Afghan War ending, foretold by The Onion 10 years Ago [DT thread ruined by politics]

[Hornius Emeritus 12517]

9 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Except when he ignored Afghanistan after the Russians left and allowed the Taliban to take over in the first place.

Screw your imperial hubris. There was nothing he could have done that would have been acceptable to the American people at that time to prevent them from taking over. 

[Hmbre97 6333]

It appears the Taliban's "Make Afghanistan Great Again" plan is ahead of schedule. 

[DDD Dad 14395]

14 minutes ago, Hornius Emeritus said:

I am on record on Hornfans as saying before we invaded that it was going to be a bloody, costly mistake.  Then my cousin was very nearly killed in Baghdad by a RPG in 2004. Three years later, the young man who saved my cousin's life was killed by a roadside bomb.

I refuse to own this. 

 

[WhatTheBuck 28851]

5 minutes ago, Hornius Emeritus said:

imperial hubris.

Charlie Wilson disagrees. We washed our hands and walked away.

Interesting choice of words, though. Have you read the book by that title? That was my doorway into a whole lot of reading about the second Bush administration and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

[Js1 85911]

1 hour ago, Aqua Buddha said:

I like how this is Bush’s war that Trump promised to exit but didn’t and it’s Joe Biden’s fault for doing it wrong.

Republicans acting like this exit would have been smoother and less awful under Trump are deluding themselves.   The Taliban was going to take over if we left 10 years ago, on May 1 under Trump or in 10 years.  

[Hornius Emeritus 12517]

17 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Charlie Wilson disagrees. We washed our hands and walked away.

Interesting choice of words, though. Have you read the book by that title? That was my doorway into a whole lot of reading about the second Bush administration and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Of course. It was fantastic. That's why I chose those words.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

1 hour ago, Aqua Buddha said:

I like how this is Bush’s war that Trump promised to exit but didn’t and it’s Joe Biden’s fault for doing it wrong.

Is it Mr. Bidens fault ?  How he's doing it is pretty bad, but that he's getting out isn't his fault.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

4 hours ago, RexWilson said:

If my family was willing to sponsor a refugee family, how do you do that? I started a google search but couldn't figure out a clear path.

Post the intel you gather if you can.

[JimmyJames 12271]

We should have left 15 years ago. Instead we invaded Iraq. 
 

Trillions wasted. 

[Homercles 10206]

My understanding is that there never has and never will be a central ‘government’ in the traditional sense.  There are so many tribes, allegiances, families, foreigners and other loose organizations there…many of which have gone on for centuries…that whoever is present and has the most cohesive ability to enforce rules is who maintains the power.  
 

How can you expect to successfully manage that position?  A country that has never known (or appeared to want) a ‘modern’ lifestyle and centralized identity/system of governance, will not fight to (re)gain one.  Germany, and to a lesser extent Japan, had the recent memories of a peaceful and organized system to revert back to…they just needed a model change away from authoritarian, war-driven cult of personalities.  

ISIS cannot recognize a state, as to do so goes against their requirement of a worldwide caliphate.  The Taliban at least appear to do so, and even if their own is a brutally fundamentalist horror show, at least it can be a somewhat cohesive unit.  I’d love to see them turned against China in some proxy fashion, as a way to divert resources away from their growing dominance in the region…maybe that’s the next empire to lay waste there (though I’m not sure how that’d happen except via some regional conflict that they feel inclined to engage in). 
 

Shoulda been a special forces / air power playground of hunting down extremist leadership to keep their influence local and in check…seems once a commitment of large amounts of regular forces got involved, the end was written (as believe been stated here before).   I have nothing but appreciation for those who served, and gave so much to fight over there on endless tours.  
 

Then again I’m not a vet and not qualified to do anything but sit here in the safety of my shitter posting opinions with you assholes.  

