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

[wildcat09 29354]

10 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Poor little bitch. Can’t help that his admin he voted for fucking sucks and was just fleeced by a bunch of rock throwing Neanderthals

Afghan militants have spent generations waging pretty fucking successful combat against both us and the USSR. They're very clearly smarter than you, at the very least.

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

3 minutes ago, immamac said:

All the big brain 5head geniuses that could have withdrawn all military presence from Afghanistan and not had the Taliban take over and gotten everyone out who wanted out safely are just in the wrong line of work mmkay. The public sector pays like shit, so they have private sector jobs as CEOs of big multi-national corporations with billion dollar budgets. Using their brains to make a real difference and enrich themselves instead of using their brains to help the despicable baby blood drinking idiots in the government. 

[washparkhorn 9939]

2 hours ago, RPM said:

To quote Charlie Wilson, "These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world... and then we fucked up the end game."

We remain in the end game of Charlie Wilson's war. He and the other hawks fucked up getting involved in Afghanistan. 

Fuck him and that film celebrating his legacy. 

[Brisketexan 105130]

1 hour ago, BabaYaga said:

How about you not pull the fucking military out in the first place before abandoning the civilians.  Seems a good place to start.  As for the shit show now, do you honestly think there are not thousands of operators frothing at the mouth to locate and rescue stranded people? 

Man, this is one of my favorite brands of posts.  The purposeful use of the term "operators" -- good old fashioned inside baseball terminology, like you are a real "warfighter" who has "been in the shit."  And it's super cool, because it evokes the image of ripple-muscled heroes, with "punisher" tattoos and a hoorah git some attitude, and ain't nobody can stop 'em cuz they're American badasses! [ignoring the fact that we've sent home a shitload of bodybags filled with the bodies of our special forces]

But shit, let's indulge in your fantasy.  We turn the badasses LOOSE!  Git some, go be heroes!  Wait, what's that?  We sent out 20 missions, 3 of those teams are now pinned down and need air and/or armor support?  And 2 more of those teams had their choppers shot down/disabled?  We're gonna need more resources to go rescue them and "exfil" them.  So, let's add to our presence to do that.  In order to do THAT safely, we're going to have to expand the perimeter around HKIA.  We're gonna need more troops and armor and air support to do THAT.  Then, we have to fly in a shitload of fuel and equipment.  Then.....well, shit, we just re-invaded Afghanistan and are in another full-blown shooting war again.  Goshdarn, ain't that a pickle?

You know what it is?  It's exactly what the McMasters of the world want.  They want us to go back in, set up an occupying force, and stay.  Because our business is war, and we never close a storefront once we've opened it.

We are retreating from hostile territory.   We are going to take damage and casualties.  We always were.  The when, how, and how many may have been variables depending on multiple factors, and there are likely bad decisions that made this situation worse than it otherwise might have been......but we were always going to have troops killed on our way out.

Once you get in a horrific mess, there's no clean way out.  War, dating a crazy woman, etc., it's a universal truth.  We have to continue to GTFO, do what we reasonably can to evacuate people who can get to us, do what we can to protect our troops, and when the last plane out takes off, don't look back.

[FORTY NINE TO ZERO 2652]

15 minutes ago, Don Johnson said:

 

Sooo we gave the names and contact info of people looking to flee the taliban to the taliban?

this seems like it could backfire. 

Edited August 26, 2021 by Xian

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

19 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

This is inaccurate.

[David Dennison 18856]

 

1 minute ago, Cheeseweasel said:

It is. This war is over. We're done.

 

Edited August 26, 2021 by David Dennison

[elfenix 34238]

15 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Poor little bitch. Can’t help that his admin he voted for fucking sucks and was just fleeced by a bunch of rock throwing Neanderthals

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

Just now, David Dennison said:

 

It is. This war is over. We're done.

 

I'm sure the families of everyone who died today is comforted by your words.

[TXSG8R 3362]

14 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Poor little bitch. Can’t help that his admin he voted for fucking sucks and was just fleeced by a bunch of rock throwing Neanderthals

What does that say about the previous administration that sat down at the table with the rock throwing Neanderthals, organized the release of more rock throwing Neanderthals from prison, reduced the amount of American troops on the ground to counter to the rock throwing Neanderthals, and then ensured the next admin would either have to dramatically increase troop levels and fight a resurgent force, or leave completely?  

