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

[Incredulity 11686]

Just now, DDD Dad said:

You're not very good at this.

Oh that's right.  Here is the real expert.

[DDD Dad 14370]

48 minutes ago, PassiveAggressiveCoach said:

OK, you may be shocked. It's measured. 

I read your post over there.  I'm not shocked, and it wasn't measured.

[InkaUtexas 26349]

5 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

To come back to the topic instead of shitty right wing Twitter disinfo, here’s the infographic of what the Taliban captured. You can’t say that a lot of this stuff is captured U.S. equipment. Most of the fixed and rotary wing aircraft were not ours— they belonged to the ANA and we hoped they’d use it to fight the Taliban. So it wasn’t ours to remove or destroy. 
 

The equipment that by far is most immediately dangerous in the hands of the Taliban and useful is the light arms, vehicles, and communications equipment. That’s the real treasure trove for their own use. Depending on the condition and availability of munitions, the artillery could be real shitty for them to have if some urban areas in the north decide to start fighting. 

 

Agree, except the spare parts for the US provided vehicles is going to be hard for sustained tactical operations. their SF groups will get them but not the rank and file. And that is smart. Hell I wish I had a HILUX. 

[DDD Dad 14370]

6 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

Oh that's right.  Here is the real expert.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4980]

7 minutes ago, DDD Dad said:

You're not very good at this.

I believe that is why he said to ask your mother about it.

[956 Worldwide 34914]

3 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

Agree, except the spare parts for the US provided vehicles is going to be hard for sustained tactical operations. their SF groups will get them but not the rank and file. And that is smart. Hell I wish I had a HILUX. 

Yeah, I should have clarified. The light trucks that can take a beating and have lots of stuff “sort of fixed” by shade tree mechanics and get parts for on the open market (or via ISI) are super useful.  They’ll get some use out of the heavier and specialized U.S. stuff but when it breaks or wears out in that climate and terrain, that’s really it for them. 

[RomaVicta 30072]

15 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

Ask your mother.  She's the expert in dingleberry tastin.

You must be a writer for that hilarious Greg Gutfeld we've all been hearing so much about.

[Pescado_Rojo 19453]

49 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

Negged again you disingenuous piece of excrement. "If it's true?" Fuck you. There is no substantiation. It even looks like some Trumpers on thread are calling bullshit. 

The credibility of your "independent" reporter? Wikepedia

She quotes Yon, a more credible military reporter who leans conservative but mainly writes about the military. But why isn't what Yon allegedly said sourced directly to him?

You can use this post as an example of how to spend ten minutes looking into a story about an alleged abduction and murder of 7 busloads of US women.

"Horrifying if true."

For most people with humanity, yes. For base, vile amateur political operatives like yourself, it's a gleeful prospect lest you would have looked into it instead of ballyhooing for political reasons.

 

A bit off-topic, but I've spent a little time with General Donahue. I work for a large tech company, but I lead a small team that sells a niche analytics product. General Donahue watched a recorded webinar of our solution somewhere and wanted to learn more about it. We had maybe 10 video calls over a few months, and I met him in person twice. Once at Ft Polk before a jump exercise he wanted our team to observe (Wanted us to see their field TOC and understand how they processed info), then again at Ft Bragg to review findings. He's a smart fucking dude and was totally prepared for our in-person meetings. He understood the product almost as well as our engineers and was very engaged and asked very good questions. He's not some tech nerd who politic'd his way to the top either. I encourage you to look at the guy's wiki bio. Certified badass. He's also got a ton of gravitas, and his men seem to love him. From NCOs to Warrants, to the LtCs that had to babysit my team at Polk, they all talked about the guy like he was a rock star.  Calling him out specifically like this makes me wonder if someone hasn't identified him as a future political threat and they're trying to get the hate machine pointed his way. 

[RomaVicta 30072]

16 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

To come back to the topic instead of shitty right wing Twitter disinfo, here’s the infographic of what the Taliban captured. You can’t say that a lot of this stuff is captured U.S. equipment. Most of the fixed and rotary wing aircraft were not ours— they belonged to the ANA and we hoped they’d use it to fight the Taliban. So it wasn’t ours to remove or destroy. 
 