[Aqua Buddha 14671]

On March 5, 1975 the CIA and US Army Intelligence predicted South Vietnam could hold out until mid 1976.  On March 10th, the North Vietnamese army started marching towards Saigon.  By April 27, they has surrounded Saigon with the South Vietnamese army essentially melting away.  On April 30, the North Vietnamese Army began their attack.  At 10:24 am, the South Vietnamese surrendered.  The Vietnam War was over.  Twenty years of American blood and treasure went poof.

Sound familiar?

[WhatTheBuck 28851]

24 minutes ago, Hornius Emeritus said:

Of course. It was fantastic. That's why I chose those words.

I think you either have to believe that we shirked our responsibilities to the Afghans after the Russians left or that it was wrong to arm and support the mujahideen in the first place. You can’t have it both ways. I think history proves that.

And yeah, that’s a great book. Currently I’m taking this little trip down memory lane:

[Beantown Express 2.0 6568]

3 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

On March 5, 1975 the CIA and US Army Intelligence predicted South Vietnam could hold out until mid 1976.  On March 10th, the North Vietnamese army started marching towards Saigon.  By April 27, they has surrounded Saigon with the South Vietnamese army essentially melting away.  On April 30, the North Vietnamese Army began their attack.  At 10:24 am, the South Vietnamese surrendered.  The Vietnam War was over.  Twenty years of American blood and treasure went poof.

Sound familiar?

I posted something about this on the Biden thread.  We should blame Gerald Ford for the Vietnam War based on many peoples reactions today towards Biden.

[DDD Dad 14395]

Is it Mr. Bidens fault ?  How he's doing it is pretty bad

And the finger pointing commences.

[DDD Dad 14395]

Airport at Kabul is a shit show.

Can we not airlift people out of the country and process visas out of the country ?

[DDD Dad 14395]

Fuck. Kabul already overrun by the taliban?!? That was fast.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

8 minutes ago, DDD Dad said:

And the finger pointing commences.

Your creative editing of my post is ridiculous. He is not doing a good job with the pull out, meaning it's looking like he took the wrong advice, and assessment of his military, and political advisors, but the situation in, and of itself isn't his fault.

[DDD Dad 14395]

Your creative editing of my post is ridiculous. He is not doing a good job with the pull out, meaning it's looking like he took the wrong advice, and assessment of his military, and political advisors, but the situation in, and of itself isn't his fault.

My point is that you are criticizing him.

Stop fucking finger pointing.

This is a tragedy for the Afghan people on a huge scale.

We as the western world have utterly failed them.

Period.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

22 minutes ago, DDD Dad said:

My point is that you are criticizing him.

Stop fucking finger pointing.

This is a tragedy for the Afghan people on a huge scale.

We as the western world have utterly failed them.

Period.

No I won't that's my prerogative as a citizen, and I don't think it's really gonna affect the situation one way or another.  So... on your way brah...

 

[52-80 19287]

7 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Quite probably. But there’s not much we can do….

Theres tons of things we can do. We can recognize that their voices are important and respect their culture. We can commend the POTUS for the clarity of purpose of his statement and his action. We can make the Taliban know that the world is watching its actions. 

[DDD Dad 14395]

No I won't that's my prerogative as a citizen, and I don't think it's really gonna affect the situation one way or another.  So... on your way brah...
 

Ok cool. Hook em.

Note that I’ve not tried to deflect the current administration’s handling of this by referring to any other administration but you do you.

Keep it up. Your approach is only adding to the problem.

Also, I try to avoid neg repping but you’re asking for it.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

13 minutes ago, DDD Dad said:

Ok cool. Hook em.

Note that I’ve not tried to deflect the current administration’s handling of this by referring to any other administration but you do you.

Keep it up. Your approach is only adding to the problem.

Whatever man, go away.  

 

EDIT:  Jesus dude fuck you to. This is the CR and people talk politics, and complain about, and politicians.