[washparkhorn 9939]

2 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

We are retreating from hostile territory.   We are going to take damage and casualties.  We always were.  The when, how, and how many may have been variables depending on multiple factors, and there are likely bad decisions that made this situation worse than it otherwise might have been......but we were always going to have troops killed on our way out.

Once you get in a horrific mess, there's no clean way out.  

Agree - these are the consequences of a fighting retreat.

[David Dennison 18856]

Just now, Cheeseweasel said:

I'm sure the families of everyone who died today is comforted by your words.

I doubt it.

[David Dennison 18856]

1 minute ago, washparkhorn said:

Agree - these are the consequences of a fighting retreat.

It's like no one has read War and Peace.

Napoleon fucked around and found out.

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

2 minutes ago, TXSG8R said:

What does that say about the previous administration

BUT TRUMP

[TwiceHorn 31463]

18 hours ago, Buzzrock said:

The thing is, a whole lot of that equipment was deliberately left behind for the ANA.  It wasn't just left sitting around for the Taliban to seize.

And, a big part of it is the US fucking Army had lost track of vast quantities of the stuff, so we didn't and couldn't even know what all was there.

https://taskandpurpose.com/news/taliban-weapons-afghanistan/

[TXSG8R 3362]

2 minutes ago, washparkhorn said:

Agree - these are the consequences of a fighting retreat.

I think anyone in uniform would prefer a fighting retreat over what they have to deal with.  I still dont know what the hell we are going to do to secure those final cattle cars of troops.  I do know there are probably a few pallets of white phosphorous grenades that got shipped in to prepare for that final movement though.  

[Tuco 5076]

56 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

They were TOLD repeatedly that things were fine and there was no reason to worry.  You don't leave for the airport a month in advance when your leader tells you there is nothing to worry about.  The point you refuse to address. 

Then when shit hits the fan, catching the admin off guard, how the hell do you think the civilians knew what to do?  They're fucking civilians who were repeatedly told all is well.  Then out of the bull shit goes sideways, and the only notice they get is to get to the airport, but you are on your own.  Then they're told NOT to go to the airport, and now they are stuck.  

Jesus you're a fucking clown.  Please tell me where anybody said there was no reason for Americans to worry about staying in Afghanistan after the US military pulled out.  Seriously, go fuck yourself.  

[TexArcher 37774]

The gloating from Republicans on this is sickening.

We were there for the last 20 years because of GWB and Cheney.  Iraq too, and they didn't even have anything to do with 9/11.  We killed over half a million Iraqis.  That's a real number.  And now, all of a sudden, y'all give a shit about dead American soldiers and Afghan civilians?

Go fuck yourselves, you transparent hacks.

Edited August 26, 2021 by TexArcher

[David Dennison 18856]

1 minute ago, TexArcher said:

The gloating from Republicans on this is sickening.

We were there for the last 20 years because of GWB and Cheney.  And now, all of a sudden, y'all give a shit about dead American soldiers and Afghan civilians?

Go fuck yourselves, you transparent hacks.

They would have totally not fucked everything up even worse.

[TXSG8R 3362]

1 minute ago, TwiceHorn said:

The thing is, a whole lot of that equipment was deliberately left behind for the ANA.  It wasn't just left sitting around for the Taliban to seize.

And, a big part of it is the US fucking Army had lost track of vast quantities of the stuff, so we didn't and couldn't even know what all was there.

https://taskandpurpose.com/news/taliban-weapons-afghanistan/

The beauty of our equipment is that without direct support most of it will be useless in about a month.  The Taliban just acquired a massive starving baby that they have no ability to feed.  

[Muy Frio 182]

22 minutes ago, Don Johnson said:

 

Bold move, Cotton. 
 

32 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

This is inaccurate.

Excuses will be made. 
 

 

[wildcat09 29354]

4 minutes ago, TexArcher said:

The gloating from Republicans on this is sickening.

We were there for the last 20 years because of GWB and Cheney.  Iraq too, and they didn't even have anything to do with 9/11.  We killed over half a million Iraqis.  That's a real number.  And now, all of a sudden, y'all give a shit about dead American soldiers and Afghan civilians?

Go fuck yourselves, you transparent hacks.

