Hacker News Reader

It didn't cost peanuts. A lot of them died. Same with the NVA. We lost 58,000, but they lost well north of a million (Vietnam -I suspect the ratio is even higher for Afghanistan).

Much as I dislike their philosophy, I have to have respect for their dedication and discipline. It has to be pretty damn difficult to keep fighting against a military machine like that, when everyone around is in a hundred pieces.

The Taliban achieved their war goals, but they didn't eliminate or degrade the US ability to conduct offensive operations. They failed to put a dent in our tank fleet or airforce (to name two components). In that sense, the two conflicts have been very different. Ukraine is waging a conventional war, whereas the Taliban used asymmetric guerilla warfare.

This is comparing a war over European territory to a war that accompanied an attempt at nation building far outside of Europe.

What dedicated defenses did the Taliban have? The only thing the Taliban did successfully was wait for the US to leave.