Edited August 15, 2021 by Onboard 2.0

[JimmyJames 12271]

Shrub got us in this mess. Obama killed Bin Ladin. Trump promised to end the endless wars, didn’t, and wanted to invite the taliban to camp David on 9-11. Signs a ridiculous deal. Biden then nuts up and finally gets us out.

See a pattern here?

Edited August 15, 2021 by JimmyJames

[Brisketexan 105692]

Theres tons of things we can do. We can recognize that their voices are important and respect their culture. We can commend the POTUS for the clarity of purpose of his statement and his action. We can make the Taliban know that the world is watching its actions. 

So….like I said….not much.

Maybe we can replace the Space Force with a “Write a strongly worded letter” force.” That should do it.

[Murfdogg21 4492]

It’s time.

[JimmyJames 12271]

The republicans are basically just a bunch of toddlers shitting their pants and throwing food on the floor which then causes the Democratic Party, ie the adults to have to come in and clean up the mess. Afghanistan is just the latest example.

[DDD Dad 14395]

14 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Whatever man, go away.  

 

EDIT:  Jesus dude fuck you to. This is the CR and people talk politics, and complain about, and politicians.

I mean, you asked me to neg  you. What did you expect. I just complied. 

[JimmyJames 12271]

20 minutes ago, 52-80 said:

Theres tons of things we can do. We can recognize that their voices are important and respect their culture. We can commend the POTUS for the clarity of purpose of his statement and his action. We can make the Taliban know that the world is watching its actions. 

Platitudes don’t accomplish jack shit. 

[DDD Dad 14395]

Republicans, Democrats, UN, Whitehall. 
 

there’s plenty of blame to throw at everyone. 
 

there's a human crisis unfolding in front of us and everyone is sitting on their hands. 
 

FUCK!

 

let’s point fingers at each other; that seems to be productive. 

Edited August 16, 2021 by DDD Dad

[Telegraph_it 3374]

At least we have memes.

edit: should probably add a few more folks to the couch.  

 

Edited August 15, 2021 by Telegraph_it

[Hookah Horns 3083]

It's pretty amazing that just 4 days ago "US intelligence" said Kabul could be isolated in 30 days and potentially taken over in as little as 90 days. Solid analysis. 

[Hookah Horns 3083]

 

🥺

[3adays 454]

Uh, does this mean the bad guys won? Chilling in the Presidential palace.

 

[bad_teammate 13340]

we must continue foreverwar to justify starting the foreverwar

[HenryJames 66366]

Neocons might want to sit this one out.

[FORTY NINE TO ZERO 2645]

Fuck y’all trying to make this political. The war should have ended a decade ago. Hell, we can pretty much all agree we should have left the moment OBL was killed. Some can a even argue we never should have invaded in the first place (though this is less clear cut than the disaster that is Iraqi invasion). 
 

that said, our pullout is an absolute shit show.  Everyone has known for months we were leaving by September at the latest, why was getting our allies out not expedited?    Biden’s decision to leave was great. The actual process is a disaster that will cost countless live and is just one black eye in an absolute disaster of a “war”. 

Edited August 16, 2021 by Xian

[David Dennison 19138]

So it looks like the White House and Democratic allies are going to blame everything on the Afghan Security Forces and be done with it.

That will probably work.

[Muy Frio 182]

 

 

Edited August 16, 2021 by Muy Frio

[Laxtonto 12785]

The history of this region going back for Millennia is wars are fought from March to October. 
 

Anyone want to explain to me why we decided to do a troop draw down and final pull out (when we would be at our most vulnerable from a political and visual aspect ) while we are still in this window?

 

Trump wanted to get it done in before the spring. He lost and it didn’t happen.  Why did we still move forward on this insane timeline instead of waiting?

This failure falls completely on the current administration for not having a plan.  The lack of understanding of the culture and political climate of this region is the reason this failure is happening now. There is no other explanation for how poorly this is playing out.

Edited August 16, 2021 by Laxtonto

[JimmyJames 12271]

4 minutes ago, Laxtonto said:

The history of this region going back for Millennia is wars are fought from March to October. 
 