Republicans spend so much time pretending to care about things as justification for why they hate liberals that they can't even remember what they actually care about and what they only pretend to care about.

[David Dennison 18856]

1 minute ago, TXSG8R said:

The beauty of our equipment is that without direct support most of it will be useless in about a month.  The Taliban just acquired a massive starving baby that they have no ability to feed.  

Something tells me they won't be able to reach the help desk when the software goes on the fritz.

[Brisketexan 105130]

8 minutes ago, Cheeseweasel said:

I'm sure the families of everyone who died today is comforted by your words.

The families of American soldiers who WON'T die in a continued and protracted fight because goddammit, nobody messes with the USA and we'll show THEM -- well, I think they're quite comforted.

I don't want 12 dead American Marines.

I sure as shit don't want another 112 dead American Marines, soldiers, and airmen.  We are getting the fuck out.  We should continue to do so.

7 minutes ago, washparkhorn said:

Agree - these are the consequences of a fighting retreat.

Bingo.  There WILL be casualties.  But whatever the amount of those casualties will be, keeping our presence there in combat operations is guaranteed to add to the count.

2 minutes ago, TexArcher said:

The gloating from Republicans on this is sickening.

We were there for the last 20 years because of GWB and Cheney.  And now, all of a sudden, y'all give a shit about dead American soldiers and Afghan civilians?

Go fuck yourselves, you transparent hacks.

And a whole lot of this.  Want to avoid the nasty breakup with the crazy chick?  Don't start dating her.  Want to avoid a nasty retreat from hostile territory that we never could fully pacify?  Then don't occupy hostile territory that millennia of history told us we never could fully pacify.  But we did.  So we were always going to have a nasty breakup.  There may be things we did/could have done that made the nasty breakup better/worse than it otherwise would have been, but stop with the delusion that this was going to be anything but nasty in the end.

[TXSG8R 3362]

3 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

Something tells me they won't be able to reach the help desk when the software goes on the fritz.

Hummers break down driving 30mph on paved roads every day.  The defense industrial complex didn't get this big by building shit that is cheap or easy to maintain.  

[BabaYaga 15296]

9 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Man, this is one of my favorite brands of posts.  The purposeful use of the term "operators" -- good old fashioned inside baseball terminology, like you are a real "warfighter" who has "been in the shit."  And it's super cool, because it evokes the image of ripple-muscled heroes, with "punisher" tattoos and a hoorah git some attitude, and ain't nobody can stop 'em cuz they're American badasses! [ignoring the fact that we've sent home a shitload of bodybags filled with the bodies of our special forces]

Or, you know,  it refers to members of the elite communities that would be utilized vs. base infantry or Marines.  Maybe use the term "special ops" makes you feel better?  

Quote

But shit, let's indulge in your fantasy.  We turn the badasses LOOSE!  Git some, go be heroes!  Wait, what's that?  We sent out 20 missions, 3 of those teams are now pinned down and need air and/or armor support?  And 2 more of those teams had their choppers shot down/disabled?  We're gonna need more resources to go rescue them and "exfil" them.  So, let's add to our presence to do that.  In order to do THAT safely, we're going to have to expand the perimeter around HKIA.  We're gonna need more troops and armor and air support to do THAT.  Then, we have to fly in a shitload of fuel and equipment.  Then.....well, shit, we just re-invaded Afghanistan and are in another full-blown shooting war again.  Goshdarn, ain't that a pickle?

Or you don't pull military assets out of key locations until civilians are secure

Quote

You know what it is?  It's exactly what the McMasters of the world want.  They want us to go back in, set up an occupying force, and stay.  Because our business is war, and we never close a storefront once we've opened it.

There's the talking point that won't die - even though polling shows the VAST majority of Americans want us out.  Polling also indicates Biden's plummeting approval for HOW he got us out, which again is the entire point of this thread

Quote

We are retreating from hostile territory.   We are going to take damage and casualties.  We always were. 

No we fucking aren't.  A retreating army doesn't get to pick the time and place of when and where to leave from.  We hadn't had a SINGLE casualty for 18 months.  Jesus this is stupid.  

Quote

Once you get in a horrific mess, there's no clean way out.

