Perhaps our military establishment might learn a lesson from the very quick takeover of Afghanistan by the rag-tag Taliban.

Here is a force that has little or no air power, small arms and Toyota gun trucks and it has succeeded in taking over a country in which we invested many lives and billions of dollars, with all of our high-tech, very expensive military prowess, for naught.

Perhaps, also, we have to take away from this sorry state of affairs that we can’t change nations into our likeness if the local support is not there. It has to be up to the people of Afghanistan to make that change.

Jake Hawkins
Arundel