the first had been the routing of the taliban after 9/11 , justified , and the second was due to the nuclear exchange between taliban-run islamabad and western ally new delhi so , also justified , and the third , well , just because and it was an excellent way to get yourself killed , flying clunky , cannibalized death trap f4s or , in curtis rare case , treasured f18s ( also cannibalized but with greater care ) and it was a worrisome trade-off .