Afghanistan 2021

[ChrisJ]

6 hours ago, Barrykearley said:

or allowing folks out who are not already on a list.

or not allowing folks out who are on a list.

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

I know it’s Fox News but probably more truthful than lies:

https://www.foxnews.com/world/taliban-unit-wearing-us-gear-mock-iconic-american-wwii-photo

 

 

[ramjet]

An Aussie that is still over there has been put on TV bleeding from head wound saying that it was the Taliban while he was attempting to get to the airport.

Could be true or could be a setup. Who is to know these days? He seemed pretty lucid for someone who looks like he had a fair crack on the head.

[chrisrace]

A lot of people are trap, they need to do something to help them out. 

[ramjet]

Absolutely. They are going to run out of time though and what happens after that?

[DanR]

Here's one explanation of why the Afgan Army capitulated so easily.   

 https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/how-afghan-army-collapsed-under-talibans-pressure

[Barrykearley]

1 hour ago, ramjet said:

Absolutely. They are going to run out of time though and what happens after that?

The taliban will send out execution squads and deal with the issues.

@DanRthat link sums it up perfectly.

[ramjet]

So the article says US troops by 11th September. Hmm. That's 911 again. Weird.

So where did the date of the end of August come from?

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

That’s just a symbolic deadline. 20 years after you-know-what happened. In reality Trump agreed to have all US forces out by 1 May. When Biden was elected, he held a review and unilaterally imposed a 4 month extension. 1 May + 4 months = 31 August deadline.

[Neal H]

[C8RKH]

You;d have thought by now they would have sorted out who the driver would be, who the gunner would be, and that you can actually sit in it, close the doors and use it like a car.  Ho hum, even when you give people stuff they still can't work it out.

[Barrykearley]

The distraction of the scantily clad goat didn’t help

[windymiller]

have to say biden is being a complete c*ck over this and playing right into trumps hands in my view for the next election

[910Esprit]

I'll be surprised if he makes the full term. 

[C8RKH]

Just now, 910Esprit said:

I'll be surprised if he makes the full term. 

If I'm being honest, I don't Biden was ever meant to last the full term.  He was there for the first year, then it would be the Kamala show!  To be honest, wish it would just happen sooner rather than later then Biden can just go off and sit on his porch.

[ramjet]

Well two ISIS car bombers have just driven two car bombs into the area earlier than the end of August that they apparently agreed to.

They have killed 60 including 12 US troops.

[C8RKH]

9 hours ago, ramjet said:

Well two ISIS car bombers have just driven two car bombs into the area earlier than the end of August that they apparently agreed to.

They have killed 60 including 12 US troops.

ISIS is NOT the Taliban and I thought the agreement was between the US and the Taliban.

It's a bit like accusing the Chinese of doing something when it was actually the Russians etc.

What it does show is that the Taliban will have issues controlling not just their own fighters, but other organisations too that are "loosely" aligned to their coat tails.  

I was thinking about the situation in general terms last night as I used to fly all over the place for work, and until things settle down I decided I have NO interest in getting on a plane going anywhere outside of the UK!  Might be an extreme view, but just how my mind is working right now.

[Barrykearley]

That’s the complexity of Afghanistan - there’s so many different tribes and cults - all interlinked in a loose way and all as ready to cheat each other in equal measures. That’s why it’s been unstable since the dawn of time.

leave the place well alone and stop the media circus.

[ramjet]

I was unaware of the angst between the Taliban and ISIS. I believed, in my ignorance, that the deal to be out by end of August was with everyone.

Clearly not.

Experts here have said that this will be seriously embarrassing to the Taliban as they have tried to impress upon everyone that they are in control.

Again. Clearly not.

[Greg | ValetPro]

On 16/08/2021 at 19:57, C8RKH said:

I think much of the "ire" here also needs to be pointed at Pakistan who have actively sheltered the Taliban. Pakistan has no oil to sell us @basalte so what was the excuse for not targeting them then? 

Like with all long running conflicts, and let's be honest, Afghanistan's conflicts are one of the longest running, it's not just a simple "fix" or set of reasons. Yes, Saudi nationals were involved in 9/11, but they weren't "sponsored" by the state of Saudi Arabia, nor did they as a government actively "harbour" the terrorists etc. So maybe that had something to do with the US not going in there? Maybe the reason they went in, in the first place, was because Bin Laden and al-Qaeda were "protected" and given  safe haven by the Taliban in Afghanistan. It had nothing to do with oil to be honest and never has done. Whatever the reason, your comment was clumsy in this instance (that's usually my trick to be honest!)

 

 

I don't know much about this. But does the issue not date further back to when territories divided by the British Empire?  I could imagine some time after this Oil was part of some change in those regions that US and the British business and governments would have been involved with.  

 

I do not know any of this for fact but I sure there are involvements for business and governments that have cause the issues we see today.  I also doubt that these decision of change in these regions were not for the best of intentions either.  Money, Oil is likely to be part of it.  Lack of understanding of  the local Bedouin settlements and tribes in the regions. To add to all of that there is also religion that causes big division between people in how they think. Even when the religions are closely linked.  

 

[windymiller]

apparently one of the worlds biggest lithium deposits is in afghanistan

[C8RKH]

20 minutes ago, Greg | ValetPro said:

I don't know much about this. But does the issue not date further back to when territories divided by the British Empire?  I could imagine some time after this Oil was part of some change in those regions that US and the British business and governments would have been involved with.  

 

I do not know any of this for fact but I sure there are involvements for business and governments that have cause the issues we see today.  I also doubt that these decision of change in these regions were not for the best of intentions either.  Money, Oil is likely to be part of it.  Lack of understanding of  the local Bedouin settlements and tribes in the regions. To add to all of that there is also religion that causes big division between people in how they think. Even when the religions are closely linked.  

 

A brief timeline here https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/asia-jan-june11-timeline-afghanistan

And yes, Britain was involved in the creating the mess, just like we were in the Middle East. But then they also did a good job of it themselves too

 

[Barrykearley]

48 minutes ago, windymiller said:

apparently one of the worlds biggest lithium deposits is in afghanistan

Lithium doesn’t make you feel as nice when ingested like opium.

33 minutes ago, C8RKH said:

And yes, Britain was involved in the creating the mess, just like we were in the Middle East. But then they also did a good job of it themselves too

Most of the issues date back thousands of years - dunno if it’s over who’s bloke in a book is better or a goat.

[Bibs]

US has left $85bn of military hardware in Afghanistan

 

 

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

It’s shocking, but kind of funny how they are only able to drive the Blackhawk around the car-park!