What the BOTG thinks

Military Times has an interesting survey result at

AMERICA'S MILITARY: Were the wars worth the cost?

http://www.militarytimes.com/longform/military/2014/12/15/americas-military-iraq-afghanistan-islamic-state/20193785/

[One of the things that I appreciated about the article was that the methodology was given and the potential weaknesses in the methodology fully disclosed.]

The longest war in American history has officially come to a close. And for many service members, the overwhelming feeling is: good riddance.

Personally, many troops simply are tired of deploying there. Professionally, many wonder what the 13-year war really accomplished.

"I don't think we learned anything because we are still fighting the same damned people," said Navy Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Don Bradshaw, stationed at Camp Pendleton, California.

Bradshaw's sentiments are widely shared across the force. Pessimism about the U.S. mission in Afghanistan has grown steadily during the past several years, and today a majority of the force thinks the war's aims were unfulfilled, according to a recent Military Times survey.

For the past seven years, Military Times has asked thousands of active-duty service members the same question: "In your opinion, how likely is the U.S. to succeed in Afghanistan?"

The number of troops expressing optimism — responding either "very likely" or "somewhat likely" — has ...