Needs its own thread, imo.
2 trillion dollars and all it seems to have bought is new military hardware for the people that the war was supposed to destroy.
Funny America didn’t see the need to invade Saudi Arabia to impose their superior advanced social behaviors did they.
3 Likes
If only there had been some inkling that invading Afghanistan did not work
3 Likes
World War Z
Just horrific
It’s just horrific - I genuinely don’t know what the best thing to do is here.
What a mess - if I were a serviceman who came back with life changing injuries or the family of one who didn’t come back at all, I would be livid.
The US trained the Afghan army to fight with the support of overwhelming air cover and world class logistics. Then they decided to fuck off and took those key elements with them.
You have to hand it to the Taliban - they are resilient fuckers
This is Taliban 2.0.
The key here will be how much have they matured.
Complete set of new influences, not least Qatar & no doubt China.
They have shown remarkable skill & control to not only retake the Nation so quickly but to also avoid (too many) of their old ways coming to the surface.
20 years of “freedom” for the population gone.
Will this be different?
So far they have trashed the West at every level. Tactics, command, control and PR.
Biden & Boris tarred by the Saigon Embassy images. Equally, it was always going to happen if not now then in 5, 25 or 50 years.
Tragic Bush & Blair fallout yet again
5 Likes
One of many, many threads.
All so tragic, and all while the Foreign Secretary sits on a beach in Cyprus
Logic says the allies should have a non stop air bridge to the US Bases in Qatar/Bahrain getting out who and as many as they can.
Fact it all seems so calm implies they already did a deal with the Taliban to just get their own out & sod the locals
This is what “transplanting democracy” looks like, folks. Ain’t it pretty?
1 Like
At least feels like he cares.
1 Like
The best you can say is that there is a barely-nascent generation of educated Afghan women and the best hope you can have is that the Taliban actually realise that women might be capable of playing a broader role in society. I really do doubt it.
Also, the Taliban of 2001 had little time for the opium trade. There has been an opiates explosion in the last 20 years. Maybe that goes away. Again, I really do doubt it.
I rather fear is that what we actually did was the following:-
- Tested out a load of new weapons to little effect
- Killed some Taliban
- But strengthened the Taliban in almost every conceivable way.
- Materiel
- Recruits
- Legitimacy
- Destabilised an entire region
- Given Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan (and perhaps others) every reason to club together to stave off future Western aggression.
- Got sent packing with who knows what to come.
Is that too harsh?
1 Like
Nope.
It has also pushed forward an eventual United Islamic Nation
1 Like
Fvck!
800 people on a C-17!
This cunt will be crying all the way to the bank.
2 Likes
Pompeo also helped secure the release of the current Taliban leader from prison.
2 Likes
A lot of people made good money from Afghanistan.
Including a mate of mine who spent 6 years working as Billeting Manager at Khandahar and living in half a 40ft Container.
Except he was there for 2 years, 2003 - 2005, and quit to go into Politics.
He was ex-army and he went into an Aerospace job - not exactly Hitler is he? One of my mates was an Apache pilot in Afghanistan - he’s now very high up at Boeing. It’s a job that uses his expertise. He’d be appalled if people thought he was doing it for excessive personal gain.
I’m all for smashing Tories for being self-serving dickheads, but this is someone presenting an exaggerated view on what he’s done and why he’s done it. It’s the way of the World now though, everything becomes fact.
4 Likes
Would that be too bad a thing? I know their “ways” are as abhorrent to us as our “ways” are to them but if they left us alone and we left them alone and we both let people freely go where they want to live the life they want, would that be so bad a thing?
We pretty much already do it with China and Russia…
3 Likes