Again, the point of the thread and the idiot in charge who put us into this mess.  Who pulled the military out too soon.  Who ignored repeated intel reports about the ANA and Taliban strength.  Who abandoned our best airfield that was easy to defend against the advice of his generals.  This entire shit down is on the current admin and his ratings show this out as much as you want to goal tend for them so they could claim a photo op on the 9/11 anniversary, which is all this boils down to - hitting a certain date

[David Dennison 18856]

1 minute ago, BabaYaga said:

Or, you know,  it refers to members of the elite communities that would be utilized vs. base infantry or Marines.  Maybe use the term "special ops" makes you feel better?  

Or you don't pull military assets out of key locations until civilians are secure

There's the talking point that won't die - even though polling shows the VAST majority of Americans want us out.  Polling also indicates Biden's plummeting approval for HOW he got us out, which again is the entire point of this thread

No we fucking aren't.  A retreating army doesn't get to pick the time and place of when and where to leave from.  We hadn't had a SINGLE casualty for 18 months.  Jesus this is stupid.  

Again, the point of the thread and the idiot in charge who put us into this mess.  Who pulled the military out too soon.  Who ignored repeated intel reports about the ANA and Taliban strength.  Who abandoned our best airfield that was easy to defend against the advice of his generals.  This entire shit down is on the current admin and his ratings show this out as much as you want to goal tend for them so they could claim a photo op on the 9/11 anniversary, which is all this boils down to - hitting a certain date

It doesn't matter.

We're done.

[BabaYaga 15296]

6 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

I don't want 12 dead American Marines.

I sure as shit don't want another 112 dead American Marines, soldiers, and airmen.  We are getting the fuck out.  We should continue to do so.

What about a few hundred or possible thousand dead civilians?  We just going to right them off as collateral damage?  They made their bed.  All the other new talking points that provide cover for this monumental shit show?

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

The gloating from Republicans on this is sickening.
We were there for the last 20 years because of GWB and Cheney.  Iraq too, and they didn't even have anything to do with 9/11.  We killed over half a million Iraqis.  That's a real number.  And now, all of a sudden, y'all give a shit about dead American soldiers and Afghan civilians?
Go fuck yourselves, you transparent hacks.

Nobody’s fucking gloating. This isn’t left vs right or (shouldn’t) be pointing fingers . This is joe Biden telling everyone that the talibans take over of Kabul was not inevitable. Even though at the time he said that, they already were. This is joe bidens failure to slow them down. He sat on his hands and now evidently some Americans(servicemen) got blown up because it turned to chaos.


Fuck you

[BabaYaga 15296]

2 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

It doesn't matter.

Sums up your position perfectly

[David Dennison 18856]

Just now, BabaYaga said:

What about a few hundred or possible thousand dead civilians?  We just going to right them off as collateral damage?  They made their bed.  All the other new talking points that provide cover for this monumental shit show?

Yes, that is exactly what we are going to do. That's what we've been doing for 20 years. 

[David Dennison 18856]

1 minute ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Nobody’s fucking gloating. This isn’t left vs right or (shouldn’t) be pointing fingers . This is joe Biden telling everyone that the talibans take over of Kabul was not inevitable. Even though at the time he said that, they already were. This is joe bidens failure to slow them down. He sat on his hands and now evidently some Americans(servicemen) got blown up because it turned to chaos.


Fuck you

It was always going to be this way. That's why no one wanted to do it.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

Republicans spend so much time pretending to care about things as justification for why they hate liberals that they can't even remember what they actually care about and what they only pretend to care about.

Deflecting from the shit show is in the CR troubleshoot guide. You voted for this lid calling idiot who runs to the back room when questions are asked.

Fuck you

[smuggs 9353]

28 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

...like you are a real "warfighter" who has "been in the shit." 

 

[TXSG8R 3362]

2 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

Or, you know,  it refers to members of the elite communities that would be utilized vs. base infantry or Marines.  Maybe use the term "special ops" makes you feel better?  

Or you don't pull military assets out of key locations until civilians are secure

There's the talking point that won't die - even though polling shows the VAST majority of Americans want us out.  Polling also indicates Biden's plummeting approval for HOW he got us out, which again is the entire point of this thread

No we fucking aren't.  A retreating army doesn't get to pick the time and place of when and where to leave from.  We hadn't had a SINGLE casualty for 18 months.  Jesus this is stupid.  

