Tuco

I am less concerned with Taliban leadership "keeping their word" than I am with them being able to control various factions, particularly local control. I believe the really brutal shit will be at the local level, where some of the grievances are personal and some of the beliefs are more medieval. I do believe the Taliban leadership has some aspirations to avoid sinking back into the 90s level of diplomatic isolation, which will not be possible if they start executing women for going to school. But the local fucks aren't necessarily going to be driven by that. (That also partially answers the question on why it matters where some of those executions took place. )

The "Muslim World" doesn't have citizenship anymore than the Christian world. As far as the MidEast looking at each other communally, prior to 911 the Taliban was a pariah throughout the world, including with Muslim countries. Everybody hated them. Iran hated them for executing a couple of their diplomats. It's one of the reasons that nobody made a squeak when started bombing them. Bush's big concern was where he could fly search and rescue missions out of, should any of the planes get shot down. To everybody's surprise, Uzbekistan said sure, you can fly S&R from our airfields. Everybody hated the Taliban-led Afghanistan. That doesn't mean a lot of the Muslim countries where thrilled with the US colonizing the country. (And, yeah, when you start talking about "nation building" in a way that aligns with American values and is friendly to western business...and has semi-permanent military installations, it's going to be seen as colonizing.) I'm sure there was some investment and plenty of charity from Muslim countries and individuals, but I am also sure there were folks who didn't really want to see the US be successful. As we are withdrawing, there are calls for Muslim-led peacekeeping forces. I have no idea if that will go anywhere. It's not like Pashtuns are going to be anymore thrilled with an Arab soldier policing his street, than he was with an American one. Sharing a common religion only takes you so far, and they undoubtedly have major differences in how they interpret and practice Islam. I remember reading about one of the Uzbek military leaders -Dostum -who was a vodka drinking nutcase. (Just looked up Dostum to confirm the name. Apparently he was the vice president until recently. The dude is a character. Sure, probably a war criminal, but still an interesting guy to drink with.)

What am I mad about? Assholes ignoring the science with Covid, mostly. Doesn't really have much to do with this. But, rather than worrying about what I am mad at, you could take a critical look of what is being said and why. It's not 100% about the how. And if it was, anyone with more than 3 brain cells knows that Biden didn't chart out the how; government career professional at State and in the military did. As far as the Biden admin being hammered, pretty much here and and Facebook the reaction has been a shoulder shrug. The public is done with Afghanistan. The undecideds don't watch the news anyway.

They are calling out the repercussions of the action. It's easy to pretend there is some way the decision to leave wouldn't have repercussions, but it's bullshit. This is Senator Sasse's comment: They lead with the repercussions, and then pivot to the decision itself. They "deliberately decided to lose." The "doctrine of weakness." And this shitstain pretends he is some sort of Constitutional originalist who cries out for a return to small government policy. Bullshit.

Do you think Joe Biden, personally, planned the how? Yeah, he's President, and he's going to take the heat for the how, but do you really think there is anything he could have said to address it.

The Taliban pledged support of it two years prior. These assholes still need some level of support from the general population, and they don't get that stating they are going to oppose construction projects which will provide a long term revenue stream. (Shit is still going to get blowed up by someone. ) Feb2018

It matters what you are addressing. The waste of money and American lives - Fuck Bush and Cheney, and also Obama and John Kerry. Decide the percentages for yourself. The fact that the Taliban has taken over Afghanistan - Fuck President Ghani.

What frequently gets lost in these discussions is that we are way too focused on the US element of it. There was an article today that talked about how the Taliban had retaken Kabul "20 years after US troops had driven them off." That is fucking nonsense. US troops didn't invade Afghanistan. US troops didn't drive the Taliban out of Kabul. Does anyone remember the Northern Alliance? They did the heavy lifting. We supplied them and bombed the shit out of their adversaries, but we had a relatively trivial ground force at the time, fewer than 300 troops on the ground, per Bob Woodward's Bush at War. Why is that important? Because if you are going to talk about the success of the Taliban you should probably asked what they hell happened to their main opposition, the opposition which prevented them controlling all of the country even prior to 9/11, prior to the US giving them anything. Well, perhaps instead of worrying about which US President to blame, we should discuss the Afghani President and how he fucked up support from the Northern Alliance factions. From an WaPo article a couple of weeks ago. Full article in the spoiler. TL, DR: In 2014, the Presidential race was between Ghani (Pashtun) and Abdullah (supported by the North). Ghani won a tight race. He then started undermining his opponents, including firing a popular governor in the North, replacing him with a Southerner. In the attempt to consolidate his control of a US-propped up government, he inadvertently undermined and alienated the significant factions who were otherwise inclined to oppose the Taliban. Now he is the President of jack shit. So, when assigning blame, let's just all agree to say "fuck President Ghani" before worrying about Trump or Biden. And if there is a lesson there for America, it's that power over the government is pointless if the country goes to shit.

