I dont think you know how the afghan army and afghan people work. Afghan army didnt fight until they ran out of ammo, they sold their ammo and guns to the Taliban for $$ because they werent paid by their generals. Less then 2k dead afghan soliders this year died for the collapse of Afghanistan. Their military failed them and was always destined to fail. The majority of the army are pashtun and never had any intention to fight against the taliban who are also pastun . The afghan people are notorious for flipping to whatever side is currently winning. When we first invaded afghanistan in 2001 we defeated the taliban in weeks because the majority knew we were winning and quit within days of the invasion. Now the same folks flipped sides and are fighting the Americans. Once again politicans like him who give warmongering speeches never offer any alternatives. Its always we shouldnt have left or blah blah. They never have any clear objectives or what we should've done differently. The bottom line is the taliban have safe heaven in pakistan which has one of the nuclear weapons arsenals in the world. This war is never a winning war unless you are okay with having american troops permanently there in Afghanistan fighting someone elses war. Have you seen this documentary? There was no winning this war. Half the afghan generals are pedos and rapists and steal from their soliders
Parliament holds Joe Biden in contempt over Afghanistan MPs and peers unite to condemn ‘dishonour’ of US president’s withdrawal and his criticism of Afghan troops left behind to face Taliban https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/08/18/parliament-holds-joe-biden-contempt-afghanistan/
The French occupation of Vietnam effectively comes to an end in 1954 with the fall of their garrison at Dien Bien Phu. The French then undertake a total withdrawal from Vietnam. As a result of the Geneva Accords, Vietnam is essentially divided into two nations at the 17th parallel with the North allied with Communist China with the South propped up by US military and economic assistance. Immediately after the French withdrawal, the US (under Eisenhower) steps up it's involved by sending in military "advisors" to the South. In time, the number US military rose from 30,000 in 1963 to 150,000 in 1965 to 500,000 in 1968. There was no clearly defined military or politcal objective (other than to oppose Communism in the North). It took the Tet Offensive in January 1968 to finally convince the Johnson administration of the futility of our attempt at "nation building". Nixon is elected, promises "Peace With Honor" and begins negotiating the American withdrawal. In 1973, the Nixon administration negotiates a peace agreement agreeing to withdraw its troops in exchange for an immediate ceasefire and North Vietnam's agreeing to recognize the government of South Vietnam. Two years later, the government of South Vietnam collapses and the country falls to the North Vietnamese. The final tally? The estimated cost of the war in Vietnam during the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations was $176 billion. An estimated 58,132 Americans died in Vietnam. More than 150,000 were wounded, and 21,000 were permanently disabled. More than 3 million Americans, average age 19, served in the Vietnam War. An estimated 100,000 Americans fled the United States to avoid serving in the conflict, and approximately 50,000 American servicemen deserted. The Veterans Administration estimates that 830,000 Vietnam vets suffered symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder; of that number, 480,000 were so deeply affected that they were considered disabled. Several hundred thousand American troops were exposed to defoliants, such as Agent Orange. Most importantly: No lessons were learned. In 1979, the Soviet Union invades Afghanistan. The Soviets organize a massive military airlift into Kabul, involving an estimated 280 transport aircraft and three divisions of almost 8,500 men each. Within a few days, the Soviets had secured Kabul. Soviet ground forces enter Afghanistan from the North. The Soviets, however, were met with fierce resistance when they ventured out of their strongholds into the countryside. Resistance fighters, called mujahidin, saw the Christian or atheist Soviets controlling Afghanistan as a defilement of Islam as well as of their traditional culture. Proclaiming a “jihad”(holy war), they gained the support of the Islamic world. The mujahidin employed guerrilla tactics against the Soviets. They would attack or raid quickly, then disappear into the mountains, causing great destruction without pitched battles. The fighters used whatever weapons they could grab from the Soviets or were given by the United States. The tide of the war turned with the 1987 introduction of U.S. shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles. The Stingers allowed the mujahidin to shoot down Soviet planes and helicopters on a regular basis. At this point in Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev decided enough was enough and that it was time to get out. Demoralized and with no victory in sight, Soviet forces started withdrawing in 1988. The last Soviet soldier crossed back across the border on February 15, 1989. Fifteen thousand Soviet solders were killed. The long-term impact of the invasion and subsequent war was profound. First, the Soviets never recovered from the public relations and financial losses, which significantly contributed to the fall of the Soviet empire in 1991. Secondly, the war created a breeding ground for terrorism and the rise of Osama bin Laden. Once again: No lessons were learned. In 2001, after the US was attacked on 9/11, the Bush administration invaded Afghanistan and Iraq to find the attackers specifically one Osama bin Laden. The rest, you all know how it ends 20 years later. Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it. Sir Winston Churchill paraphrasing George Santayana.