Again, the point of the thread and the idiot in charge who put us into this mess.  Who pulled the military out too soon.  Who ignored repeated intel reports about the ANA and Taliban strength.  Who abandoned our best airfield that was easy to defend against the advice of his generals.  This entire shit down is on the current admin and his ratings show this out as much as you want to goal tend for them so they could claim a photo op on the 9/11 anniversary, which is all this boils down to - hitting a certain date

The troop levels were reduced prior to Biden taking office.  You know whats impossible with reduced troop levels?  Maintaining a defensive posture at multiple locations.  2500 troops at one airfield is a hell of a lot more imposing than 500 troops spread across 5 locations.  The previous admin forced the Afghan gov't to release 5k Taliban fighters from prison, knowing we only had 2500 troops on the ground.  The Taliban is a 60k+ troop army.  Stop with the bullshit.  

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

It was always going to be this way. That's why no one wanted to do it.

The worlds most powerful country can and should’ve noticed things changing rapidly. Keep telling yourself that the only way the Americans start evacuating is when they’re 50 KM away after spending the last 4 months taking over the country

[David Dennison 18856]

Just now, MNLonghornFUKM said:

The worlds most powerful country can and should’ve noticed things changing rapidly. Keep telling yourself that the only way the Americans start evacuating is when they’re 50 KM away after spending the last 4 months taking over the country

You mean the world's most powerful country that created this situation in the first place? That world's most powerful country?

[immamac 42849]

1 minute ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

The worlds most powerful country can and should’ve noticed things changing rapidly. Keep telling yourself that the only way the Americans start evacuating is when they’re 50 KM away after spending the last 4 months taking over the country

You should join the military man, you seem like you have all the answers. Can you run for president?

[TexArcher 37774]

6 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Fuck you

Your mom fucks me.

 

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

42 minutes ago, Bullneck said:

This is an ironic post. Or satire. Can’t tell you the difference. 
 

what he’s saying is we need to do the impossible.  

It was pointed out that he was being sarcastic.  I missed that, you ever know today what someone really means sometimes. 

[Brisketexan 105130]

4 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

Or, you know,  it refers to members of the elite communities that would be utilized vs. base infantry or Marines.  Maybe use the term "special ops" makes you feel better?  

It's a better term. But your choice of terminology says a good bit.  And treating them like superheroes who can solve all of our problems with their superhuman exploits is just more jingoistic fantasy.  Green Berets and Seals get shot dead and blown up just like regular troops do.  It's happened a lot.

5 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

Or you don't pull military assets out of key locations until civilians are secure

Lemme translate that: "you keep targets around."  As all of the facts shake out, I suspect that I will agree that we should have made more of an effort to get citizens and SIV types out of there before the pullout.  I think that a good bit of that has to do with the rapid collapse of the regime and the ANA.  We counted on the ANA (or the ARVN, if you like your historical references) to cover our asses.  That was a bad bet.  I think it was even an unwise bet, because people decided to believe optimistic intel instead of the pessimistic intel.  But the fact remains.....the closer you get to the end date, the more our concentrations of troops are going to be attractive targets for bad guys.

8 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

There's the talking point that won't die - even though polling shows the VAST majority of Americans want us out.  Polling also indicates Biden's plummeting approval for HOW he got us out, which again is the entire point of this thread

It's a talking point that won't die because the end-point of every fantastical "we should totally do X!  Send in the OPERATORS!" wet dream is a ramped-up presence that is a feedback loop.  We need more troops to cover our retreat.  So we can't retreat those troops that our covering our retreat.  And when we do pull out those troops, we need more troops to cover their retreat.

10 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

No we fucking aren't.  A retreating army doesn't get to pick the time and place of when and where to leave from.  We hadn't had a SINGLE casualty for 18 months.  Jesus this is stupid.  

Huh?  Of course they get to pick that.  It may be from a more or less limited menu, but yes, we were always going to dwindle to a single point of final retreat.  And we were always going to be vulnerable.  And there are bad guys who would like to take out Americans roaming about.  We haven't suffered casualties for the past 18 months because we were there to prop up a local force that tamped down flare-ups, and the next larger local force (the Taliban) wants us to GTFO.  But as shit descends into chaos, shit blows up.  It's what happens.