The equipment that by far is most immediately dangerous in the hands of the Taliban and useful is the light arms, vehicles, and communications equipment. That’s the real treasure trove for their own use. Depending on the condition and availability of munitions, the artillery could be real shitty for them to have if some urban areas in the north decide to start fighting. 

 

What was the line in Full Metal Jacket about an ARVN rifle? 

Never fired and only dropped once. We sure knew what the hell we were doing there, didn't we.

Thanks for the sickening information.

[DonkeyCigars 143]

23 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

To come back to the topic instead of shitty right wing Twitter disinfo, here’s the infographic of what the Taliban captured. You can’t say that a lot of this stuff is captured U.S. equipment. Most of the fixed and rotary wing aircraft were not ours— they belonged to the ANA and we hoped they’d use it to fight the Taliban. So it wasn’t ours to remove or destroy. 
 

The equipment that by far is most immediately dangerous in the hands of the Taliban and useful is the light arms, vehicles, and communications equipment. That’s the real treasure trove for their own use. Depending on the condition and availability of munitions, the artillery could be real shitty for them to have if some urban areas in the north decide to start fighting. 

 

Wow.

[mchookem 16517]

1 hour ago, DonkeyCigars said:

We were actively retreating with an agreement and date to get out. That is different. I equated it above to being sucker punched or being shot in the back as you are trying to leave. You absolutely must respond to that as it is materially different, in my opinion, than being engaged in a mutual and offensive conflict and those deaths being a sad, tragic outcome of war.

Do you get that difference?

 

[Buzzrock 15026]

Yeah, I should have clarified. The light trucks that can take a beating and have lots of stuff “sort of fixed” by shade tree mechanics and get parts for on the open market (or via ISI) are super useful.  They’ll get some use out of the heavier and specialized U.S. stuff but when it breaks or wears out in that climate and terrain, that’s really it for them. 

Russia and/or China will be along directly to help them with a training and maintenance program.

[Bullneck 19315]

1 hour ago, DonkeyCigars said:

Are you sick?

Sick of you

[Bullneck 19315]

15 hours ago, Muy Frio said:

This would go on DT thread if there was an open one. These are a couple independent reporters. Horrifying if true. Surely not. 
 

 

 

15 hours ago, Bullneck said:

How exactly to you acquire 7 busloads of women, anyway? Asking for a friend.

 

And there's a congressman there, too? Which one?  Didn't a couple of them get bitched out this week for flying to Afghanistan on their own?  Someone else did it after them?

Are you going to answer my question about that congressman?  I assume you meant "U.S." congressman, right?

BTW, anyone seen Matt Gaetz lately?

[PassiveAggressiveCoach 118]

56 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

To come back to the topic instead of shitty right wing Twitter disinfo, here’s the infographic of what the Taliban captured. You can’t say that a lot of this stuff is captured U.S. equipment. Most of the fixed and rotary wing aircraft were not ours— they belonged to the ANA and we hoped they’d use it to fight the Taliban. So it wasn’t ours to remove or destroy. 
 

The equipment that by far is most immediately dangerous in the hands of the Taliban and useful is the light arms, vehicles, and communications equipment. That’s the real treasure trove for their own use. Depending on the condition and availability of munitions, the artillery could be real shitty for them to have if some urban areas in the north decide to start fighting. 

 

Looks like they know how to use the Blackhawks to hang people. 

 

[DonkeyCigars 143]

10 minutes ago, Bullneck said:

Sick of you

Keep negging then in the hopes I go away, which might make you feel better for not being able to articulate yourself or inability to discuss things without getting worked up and upset at being wrong, until the next person you disagree with comes along. I feel sorry for you.

[DonkeyCigars 143]

1 minute ago, PassiveAggressiveCoach said:

Looks like they know how to use the Blackhawks to hang people. 