Anyone want to explain to me why we decided to do a troop draw down and final pull out (when we would be at our most vulnerable from a political and visual aspect ) while we are still in this window?

 

Trump wanted to get it done in before the spring. He lost and it didn’t happen.  Why did we still move forward on this insane timeline instead of waiting?

This failure falls completely on the current administration for not having a plan.  The lack of understanding of the culture and political climate of this region is the reason this failure is happening now. There is no other explanation for how handle this playing out.

If he really wanted it to happen then maybe trump should have withdrawn last December while he was still president.

I guess he was too busy planning his coup though.

[6th Street 6609]

The Afghan Forces had access to advanced weaponry, heavy munitions, armed humvees, chinooks, and advanced drones and didn't even raise a finger when the Tallies rolled through. I mean you can lead a horse to water...

[David Dennison 19138]

6 minutes ago, Laxtonto said:

The history of this region going back for Millennia is wars are fought from March to October. 
 

Anyone want to explain to me why we decided to do a troop draw down and final pull out (when we would be at our most vulnerable from a political and visual aspect ) while we are still in this window?

 

Trump wanted to get it done in before the spring. He lost and it didn’t happen.  Why did we still move forward on this insane timeline instead of waiting?

This failure falls completely on the current administration for not having a plan.  The lack of understanding of the culture and political climate of this region is the reason this failure is happening now. There is no other explanation for how handle this playing out.

The administration wanted to be out by the 20th anniversary of 9/11. 

[Aqua Buddha 14671]

15 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

So it looks like the White House and Democratic allies are going to blame everything on the Afghan Security Forces and be done with it.

That will probably work.

Joe Biden didn’t exit Bush and Trump’s war properly.

[Message Board User 12397]

Some Dallas housewives are using this as an opportunity to act out their porn fantasies...

[David Dennison 19138]

1 minute ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Joe Biden didn’t exit Bush and Trump’s war properly.

Obama's, too.

[Aqua Buddha 14671]

Just now, David Dennison said:

Obama's, too.

Donald Trump bitched about Afghanistan for 10 years and did nothing except agreeing to exit under Biden.  Why didn’t Trump do it?

[Message Board User 12397]

4 hours ago, Lobwedgephil said:

We are now sending 7,000 troops to evacuate our people, not sure they will get there in time. This is up from 4,000 a few days ago. 

Maybe a stupid question, but now that the Taliban has taken over the capital, do we even have the ability to put 7000 troops on the ground to evac all our people without it being a full combat operation?

[Beantown Express 2.0 6568]

38 minutes ago, Hookah Horns said:

It's pretty amazing that just 4 days ago "US intelligence" said Kabul could be isolated in 30 days and potentially taken over in as little as 90 days. Solid analysis. 

Does the timeline really matter though?   I mean whether it took 30-90 days or 30-90 minutes for Kabul to fall it was going to happen either way and people would bitch about it no matter how quickly it happened. We may have messed up the pullout at this point but it was bound to be a shit show no matter what we did and the Taliban were going to regain control.  I feel bad for the people of Afghanistan but let’s remember that there are countries where people are treated like crap by brutal regimes all over Asia, Africa, South America, etc… and we unfortunately can’t invade all of these countries and get rid of the bad guys either.  The world has some evil people that gain power and do evil things and you can’t just blame the United States.  Not that we don’t do bad stuff also and screw things up diplomatically sometimes but Afghanistan falling to the Taliban is not the United States fault.  If we never went in 20 years ago I am guessing the Taliban would have been in power for the past 20 years and still going strong.

[David Dennison 19138]

1 minute ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Donald Trump bitched about Afghanistan for 10 years and did nothing except agreeing to exit under Biden.  Why didn’t Trump do it?

Because he didn't want to be blamed for what's happening right now.

 

[babysdaddy 2730]

What a ducking disaster. Incompetence across the board.