Stinger

A reader has privately asked me a good question: Whatever happened to the Stinger missiles in Afghanistan?

When we invaded that country, many people warned that the Stingers we sold to the mujahadeen would be turned against us. That did not occur, although no one could provide a single definitive answer as to why. (Here are multiple answers, all tentative.)

Today we have clear air superiority. If we didn't have it, we'd probably get our asses kicked, just as the Russians did. Even if the Stingers used during the war against the USSR are no longer operational, could not Al Qaeda and/or the Taliban simply purchase a few? How expensive could such things be?

The Pakistanis have their own Stingers, and we know that elements of Pakistans military/intelligence apparat are sympathetic to Al Qaeda.