In testimony to the senate armed services committee, United states Marine Corps Lieutenant General Kenneth F. McKenzie, Jr., (private mercenary) admits that after 17 years of war, “If we left precipitously right now, I do not believe they [the Army of Afghanistan] would be able to successfully defend their country.”

       NOTE: Although McKenzie uses the word “country” here, the editors believe that he meant to use the word “nation,” in which a central government, with almost limitless power, treats its constituent states as mere enclaves, provinces, or sub-divisions of its greater self; as opposed to “Union,” which is a union of sovereign States under a federal system, with a central government whose powers are strictly limited by a respected Constitution.

       [added 4/26/2023] Thanks to Freedom’s Phoenix for this entry.