 

[TwiceHorn 31681]

2 hours ago, DonkeyCigars said:

Unfortunately innocent kids died. I wouldn't call that a moral hazard as much as...maybe adverse selection? It's a tough thing, war. It's especially tougher when you are fighting a rogue, guerilla enemy without institution and fuzzy boundaries. 

IMO Biden has been a true leader and showed some true grit the last week. I get that it's easy to bag on him and the intel and whatever, but when people he is charged to lead died, he took it personal and owned their deaths and a response. And he did it in a way that neither jeopardized the retreat (unman drone strikes) and didn't present horrible optics and moral hazards (In my opinion) by not responding and signaling that the deaths were an acceptable outcome in the calculus of war (and thus giving ISIS-K a moral victory with a multiplier effect on morale, recruitment, and emotional buy-in to the terrorist movement and the underdog sensibilities of being a David to Goliath).

With the benefit of hindsight, I would not have retaliated in this way because innocent people died. I would have sought another way to retaliate or tried another day or location to try and have 0 innocent deaths. But, I resolve that retaliation was and is still the right call. 

You still must retaliate. If you don't, in this instance, with this context (in retreat and against this enemy and with the deaths of our own), then my opinion is Biden would have failed as a leader. I'm glad for American's that he responded; I'm sad for the innocent families.

Haha you got the bird from PassiveAggressiveCoach.  I guess because you said something favorable about Biden.

[DonkeyCigars 143]

4 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Haha you got the bird from PassiveAggressiveCoach.  I guess because you said something favorable about Biden.

I don't know who that guy is, but if we can't be honest and call out something that's good, even if you have some disagreements with someone or something-- what are we even doing here? Seriously, if you want to just type up your point of view and not have a discussion why come here at all? Just create a wordpress blog or something or a substack or a newsletter. 

[956 Worldwide 34914]

11 minutes ago, PassiveAggressiveCoach said:

Looks like they know how to use the Blackhawks to hang people. 

 

I really don’t know if you’re interested in actually discussing stuff, but a couple things:

1. That is a UH 60 in ANA markings, so it’s not U.S. military equipment. I don’t know what people really expected us to do with equipment we sold or gave to the ANA. Should we have taken in back or blown it up so they couldn’t have fought at all?

2. The Taliban managed to maintain a skeleton air capability the first time they took power, often by taking trained former government pilots hostages and making them fly through coercion. That could be what they are doing here, of course I can’t say for sure. 
 

This doesn’t change the fact that anyone who follows this stuff will tell you they are a beast to maintain and even highly developed countries rely on us to do it for them after purchase. Using them for a grotesque stunt while still airworthy is pretty much what they’ll be useful for. 

[TwiceHorn 31681]

1 minute ago, DonkeyCigars said:

I don't know who that guy is, but if we can't be honest and call out something that's good, even if you have some disagreements with someone or something-- what are we even doing here? Seriously, if you want to just type up your point of view and not have a discussion why come here at all? Just create a wordpress blog or something or a substack or a newsletter. 

Agreed.  Reasonable minds can differ over the appropriateness of "retaliation."  We happen to disagree.  No big deal.

I was just laughing at the absurdity of it all.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4980]

1 hour ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

I believe that is why he said to ask your mother about it.

Ahhhhhh, yes. The Cloak Room. If you are looking for a first rate example of someone who has accidentally stuck their whole forearm up their butt and is unhappy about it; well that is where you should start your journey. Nowhere else will you find a such a bunch of lowlifes lurking in the shadows waiting to neg any post that hurts their feelings without considering whether or not it was just a random mom joke.

[Muy Frio 182]

24 minutes ago, Bullneck said:

 

Are you going to answer my question about that congressman?  I assume you meant "U.S." congressman, right?

BTW, anyone seen Matt Gaetz lately?

As soon as I get that answer, I’ll circle back.

[DonkeyCigars 143]

1 minute ago, TwiceHorn said:

Agreed.  Reasonable minds can differ over the appropriateness of "retaliation."  We happen to disagree.  No big deal.

I was just laughing at the absurdity of it all.

The most absurd thing is someone like Bullneck, who I've even noticed on this board or others, throw the biggest tantrum and crying fit and neg the last 20 of my posts.