I'm not exactly sure what the intent of this post is. If it is some rebuttal of me saying the Dems are without morons or moronic positions, it appears to be misplaced. I've been involved in party politics and certainly recognize there are morons on my side. The Democratic Party needs to improve, both at the national and state level. But, with that in mind, reflexive both-siderism is just stupid and lazy. Recognition of Democratic flaws is not a defense of both-siderism. Rather, It is the obscuration of any flaws, Republican or Democratic, with some fucked nihilism that just states that it doesn't matter who is in charge on the issue. The fact is it does fucking matter, not because of the parties but because of the policies and philosophies they espouse. If someone wants to be critical of Democratic polices, cool, let's have that discussion. But when a reflexive defense of Republican fuckery is 'well, yeah, what above the Dems...I don't know what they did, but I'm sure it's bad", it completely neuters the attempt to hold our politicians accountable for their persistent failures.

Are you so lazy you’re crowdsourcing your both-siderism? You recognize that Republicans are dogshit on the issue, and your first thought is to inquire what the Dems can be criticized for? You tell us, how are the Dem controlled leg fucking it up? What’s the email chain news saying?

Rush Limbaugh had a tail. The medical name is pilonidal cyst, but you know that thing would wag a little whenever he heard about kids getting shot.

Putin's Russia is corrupt, anti-gay, anti-Muslim, white, and has coopted the Church to advance the State. Putin kills journalists and imprisons protesters. Putin is the Republican ideal. Remember the Russian mercs the US killed in Syria in 2018? They were part of the Wagner Group, which is basically a white supremacist militia with military contracts. WW3 isn't between nations, it's between Facebook groups...a series of civil unrest. Social media has been a great tool for finding common ground with people in other countries. But, inevitably, it will weaken the loyalty to the country and strengthen loyalty to sociopolitical comrades wherever they may be.

That seems like a solid pick for a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land.

If “critical race theory” has proven one thing, it’s that the wording was never the issue with “black lives matters.” It’s not a issue of marketing or finding the right slogan. Many Americans are going to push back on the idea that racism needs to addressed. Period. There is no magical way to explain it to them.

That's too bad. He could really use the practice.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say this guy isn't very strong at math.

The dude already paid a million to become ambassador. Now he’s out 1.8 M because he...check notes...trusted Pompeo. What a dipshit.

Talk about a distillation of the rich-kid entitlement. He feels he earned the right to be governor because Daddy was in politics. The political class is aristocratic. Even W was never stupid enough to say it out loud.

The "why weren't we prepared" tactic has been the approach the GOP Reps have been taking. This was the statement from my current shitstain Rep. Don Bacon: Say you support the cops. Blame the cops for not being prepared for it. Be non-specific on where the violence originated. McConnell has already said no. This thing isn't going through the Senate. If I were the Dems, I would absolutely call their bluff. "You want an investigation into what Pelosi knew? Sure, why not. Go ahead and try to blame an 81 year old politician for not adequately directing the police. Any other requests we can accommodate before your party buries this for obvious reasons? I'll give you a fucking pony if you want; you still ain't going to allow it to happen."

Sure, like Frazier v Ali, if people gave a shit about douchebags.

Nothing says high roller orgies like the Embassy Suites. I guess the kid probably enjoyed the pool.

I really enjoyed the one on Greek history. Turns out the prof is some guiding star for neocons. Goes to show that what is interesting in the classroom can be bullshit in the real world.

Write in the bear. That's a talent Californians need in Sacramento.

Because everyone wants their own cops. In the case of the Postal Service, it's the Postal Inspection Service which has been involved in law enforcement for decades. As far as it being "covert," it is described in 2019 Annual Report, which is public, so I don't really think Matt and his band of merry morons have really uncovered anything. From the annual report: Is it likely they've overstepped their charter? Sure. Is there opportunity to consolidate with other law enforcement agencies to reduce overlap and confusion? Almost certainly. Are the Lizard People using it to pick out victims from Nana's 93rd birthday celebration? I'll never tell.