British Colonialism Redux

This sounds like it could have been lifted from the pages of "Queen Victoria's Wars" (substituting Americans for Englishmen):

An executive summary was released today regarding the October Taliban attack on Combat Outpost Keating, a Nuristan Province base. The attack was driven back, but not before eight Americans were killed.

But while the military’s report praised the troops “gallantry, courage and bravery” in the clash, it cast serious doubt on why the troops were put there in the first place, noting that the outpost had “no tactical or strategic value” and was virtually undefendable.