>>64145671
>>64145725
The problem that the US had in Afghanistan is that America's political leaders stupidly assumed that thirdies, fundamentally, have the same priorities as Westerners, that thirdies won't cut off their own nose to spite their face every single time.
>We bombed Germany to shit, literally nuked Japan, and they still became functional members of the global economy after we helped them rebuild.
They thought the same thing would work with middle-eastern muslims. It didn't. It's the same reason why Putin not only pissed everyone off by invading Ukraine when he already had the EU eating out the palm of his hand, but also why average Russians seem fine with going along with it instead of, say, investing in infrastructure. The more you peel away the assumption that all peoples and cultures are fundamentally equal, and that we all value safety and cooperation, the more "fair" the world feels when it comes to economics and development. Thirdies choose to be poor, violent shitholes.
This is why trying to write up a "What if Afghanistan, but Texas?" scenario is a silly hypothetical. Texans are American. They are Western. They aren't going to choose "throw the infidel off a building allahuh ackbar" over running water.
