Biden is far more open to a robust refugee program for Afghans. It's members of the Trump admin like Miller and Congressional republicans that are fighting extending refugee status.
No, nothing in the call was illegal (hmmm, does that suddenly matter here?). it wasn't even a bad call. What it DOES indicate, though, is that Biden knew then that things weren't going well (contrary to what he's been telling us), and that he felt that the perception around that was really all that matters (sometimes true, but also relevant to evaluating what he's been telling us).
For what its worth, I'm not. You can't complain about leaving them there, but then also say they can't come here. Well, I don't like that we left them there (I think it's not only bad policy, but it would likely create MORE terrorists that hate us), so if bringing them here is the solution, then yes, it's the solution. That doesn't give Biden a pass, at all, for leaving Americans (and many of those Afghans that we said we'd get out) there in the first place. Creating a spot for them that they can't get to, and might not even live to get to, isn't that helpful
No we created more terrorists by killing 40000 civilians and having an entire generation of Afghanis seeing foreign military presence roam their Homeland. That is what is prime recruiting material for terrorists. And you are essentially arguing for a forever war now. Have you been to Afghanistan? Do you understand the general sentiment of Afghanis outside the main c is ties like Kabul such as in Marjah. They thought of us as an invading force.
Agree, but this is why pretty much nobody is arguing we should have stayed. Or even that we should have stayed as long as we did. The issue is not leaving, it is HOW we left. And I honestly feel that you have to be extremely biased to look at how that happened, and not think that could have been done a whole lot better. FWIW, if the same thing had happened under Trump...I'd have the same criticisms. Botched is botched. This isn't, to me, a political issue. it is an American issue, and I don't think we, as America, did that very well. Did we recover and get a lot of people out? Yes. Should we have put ourselves in the position where that was how it went down? No. Did we end up getting everybody out anyway? No. Does that mean we lied to a whole bunch of people, all of America included? Yes.
How many Americans civilians have died so far from this withdrawal? Why are you assuming there aren't any plans for alternate methods to get the remaining Americans out? Why are you already assuming the worst?
Yes, it matters whether it was criminal based on the fact that there are people in the media declaring it IS illegal. Also, I will have to read it again but I don't think the call even shows that Biden felt it was going bad, in fact he said that the Afghans have a massive soldier advantage...... what he DID say was that the Afghan President should be more confident in public. As I have said before I don't know WHICH is better, that Biden knew it was bad or had bad intelligence and didn't know how bad it was. The phone call to me is really insignificant other than the possibility of exposing how inept our intelligence is.
Don't disagree with that at all. Have you seen War Machine? Be curious your impression of it, but at the leadership level, while satirical, it also seems pretty spot on...and it makes this point No, I'm not arguing for that. Not even sure how you think I am? Not once have I indicated we should stay forever. I have indicated we should have stayed until we got everybody out. If you think that is 'forever', please do let the Biden administration know that, and that leaving them there was a death sentence for them, and they need to own up to that. Of course they did. Have I indicated anywhere I thought they didn't? On the flip side of that, though, many Afghans, in particular those who have actually never known anything other than what life was like while we were there, are now going to discover, first hand, what life was like BEFORE we were there. Many already know, and remember...and we saw them hanging onto the outside of airplanes trying to escape. So, a very interesting question is who the 'they' is that think/thought of us as invaders...and then how many of them might change their mind in the next few months or a year or so. If 'they' is Taliban...they're not going to change their minds. What about the others? Not saying that as evidence that we should have stayed...if 20 years wasn't long enough, what actually accomplishing 'nation building' was likely going to take generations, but that was really always the case. Societies evolve much like people, only on a grander scale. You can't go from infant to mature adult overnight. for most societies, it takes hundreds or thousands of years to do that. Even if vastly accelerated, it is going to take generations. As long as we were there...it was 1 generation. Something we need to remember if we ever start down this path again. I also don't think you really 'accelerate' that by forcing it at gunpoint.
It's hard to imagine that Biden didnt realize the ANA was in trouble after Ghani's response to Biden asking him to lie (project a different picture, true or not) about the fight against the taliban. Biden also projected a different picture to us in many instances. July 23rd- GHANI: Mr. President, we are facing a full-scale invasion, composed of Taliban, full Pakistani planning and logistical support, and at least 10-15,000 international terrorists, predominantly Pakistanis thrown into this, so that dimension needs to be taken account of. Second, what is crucial is, close air support, and if I could make a request, you have been very generous, if your assistance, particularly to our air force be front loaded, because what we need at this moment, there was a very heavily reliance on air power, and we have prioritized that if it could be at all front-loaded, we will greatly appreciate it. And third, regarding procedure for the rest of the assistance, for instance, military pay is not increased for over a decade. We need to make some gestures to rally everybody together so if you could assign the national security advisor or the Pentagon, anyone you wish to work with us on the details, so our expectations particularly regarding your close air support. There are agreements with the Taliban that we [or “you” this is unclear] are not previously aware of, and because of your air force was extremely cautious in attacking them. And the last point, I just spoke again to Dr. Abdullah earlier, he went to negotiate with the Taliban, the Taliban showed no inclination. We can get to peace only if we rebalance the military situation.
Sadly a lot can attributed to exactly that. The right stands for only being against things. They aren't for anything
Ya look at what they consider "fighting for freedom" such as denying gay people service. Like that's what they fight for. It's just an ideology of hate and self gratification with zero introspective skills.
Yes, conservatives tend to be traditional. Liberals tend to be progressive. Its the natural boundaries of politics. Conservatives will block any change due to its nature.
But I wish they'd be more honest about. It's almost meme level how often right wingers label themselves "classical liberals" but the moment the markets are dominated by social views against their own, they complete dump that ideology without realizing it.
At first, I typed out Republicans but that was a poor choice of words. Republicans and conservatives are not synonymous. I have a certain amount of respect for a conservative mentality. But there does come a time when change is needed, often radically. We all have a conservative manner in us; afraid of change in some form or fashion. For some reason, when it becomes political, people become nuts.
That would make sense. I just wish they had support for plans to curtail spending increases, and reduce govt. Intrusion. They aren't.
**** what conservatives think they are the reason we don't have GUN control and kids are being shot in schools..... **** THEM DD
That didn't matter before, why does it matter now? He knew. He said so. That was the reason he made the call. You don't find Biden being concerned about the appearance of how the war was going to be more important than how it was actually going is insignficiant? Especially given that that is clearly exactly how he is handling things here as well?
