by J.P. Lawrence at Stars and Stripes
U.S. troops who deployed to Afghanistan over the past two decades say the Taliban’s rapid conquest of much of the country in the past week has left them stunned and dismayed.
“This one will hurt for a long time, man,” said Sean Gustafson, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who deployed to the city of Herat in western Afghanistan from 2006 to 2007.
The capture of Herat by the Taliban on Thursday shocked Gustafson. On Friday, he forwarded to Stars and Stripes photos from 2007 of him and other troops building schools and handing out books to children.
Now, like other veterans of America’s longest war, he can only watch from afar as the projects he worked on and the people he tried to help come under threats from the Taliban.
The Taliban controlled an estimated two-thirds of the country as of Friday, after gaining several provincial capitals and large cities throughout the country.
The collapse of much of the Afghan military has come weeks before the scheduled Aug. 31 final withdrawal of U.S. troops ordered by President Joe Biden. The withdrawal stems from a peace deal signed last year by the Taliban and the Trump administration…
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