Afghanistan

[furness]

I feel bad for all the "good" people in Afghanistan. I just wish the Afghan military would have put up a fight. I really don't know why they didn't.

People in Afghanistan don’t have a national identity like the US does, or Europe. They’re a tribal type culture. It was stupid for those idiots in DC to think they were going to build a strong national identity in people who don’t have that in their culture or history. Add in that the government we propped up was corrupt, and the warlords that run localities are corrupt, why would they fight for that? You can bet that many of them already had deals made with the taliban to lay down their weapons & run away in exchange for money. When I was in Iraq helping train their army, it was the exact same thing. The generals, politicians and career bureaucrats are just too arrogant to learn from history.

 

[Pmacc60]

CIA’s Former Counterterrorism Chief for the Region: Afghanistan, Not An Intelligence Failure — Something Much Worse

"While it’s certainly convenient to depict the shock and miscalculation U.S. officials claim over Afghanistan’s tragic, rapid fall to the Taliban as an intelligence failure, the reality is far worse."

www.justsecurity.org

Great contribution , there are many layers to this collapse of Afghanistan .

 

[338win]

One good thing is now all of America and the world can see what anyone who spent time over there has known for over a decade.

 

[longbow51]

What an interesting way to call me dumb passive aggressively you troglodyte. Let‘s just give the indigenous a W on this one and move on to take care of the poor and suffering in our own country for a change.

Please refer to the thread "Why We Can't Have Nice Things".

 

[Randi]

People in Afghanistan don’t have a national identity like the US does, or Europe. They’re a tribal type culture. It was stupid for those idiots in DC to think they were going to build a strong national identity in people who don’t have that in their culture or history. Add in that the government we propped up was corrupt, and the warlords that run localities are corrupt, why would they fight for that? You can bet that many of them already had deals made with the taliban to lay down their weapons & run away in exchange for money. When I was in Iraq helping train their army, it was the exact same thing. The generals, politicians and career bureaucrats are just too arrogant to learn from history.

this was pretty much the consensus during my time in college. I have since graduated, but during the time I attended both the faculty and the students held to the above belief. no matte how long we stayed it would go back to where it was before we got there, after we were gone. I have no problem with leaving and believe we should have done so years ago, specifically --after Bin Laden was killed. But I feel the way we have left, or are leaving is wrong and shameful.

As to the Afghan women and children. Those who wanted to leave should have been given the opportunity to do so. I do not believe they would have all wanted to come to the U.S. or Europe. I believe some would have wanted to go to Australia, Canada, and even some muslim predominate countries, that is not quite as anti-female as Afghanistan will be when the Taliban take over. You gentlemen who have young daughters or granddaughters. Would you be willing to have them picked up and "married" to a man they didn't know who was 40, 45 years old ?

As to the question ask earlier "where are the female voices that are usually heard" . i.e. the Supreme Court confirmation fiasco, the retiring New York gov, past presidents, bill Cosby, etc, etc. The answer to this is simple, in my opinion. It is not convenient for them!! However, in the last few days some female Hollywood types have spoke out against what is happening there, without saying the name Biden in their speeches ( social media )

My brother has discontinued watching or listening to the news and has become a bit withdrawn. My grandfather who went through this after he returned from Viet Nam, is spending time with him. A lot of fishing and farm work. Every fence has been repaired, every "honey do" on my mother and grandmother list has been done. Their pain is real. This is new to me, but I am today going to call and ask if there are any female veterans that perhaps needs a young, pain in the butt, female around to help take their mind off all of this.

 

[Nostromo]

?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1428740926655156226

Mia Farrow? Really? lol

 

[MarvB]

I’m not going to get into my political viewpoint here, it is America and the phrase to each his own is one that many US lives have fought and died for. That being said, it literally turns my stomach to see images of Taliban fighters carrying M4 and M18 assault rifles and M24 sniper weapons, driving around in Humvees and wearing US tactical gear knowing the physical, emotional, and economic costs it represents

 

[glass eye]

My son served in the Army on a fob that was the first fob to be turned over to the AFG Army. They had their share of taliban in uniform.
We talked about it yesterday and his opinion is that we could have stayed there indefinitely with a small force to give the AFG Army air support.
Terrorism isn't going to stop just because we pulled out. It will only make them stronger and we'll have to fight them again somewhere.

