I guess it’s because after Vietnam the US doesn’t want to appear as a cut and run country.
...good point.... for what it is worth, I lived through
the Vietnam era - I am a Vietnam-era vet, but NOT a combat
vet...one reason we stayed there so long was that Pres.
Johnson, who inherited that miserable war from JFK and
wasn’t quite sure what to do about it, wanted at all costs
to avoid being seen as “soft on communism,” which was
just about a kiss of death for any politician....
Bring our troops home from Afghanistan now....no more
useless, needless losses of life....!!!