BUFFALO (AP/WBEN) - The Taliban swept into Afghanistan's capital Sunday after the government collapsed and the embattled president joined an exodus of his fellow citizens and foreigners, signaling the end of a costly two-decade U.S. campaign to remake the country.
Evacuations from Kabul have resumed after US forces were forced to close the airport in the Afghan capital because of the crush of crowds, desperate to escape the Taliban, on the runways.
"It's been tough to watch if I'm being honest," said State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, who served in Afghanistan in 2008. "It's been heartbreaking; it's made me angry; it's been frustrating.
"We spent 20 years and probably trillions of dollars, as well as a lot of blood," Ortt continued. "I think about the families of the servicemembers who didn't come home and what they must be thinking watching the last week unfold. How do you tell them...it was all worth it?"
Retired serviceman and Director of the Center for Veterans and Veteran Family Services, Dr. Patrick Welch, worries about the effects this situation will have on Afghanistan veterans.
"You wind up as a veteran coming home, thinking about all the friends that you lost in combat, all the friends that you saw get maimed by IED's and so on, and it starts to wear on you," said Welch. "You wonder why - what was it all worth? It can have an extreme negative effect on an awful lot of veterans."
Welch is also concerned that the images from this event will hinder future recruitment.
"We've had an all-volunteer military since after Vietnam, and we haven't really had any issues filling the ranks," said Welch. "I think what this potentially will lead to is a lot of our younger people that are becoming of enlistment age are going to look at it and still want to serve their country, but those people that are looking for it for educational purposes and benefits after they get out, I think they're going to become more disillusioned and wonder why they should bother serving."