 

[devon deer]

Mia Farrow? Really? lol

That is not painting a true picture at all, the US are in control of the airport, without the US then nothing would arrive or leave to carry out any evacuations, but that is the worrying part, the US plan on the last day being 31st August, that isn't long enough, as when the US leave everyone will follow.

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

We can complain all we want, or….

To help Afghans:

To help Servicemembers:

 

[Sytes]

Hmm...so his post that DID include politics must have been agreeable to you since there was no post from you admonishing him for his pathetic bashing of President Biden?
Feel free to use the "ignore" button on me if you don't like the truth being pointed out.

Gr8, as I mentioned... I don't care for the politics period... on this topic. My comment related to your post EXCLUDING POLITICS. Get it?

Basically, this is the common problem with internet posting. A statement may be read from differing perspectives. View mine as said, excluding politics.
If you exclude the political side to the comments made... THAT is my comment. It's very simple. Even in your quote of my statement, you missed my direct statement:

I am saying eliminate who the President is, R or D or flippin yellow... I don't care. Nor do I care for other poster opinions [regarding political banter]

What this means? EXCLUDING POLITICAL BANTER - this is my opinion of the Commander and Chief, AGAIN, excluding whether Red or Blue or flippin yellow... So, if I removed the political portion of yours or ANY poster opinions on whether the President is R, or D, or flippin yellow... you get my response.

It's the nature of typed words.

Side note: ignore? You and I have held many conversations where we agree, disagree or agree to disagree. You're one of the last I would ignore here. In fact, I've not ignored a single person on this site. easy enough to simply move on - skip a person's post.

Edit added to share the initial post:

7. and most importantly... a timeline to effectively make this happen! This is where I fault our Commander and Chief, who happens to be a Democrat. Again, care not what the political players are... its the utter failure to properly manage the extraction the most possibe.

 

[antelopedundee]

I’m reluctant to share my thoughts on this. They’re worth what you paid for, and come complete with the disclaimer I’ve not served in the military. I’m not a foreign policy expert.

I honestly believe the end result would have been the same had we spent ten more years in Afghanistan. I do believe we should have planned a faster process for evacuating the Afghans who helped US military personnel. There’s a lot of blame to spread around, but to what end?

Biden followed the same plan Trump intended to. Lots of folks are making political hay over this, and I frankly find it disgusting. My heart breaks for the troops who gave years to a mission doomed to fail, to the Afghans who’ve watched their world turn upside down in days, and to the families who carry the burden of having lost loved ones there in the lat 20 years.

I don’t believe there was ever a happy ending, and to pretend there was is disingenuous.

Supposedly trump had no exit plan. He had a date of May 1, 2021, but no plan to exit that mess. If he did then his people had a pretty good way of keeping it from the next man in. In due time the UN is going to have to make a decision about going in and cleaning up that mess. Or deal with threat of terrorism.

 

[kansasdad]

Supposedly trump had no exit plan. He had a date of May 1, 2021, but no plan to exit that mess. If he did then his people had a pretty good way of keeping it from the next man in. In due time the UN is going to have to make a decision about going in and cleaning up that mess. Or deal with threat of terrorism.

Hard to believe that China would not veto any interventionist attempts by the UN. (Security Council veto)

 

[Sytes]

I really hope the UN is able to take the Taliban to task for women and female children human rights. They are not slaves and the current is the repeat of past Taliban enforcement...

This is the utter gut punch I feel when I see this country fall to Taliban rule.

 

[3855WIN]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1429168936218677260

 

[drexal]

Please, no one hold their breath on the UN doing anything beneficial.

 

[EKYHunter]

Please, no one hold their breath on the UN doing anything beneficial.

You got that right. Pipe dream.

 

[Sytes]

You got that right. Pipe dream.

Sad though agree... very sad.

 

[3855WIN]

Wow

https://twitter.com/x/status/1429219633320632325

https://twitter.com/x/status/1429220184578052108

 

[Sasquatchewan]

I really hope the UN is able to take the Taliban to task for women and female children human rights. They are not slaves and the current is the repeat of past Taliban enforcement...

This is the utter gut punch I feel when I see this country fall to Taliban rule.

I've deployed with the UN and have seen what they are "capable" of doing.

I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.