Oh, and Biden was dumb as shit to say the "we won't have a helicopters on the embassy roof like Saigon" comment.  There was always going to be something like that.  maybe not at the embassy, but somewhere, somehow, we were going to bug out with shit blowing up behind us.  It's Afghanistan.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

Your mom fucks me.
 

Ruined my day

[TwiceHorn 31463]

16 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

Or you don't pull military assets out of key locations until civilians are secure

Quote

Wait, you mean your boy Trump didn't draw down troops to 2500 by January?  https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2473337/statement-by-acting-defense-secretary-christopher-miller-on-force-levels-in-afg/  And, yes, I know there were another 1,000 operators or covert troops there.  It still wasn't enough to impose order on this situation, and run Bagram, and Karzai, and provide roaming security as 1000s of NGO people make their way to Kabul.

It really wasn't the act of withdrawing those troops that set this off.  It was the fact that we announced the intention to leave and commenced leaving.

And, if you think Biden, or Trump for that matter, was going to send another few battalions of troops back to cover the evacuation before something like this happened. you're insane.

Edited August 26, 2021 by TwiceHorn

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

You should join the military man, you seem like you have all the answers. Can you run for president?

Eh doubt it. But holy shit if this happened under trumps watch, this place would be on fire

[BabaYaga 15296]

7 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

Yes, that is exactly what we are going to do.

At least your abhorrently honest 

Quote

That's what we've been doing for 20 years. 

We've been abandoning western civilians for 20 years?

[Brisketexan 105130]

10 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

What about a few hundred or possible thousand dead civilians?  We just going to right them off as collateral damage?  They made their bed.  All the other new talking points that provide cover for this monumental shit show?

Cool.  I want to save the world.  No shit, I really do.  Every time I read a story about a car bomb in a market, or mass starvation, or any of that awful, horrific shit that our world is full of, I want us to rescue everyone.

How many American troops are you willing to sacrifice to do that?  Give us a number, please.  We can get any result you want (except victory in Afghanistan, of course - that ship sailed 1,000 years ago).  All it costs is blood and treasure.  How many more dead American troops are we willing to take to get everyone out?

8 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

It was always going to be this way. That's why no one wanted to do it.

A whole lot of this.

There was never going to be a clean, easy exit from Afghanistan.  This admin may have made it messier than it had to have been, but the magical thinking that "if the admin had just put me in charge, I'd have gotten everyone out, easy peasy, and no casualties!" is absolutely absurd.  But then, we live in absurd times.

[David Dennison 18856]

1 minute ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Eh doubt it. But holy shit if this happened under trumps watch, this place would be on fire

It would be much, much worse. But he didn't follow through with his decision.

[BabaYaga 15296]

1 minute ago, Brisketexan said:

It's a better term. But your choice of terminology says a good bit.  And treating them like superheroes who can solve all of our problems with their superhuman exploits is just more jingoistic fantasy.  Green Berets and Seals get shot dead and blown up just like regular troops do.  It's happened a lot.

No shit.  They are also specifically trained for these types of recovery missions.

 

3 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

And there are bad guys who would like to take out Americans roaming about.  We haven't suffered casualties for the past 18 months because we were there to prop up a local force that tamped down flare-ups, and the next larger local force (the Taliban) wants us to GTFO.  But as shit descends into chaos, shit blows up.  It's what happens.

Two things - first, the trapped NGOs are the main problem and helpfully will not be slaughtered by the thousands which is a very real possibility. 

Second, it's chaos because of the idiotic location.  It's a fucking bowl surrounded on all sides by mountains with no means to secure it.  The generals all told him to NOT give up Bagram as it was much, much easier to secure while providing support for any units in the area.  You can point to this single fuckup as one of the largest drivers for why the ANA gave up, facilitating this chaotic nightmare.

[David Dennison 18856]

4 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

We've been abandoning western civilians for 20 years?

The United States of America has a long history of doing anything in furtherance of its national interest.

 

[TXSG8R 3362]

1 minute ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Eh doubt it. But holy shit if this happened under trumps watch, this place would be on fire

That is absolutely true.  Anyone that stuck their neck out for this was going to eat a gigantic shit sandwich because there was no good way to leave that country.  Trump ran on this and had 4 years to do it, but when push came to shove he passed the buck but still wanted credit if things went well (see below).  Even in the best case scenario Biden knew that people were going to die and they would hang all of this shit around his neck, and he went forward anyway.