of opium and heroin were revealed to me. After
30 years of military service in covert operations, I knew
these men well. They are the past and present top officials
of the U.S. Department of Defense and the Central
Intelligence Agency."
http://supremelaw.org/authors/gritz/gritz.htm