It is just the new US administration falling into the Pakistani-Chinese trap.
Taliban enter Kabul as Afghan government on brink of collapse
131–140 of 225 posts
Re: Taliban enter Kabul as Afghan government on brink of collapse
#132Earlier quoted context omitted.
I disagree that getting out is a good thing. It means a terrorist organization will control a nation and harbor terrorists once again in the future (remember the same Taliban sheltered 9/11 terrorists and is still allied with al Qaeda!). It means we lose a foothold in the region, militarily and economically. It means rivals like China expand their influence and force projection at our expense, since they plan to reco…
> a terrorist organization will control a nation those are the terrorists the US created by mercilessly bombing their civilian relatives.
The US also directly funded the mujahideen, the forebears of today's Taliban, back when they were fighting the Soviets.
Re: Taliban enter Kabul as Afghan government on brink of collapse
#133Earlier quoted context omitted.
Does china really have designs on Afghanistan? For what purpose? (I mean this as an honest question, i don't know that much of the geopolitics of the region)
Because of this: "Afghanistan may be sitting on one of the richest troves of minerals in the world, valued at nearly $1 trillion, scientists say." https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/rare-earth-afgh... The Chinese will ask no questions, will do the work, and wont bother the Taliban with annoying issues like freedom and democracy. A perfect match.
> freedom and democracy
Are you aware that one of the most cliché jokes told outside of the U.S. is some variation of "when an American says democracy, everyone ducks for cover"?
Re: Taliban enter Kabul as Afghan government on brink of collapse
#134One hopeful prospect is that the radical Taliban will alienate neighboring Iranians into moderation.
Re: Taliban enter Kabul as Afghan government on brink of collapse
#135Earlier quoted context omitted.
>>>Why would we ever pour money into such a terrible, incompetent system? Not that the US DoD is in any way a model of efficiency, but I suspect you are vastly underestimating the difficulty of the problem set. Over the past 200 years, the British, Soviet, and American empires have all failed to pacify Afghanistan. Probably the Mongols and Alexander the Great struggled too, I need to dig into the history of those cam…
Does china really have designs on Afghanistan? For what purpose? (I mean this as an honest question, i don't know that much of the geopolitics of the region)
Unchallenged access to the west
Re: Taliban enter Kabul as Afghan government on brink of collapse
#136What a failure of the US armed forces here. 20 damn years staying in the country with the only 2 goal - to help Afghans build an army and help defend themselves and to eradicate the Taliban. They failed miserably in both. Trillions spent and many lost lives. Why would we ever pour money into such a terrible, incompetent system? Of course, the cycle keeps repeating itself and we keep growing the military.
The US played a pivotal role in saving our asses over in Europe, and we are eternally grateful, but ever since, the US has been bad at war. It's not the firepower, it's not the soldiers, and it's not the organization. These are top notch. It's the **ing politicians dragging young men and women into wars not worth fighting.
US only implanted itself in europe. that was a genius move. to this day they have huge military bases there. USSR fought the decisive battles though. 80% of german war casualties where in the eastern front. US just swooped in and filled the power vacuum in western europe
Re: Taliban enter Kabul as Afghan government on brink of collapse
#137The Taliban has already entered the capital ( https://www.wsj.com/articles/afghanistans-taliban-seize-jala... ). This is an utter disaster for Biden and America. We should instead have performed a slower withdrawal and also continued to maintain a military presence permanently at Bagram field. Instead it appears China and Pakistan will welcome a new Taliban government and build new economic ties while America loses i…
Remember that it was trump who initiated departure from afghanistan, and deals were signed.
The deals mature in 20 or 30 years. Very sad bad days ahead for the locals now. Happy days once again for the globalist Prosperos at six degrees removed, eventually. Olympics 2064, Khabul? Was there a stratroot cause they could have tackled before the halfway mark over the last 20 years and realise the vision for victory, today?
Re: Taliban enter Kabul as Afghan government on brink of collapse
#138Earlier quoted context omitted.
The US played a pivotal role in saving our asses over in Europe, and we are eternally grateful, but ever since, the US has been bad at war. It's not the firepower, it's not the soldiers, and it's not the organization. These are top notch. It's the **ing politicians dragging young men and women into wars not worth fighting.
This is a very ironic comment considering that the soviets, not the US liberated Europe from Germany. They fought the hardest battles, lost the most soldiers, fought for the longer time and were first in Berlin. The public just believes otherwise because of 70 years of US propaganda [1]. The only thing US soldiers left us europeans with are a massive influx of refugees of which we have to take care of and for which w…
Ahhh, hammer and anvil. The tools are different. They look different. The purpose and effect are different, but basically useless without the other in most circumstances.
The role of the US and Russia are inextricably linked at the end of WWII and to pretend either was irrelevant, or either "really did all the work", is to simply ignore history.
Re: Taliban enter Kabul as Afghan government on brink of collapse
#139Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's a sobering assessment of US performance in Afghanistan, What we got wrong in Afghanistan [1], in The Atlantic from a few days ago. It was written by a retired veteran: Mike Jason retired in 2019 as a U.S. Army colonel, after 24 years on active duty. He commanded combat units in Germany, Kosovo, Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan. It pulls no punches and, in my opinion, is worth reading. [1] https://www.theatlantic…
Thanks, that was an interesting read. I read a book a while ago that was well researched and gave the impression that Afganistan would always belong to the Taliban. It was called "No Good Men Among the Living". https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17454723-no-good-men-amo...
Thanks for your recommendation, too. I've just read an NYT review of it [1] and am definitely going to read it. From the review:
Gopal’s book is essential reading for anyone concerned about how America got Afghanistan so wrong. It is a devastating, well-honed prosecution detailing how our government bungled the initial salvo in the so-called war on terror, ignored attempts by top Taliban leaders to surrender, trusted the wrong people and backed a feckless and corrupt Afghan regime. The book has its flaws, minimizing the role of neighboring Pakistan in the Taliban’s resurgence and letting the Taliban off too easy. But it is ultimately the most compelling account I’ve read of how Afghans themselves see the war.
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/27/books/review/no-good-men-...
Re: Taliban enter Kabul as Afghan government on brink of collapse
#140Earlier quoted context omitted.
The US played a pivotal role in saving our asses over in Europe, and we are eternally grateful, but ever since, the US has been bad at war. It's not the firepower, it's not the soldiers, and it's not the organization. These are top notch. It's the **ing politicians dragging young men and women into wars not worth fighting.
This is a very ironic comment considering that the soviets, not the US liberated Europe from Germany. They fought the hardest battles, lost the most soldiers, fought for the longer time and were first in Berlin. The public just believes otherwise because of 70 years of US propaganda [1]. The only thing US soldiers left us europeans with are a massive influx of refugees of which we have to take care of and for which w…
I suspect the OP feels the US saved them (also) from the Soviets, and that there was no need to replace one murderous ideology with another.