[Bullneck 19315]

30 minutes ago, Muy Frio said:

As soon as I get that answer, I’ll circle back.

OK, that was funny.

[956 Worldwide 34914]

1 hour ago, InkaUtexas said:

Agree, except the spare parts for the US provided vehicles is going to be hard for sustained tactical operations. their SF groups will get them but not the rank and file. And that is smart. Hell I wish I had a HILUX. 

Off topic but there’s so much awesome Japanese stuff we don’t get. Land Cruiser Prados or 70 series, HILUX, Mitsubishi Pajeros, older generations of the Nissan Patrol. We get either absurdly expensive luxury versions or toys like Wrangler and Bronco.  You get a Wrangler for fun trips, you get a Prado when you HAVE to overland through the bush or desert and no one is coming to help.

[DDD Dad 14370]

Looks like they know how to use the Blackhawks to hang people. 
 

Seems like a less than optimal use of limited resources.

[Pescado_Rojo 19453]

Just now, 956 Worldwide said:

Off topic but there’s so much awesome Japanese stuff we don’t get. Land Cruiser Prados or 70 series, HILUX, Mitsubishi Pajeros, older generations of the Nissan Patrol. We get either absurdly expensive luxury versions or toys like Wrangler and Bronco.  You get a Wrangler for fun trips, you get a Prado when you HAVE to overland through the bush or desert and no one is coming to help.

I'd give Brisket's left nut for a Diesel 70 series. 

[DDD Dad 14370]

50 minutes ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

Ahhhhhh, yes. The Cloak Room. If you are looking for a first rate example of someone who has accidentally stuck their whole forearm up their butt and is unhappy about it; well that is where you should start your journey. Nowhere else will you find a such a bunch of lowlifes lurking in the shadows waiting to neg any post that hurts their feelings without considering whether or not it was just a random mom joke.

Your mom something something random joke. 

[Starfleet Command 441]

This guy apparently broke the news about the last Americans leaving the airport.

 

[brakeman 28509]

[Leeroy Jenkins 2428]

Yeah apparently we are done per Axios

https://www.axios.com/us-completes-withdrawal-from-afghanistan-944b4354-e766-4632-94d0-f9f0dea12980.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_content=politics-breaking&fbclid=IwAR3S3wGcBtsjALI8DKD3W1MC7EmaIwTxPO9A9ITrbWCU2rSyKhyvDv7AP8g

Edited August 30, 2021 by Leeroy Jenkins

[Starfleet Command 441]

I never expected anything positive from this Presidency, but kudos to Joe.  He beat the blob.  

[David Dennison 19119]

 

[workswithseed 2139]

12 minutes ago, Starfleet Command said:

This guy apparently broke the news about the last Americans leaving the airport.

 

What the fuck?

[elfenix 34385]

pride parades are a blast

[VABuckeye 2472]

5 minutes ago, Starfleet Command said:

I never expected anything positive from this Presidency, but kudos to Joe.  He beat the blob.  

He also just called a black man a boy on television when addressing the FEMA effort in Louisiana.  Every four years I think it can't get worse and it does.

[Muy Frio 182]

 

[aggie08 21579]

15 minutes ago, brakeman said:

Fuck, that hurts to read. Expect the bottom number to grow as it's now official that it was all for "nothing." Awesome job, America.

[David Dennison 19119]

3 minutes ago, VABuckeye said:

He also just called a black man a boy on television when addressing the FEMA effort in Louisiana.  Every four years I think it can't get worse and it does.

He could have called him worse than that and it wouldn't be anywhere near as bad as the previous administration.

[wildcat09 29453]

Taliban and GOP will be announcing a formal alliance of some kind within 6 months.

[Starfleet Command 441]

1 minute ago, wildcat09 said:

Taliban and GOP will be announcing a formal alliance of some kind within 6 months.

The Taliban is serious though in its conservatism.  The GOP are just pretenders and cucks to capital like everyone else in charge of anything meaningful in the West.

