How Serving in Afghanistan Left Me With PTSD | Informer

The war in Afghanistan was sold to the public by the U.S. and its Western allies as a painful but necessary measure to keep the world safe from Islamist terror.

But by the time of the U.S.’s sudden, chaotic withdrawal from the country in August 2021—following a 20-year conflict that cost an estimated 176,000 lives—it was clear that the war had ultimately been a costly exercise in futility. Significantly, that was a conclusion that had been reached much earlier by many of the soldiers who had risked their lives in its name.

For the latest episode of VICE’s Informer series, we spoke to an anonymous former British soldier about his experiences in Afghanistan, which he said left him with long-term psychological impacts and severe disillusionment with his own government.

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[phillipmanzon]

Navy vet here. i remember exactly where i was the day Kabul fell, i was in my barracks room in WA state. i had been keeping tabs on the situation, our withdrawal, how the Taliban was gaining more ground. i remember one night i checked the news, and saw the Taliban had taken Kabul and had reestablished the Islamic emirate. i was beyond flabbergasted, thousands of lives lost, . trillions of dollars wasted. i was thinking what would the ship i was stationed on have to say about it the next day. i go to the ship and this is what they said, nothing, absolutely nothing.

[IndelibleHD]

"All about money and oil"

This has been going on for decades

[seoul_muks]

most wars are a waste of time and lives, fighting for excuses made up by politicians. it's sad what veterans had to go through.

[kayla]

THE SECOND we withdrew from Afghanistan… the second.. the taliban took over… we lost thousands of lives for NOTHING. For greed!

[mastermeme]

War is worse than hell, in hell only the guilty suffer. in war everyone suffers and the guilty profit the soldiers and innocents suffer and everyone is forced to be complicit

[Dreamy.skyyyz]

Please make more Informer videos, these are my favorite videos.

[srami]

The soldier who killed Bin Laden stated something similar

[thorgot]

Yes its all about oil, in a country that doesnt produce much oil. Afghanistan is the number one opium producer and the western world suffered from an opioid crisis during that time.

[earlhammond]

It may have started because of terrorist and oil, but the pentagon was lead by the military industrial complex. These people did not want to end the war. Too much money was being made by defense contractors. It also worked well to leave most of our military equipment behind, so that the contractors can make more equipment.

[jjmonahan]

I think a lot of us already knew this right away.

[THATDARCO]

I had to research how many British solders went to Afghanistan, I dont remember seeing that many when I was there. I do remember seeing endless poppy fields when i was there, not too many oil refineries however, but thats just me.

[RickBerman-ivil]

Oil? In Afghanistan? You think OIL was the reason America invaded a country that has no oil?

[scllwag]

I think this justification suits the situation in Iraq better

[User-]

Weird that it was all about oil. Afghanistan imports most of its oil from Iran and Uzbekistan and its main exports is agriculture.

[Spike-evos]

I feel bad for this guy and everyone else who got duped into thinking they were defending their country and fighting terrorism and evil. You cannot bomb away terrorism and you cannot bomb yourself a safe, stable and friendly country (take notes Israel).

[bxlis]

Vice, can you choose a sound of the persons more understanable?? i dont understand anything only reading the subtiutles

[mrkrembo]

Where are Ronald Reagen's Freedom Fighters now?

[CM-pnmf]

OIL in Afghanistan? This is SLOPPY journalism Vice. I served in Afghanistan as well and I can definitively say we were not there for oil...

[Zclap]

i have a friend who has a lot of issues thanks to war he got blown up and everything he seems to be getting better now though slowly

[Remu]

It's gotta suck to walk around and see everyone as a potential threat or enemy.