Quote Originally Posted by Ken White View Post
As always I totally agree militarily and practically but still cite the political infeasibility of longer tours for both nations. In both nations, the domestic political desirability will always outweigh the military optimum unless there is an existential issue. In Afghanistan (and Iraq) there was no such issue.

Both Armies knew all that so they accepted the rules. That excuses neither Army for not doing a better job of training or placing rotations to maximize the capability attainable. Both could have done a far better job at that but Gurkha's comment about "inflated opinions" allied with super egos interfered...
As a follow up...

I read in that Washington Post article about the concern that after 11 years in Afghanistan lamenting the cross-cultural issues which remain. One wonders whether any of the new generation of soldiers know that famous quote out of Vietnam to illustrate the point?