['stache 21900]

9 minutes ago, Muy Frio said:

 

What's the deal here? Seems odd that we evacuate tens of thousands of people but couldn't fit an extra 250? Are there problems confirming that they are American? Do they even want out? Are there diplomatic issues that need to resolve to get them out? I absolutely hate vaguery like this when you know goddamned will the liars at fox and oan will lead tonight with "Biden betrays Americans, leaves them behind" when they know there has to be more to the story.

[Lagunamadre 1975]

It wasn't pretty, and I'm sure the post-mortem will shed some light on things we could have done different with the luxury of hindsight, but for now I will take solace in knowing we are finally out of the quicksand that is Afghanistan. For the first time in 20 years, there are no American service men or women on Afghan soil, and in my book, that is a really good thing.  

[Muy Frio 182]

3 minutes ago, 'stache said:

What's the deal here? Seems odd that we evacuate tens of thousands of people but couldn't fit an extra 250? Are there problems confirming that they are American? Do they even want out? Are there diplomatic issues that need to resolve to get them out? I absolutely hate vaguery like this when you know goddamned will the liars at fox and oan will lead tonight with "Biden betrays Americans, leaves them behind" when they know there has to be more to the story.

 

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12301]

3 minutes ago, 'stache said:

What's the deal here? Seems odd that we evacuate tens of thousands of people but couldn't fit an extra 250? Are there problems confirming that they are American? Do they even want out? Are there diplomatic issues that need to resolve to get them out? I absolutely hate vaguery like this when you know goddamned will the liars at fox and oan will lead tonight with "Biden betrays Americans, leaves them behind" when they know there has to be more to the story.

i like to think they are christian missionaries that chose not to leave because it's god's will that they remain.

[PassiveAggressiveCoach 118]

Just now, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

i like to think they are christian missionaries that chose not to leave because it's god's will that they remain.

Or the ones in hiding. Fortunately, there isn't a list the Taliban could use to hunt down the remaining Americans and Afghan allies. 

[Longhorn_Fan68 33917]

9 minutes ago, 'stache said:

What's the deal here? Seems odd that we evacuate tens of thousands of people but couldn't fit an extra 250? Are there problems confirming that they are American? Do they even want out? Are there diplomatic issues that need to resolve to get them out? I absolutely hate vaguery like this when you know goddamned will the liars at fox and oan will lead tonight with "Biden betrays Americans, leaves them behind" when they know there has to be more to the story.

gonna guess strategically they couldn't get them out safely or they are staying to finish an important function. Or we fucked up a little bit. 250+/- is 0.2% of the US population they were trying to evacuate. 99.8% is pretty fucking good.

['stache 21900]

From a few quotes I've seen (including one posted above) it looks like there were diplomatic issues, which could be a million things, but essentially they could not be easily taken to the airport for departure. I agree, a 99%+ rate within a matters of weeks is pretty impressive. And if the Taliban really wants to be treated as legitimate, they should be willing to work with us diplomatically on whoever didn't make it out.

[Lagunamadre 1975]

11 minutes ago, 'stache said:

What's the deal here? Seems odd that we evacuate tens of thousands of people but couldn't fit an extra 250? Are there problems confirming that they are American? Do they even want out? Are there diplomatic issues that need to resolve to get them out? I absolutely hate vaguery like this when you know goddamned will the liars at fox and oan will lead tonight with "Biden betrays Americans, leaves them behind" when they know there has to be more to the story.

I think there is a large chunk of those 250 that chose not to leave for whatever reason, duel-citizenship Afghans, Christian missionaries, Americans sympathetic to the Taliban, ambitious journalists, etc. Then I'm sure there is a large chunk that were not in Kabul, who could not make it to Kabul because of Taliban check points. I would think it is a very small number of Americans who were in Kabul who were not able to get into the airport considering the 10's of thousands that were able to make it through. Obviously, I feel terrible for any American who is stuck there who wanted to get out, but at the same time, they had many months of warning that this was coming, at some point some level of personal responsibility has to be borne by each of them. It's not like they were on vacation at Disney World and they woke up under Taliban control.