The crazy thing is not a single cable news show or anchor said anything pro withdrawal. Also not a single politician had bidens back yet polling still shows 50/50. If. Biden successfully withdraws everyone without any huge incident Americans will forget about this in a month. Even with the full negative press across every show Americans still are like eh **** that country.
Yes. Doesn't negate what I stated about the ones who fought and died. Victory has a thousand fathers. Defeat is an orphan. ~ John F. Kennedy Based upon this and your previous comment it seems clear you did not watch the video. He is not giving a warmongering speech. The Taliban have safe haven in Pakistan in order to keep THAT country stable. Imagine Afghanistan only with Nukes. As far as having troops permanently in Afghanistan, that's not the question. We have had troops in South Korea for far longer. The question is, would it be worth it to stay? The occupation/war is deeply unpopular because people don't know or believe in the reason for having troops there and that's very understandable. But the people are also ignorant of the true cost/benefit analysis something like this requires. Imagine if 6 months ago the public was made aware that pulling out of Afghanistan could potentially lead to a situation where over 10,000 Americans were trapped....should we pull out anyways? Would that have changed what people thought? Which leads to the next obvious question...What will the TRUE cost of this abandonment be? I'm reminded of the film "Charlie Wilson's War". Philip Seymour Hoffman's character is speaking with Tom Hank's character. Gus Avrakotos: There's a little boy and on his 14th birthday he gets a horse... and everybody in the village says, "how wonderful. The boy got a horse" And the Zen master says, "we'll see." Two years later, the boy falls off the horse, breaks his leg, and everyone in the village says, "How terrible." And the Zen master says, "We'll see." Then, a war breaks out and all the young men have to go off and fight... except the boy can't cause his legs all messed up. and everybody in the village says, "How wonderful." Charlie Wilson: Now the Zen master says, "We'll see." I have not. I believe what you say about what is in it. Thanks for linking it.
This is why it may be a stupid idea to give one person all this ****ign power in a democracy and when these 'parties' consolidate to uniform votes and teh senate and congress won't serve as checks and balances for a president and just fall in line, its a slppery slope for stupid ****ing decisions be it bush, obama, or trump, or biden , or clinton or whoever these folks are sucking off on their side. Frie these dumbasses who put themselves or egos first, get us some new employees. For the people by the people, for the contractors, industry, entertainment media, by the people's taxpayers...
Yes. That is what it seems like. Apparently, many of the Taliban manning the checkpoints can read. So the Taliban officials have given permission for people to get through but the tense nervous soldiers at the checkpoint won't let people through. Also with the revelation that military people and diplomats sent cables advising the US to get their allies out months ago, this definitely looks like it was mishandled.
This is the part I am very interested about, but I know we will never know the truth.... In some ways I feel like this was like a Hurricane warning being advised to the people in Galveston and Houston.. Some will leave, but some will stay regardless and then they will holla and plead for help later; regardless of the early warning they had... T_Man
Yes. And there is literally no good and graceful way to withdraw from Afghanistan. We've been there for decades. It isn't a victory. But it seems like a real concern. We don't know all of the details and I think there are dozens of perspectives about things were done one way and why people were screwed over by how it was done. Like you said, we'll probably never really know the whole story... At least until the Ken Burns documentary comes out on it.
Clutchfans.net had better foresight than the Biden Administration. Hopefully the next few weeks go better for our folks in Afghanistan.
The First, also called The First TV and stylized as The F1rst, is a conservative opinion and commentary network in the United States started in October 2019. It has five hosts; including Bill O'Reilly. Yep... nothing else needs to be stated... T_Man
Oh. Choose another outlet then. Doesn't change the news any. p.s. The original source is The Telegraph...one of the oldest newspapers in the UK. p.p.s. This is UNPRECEDENTED in the history or our 2 countries.
Yet there hasn't been a single case of an American being held up or assaulted by the taliban. The only other thing we could've done is expand the parameter and risk American lives which is the wrong thing to do. LOL @ sources from state department at embassy who are trying cover their ass leaking into to national media. Americans are so dumb to literally believe anything that's feed to them. The military just said yesterday there was ZERO indication it could fall this soon but yes let's believe leaks to wall street journal. Man Americans are the easiest people to brainwash
