nivek
As Above So Below
Back during that situation and war in Vietnam wasn't most Americans really really sick of that war to the point that many had mass protests in the streets, some violent, condemning the war and demanding a pullout?...
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Back during that situation and war in Vietnam wasn't most Americans really really sick of that war to the point that many had mass protests in the streets, some violent, condemning the war and demanding a pullout?...
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nivek
As Above So Below
Wow, I hope there weren't any small tactile nukes in that weapons cache they got...
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White House admits 'fair amount' of US equipment in Afghanistan in Taliban hands
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Tuesday that a "fair amount" of U.S. weaponry had fallen into the hands of the Taliban since the hard-line Islamic militant group's rapid takeover Afghanistan in recent days.
During a White House press briefing, Sullivan was ask what will happen with the billions of dollars in equipment, including guns, ammunition, helicopters, and more, given to the Afghanistan government in the two decades before its collapse.
"We don't have a complete picture, obviously, of where every article of defense materials has gone," the Biden adviser answered briefly. "But certainly, a fair amount of it has fallen into the hands of the Taliban, and, obviously, we don’t have a sense that they are going to readily hand it over to us at the airport."
Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., told Fox News in an interview Sunday night that the situation in Afghanistan is worse than it was before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and that the Taliban now "have access to massive caches of heavy weaponry, artillery, armored vehicles, ammunition," given how rapidly insurgents were able to sweep the country with little resistance by Afghan forces.
(More on the link)
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White House admits 'fair amount' of US equipment in Afghanistan in Taliban hands
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Tuesday that a "fair amount" of U.S. weaponry had fallen into the hands of the Taliban since the hard-line Islamic militant group's rapid takeover Afghanistan in recent days.
During a White House press briefing, Sullivan was ask what will happen with the billions of dollars in equipment, including guns, ammunition, helicopters, and more, given to the Afghanistan government in the two decades before its collapse.
"We don't have a complete picture, obviously, of where every article of defense materials has gone," the Biden adviser answered briefly. "But certainly, a fair amount of it has fallen into the hands of the Taliban, and, obviously, we don’t have a sense that they are going to readily hand it over to us at the airport."
Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., told Fox News in an interview Sunday night that the situation in Afghanistan is worse than it was before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and that the Taliban now "have access to massive caches of heavy weaponry, artillery, armored vehicles, ammunition," given how rapidly insurgents were able to sweep the country with little resistance by Afghan forces.
(More on the link)
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wwkirk
Divine
Of course. But the conversation reported by Holbrooke took place in 2010. By that time, a more nuanced perspective on the Vietnam War had emerged. For example, people were familiar with the horrors unleashed by the Khymer Rouge.
But actually, that's besides the point. I no longer regard the above conversation as being adequately explanatory. Biden did not merely abandon Afghans, but many thousands of Americans, as of the present moment. Abandoning a significant number of Americans couldn't have been expected to fly at any time in history.
So, I'm still baffled at his evident urge to rush the withdrawal.
I hate to broach the elephant in the room, but could Biden's cognitive state be inducing him to make more impulsive, less reasoned, decisions? I admit, he's under 80 years old. My mother was over 80 when she died, but she was never afflicted by that. And, naturally, not everyone gets it, no matter how old they get. - Is it a deflection to even raise this question at this time?
Sheltie
Fratty and out of touch.
Yes, I think Biden does not understand the conversation at all. The issue was not the withdrawal; it was the manner in which the withdrawal was carried out. I think he is like a lot of Americans today who have become conditioned to look at things only in partisan terms and completely ignore the human element.
During the riots last year in the city where I live a number of people, many of them minorities, had their businesses burned and/or looted. I was appalled at the number of people who cheered it on in the news and the internet as a victory for the BLM cause. I could see, maybe, if they had said something along the lines of "It's very sad, but there will always be collateral damage or innocent victims in any revolution." No, they applauded as some poor guy who had every single bicycle in his shop pilfered.
To them it's all just a big scoreboard. They have no empathy or compassion for others. That's the world we live in today.
pigfarmer
tall, thin, irritable
They do like revolutionary Iran had after the Shah fell. What do they look like now? We are the largest arms manufacturer ever and will just churn out more. If anyone should worry about that it should be their neighbors. Good luck maintaining it all without Starfleet engineers - oh, wait a minute I'm getting my realities crossed.
I actually agree with Biden to exit, stage left immediately and whatever is to be with Afghanistan que sera sera.
It isn't the message, it's the method. Not the reason we went in. This is a huge ill-planned goatfuck.
pigfarmer
tall, thin, irritable
Political hacks with no understanding of the reality on the ground and apparently no culpability. There is no single monolithic 'US presence' anywhere short of an aircraft carrier. It's a collection of different groups that sometimes compete or at least have different ideas about how and what should be done.
The Taliban were successful so quickly because when they recognized weakness and inaction they acted. Freeing several of their leaders and sending them back was like throwing a match into a pile of kindling.
pigfarmer
tall, thin, irritable
Our dream brought to them by force, maybe desirable to many Afghans but obviously not practical. We fail to recognize the reality of the situation even after two decades. This sound at all familiar?
This from 1943. Max Hastings Inferno p.395
"At time went on it became more and more obvious that we could offer the Albanians little inducement to take up arms compared with the advantages they could enjoy by remaining passive. I must confess that we British liaison officers were slow to understand their point of view; as a nation, we have always tended to assume that those who do not wholeheartedly support us in our wars have some sinister motive for not wanting to see the world a better place."
nivek
As Above So Below
'There is no help here': Just 2,000 Americans were flown out of Kabul last night on 18 cargo jets that could have taken 10,000 as US citizens say they can't reach airport due to Taliban stranglehold
Only 2,000 people have been removed from Kabul on US military jets that could have taken at least 10,000 in the last 24 hours, the Pentagon announced on Wednesday morning. 18 C-17 jets were used to evacuate, which could have taken around 600 each but left with far fewer on board. A CBS reporter was on one of the planes (center) and she said there were 300 on board. The same plane was used at the weekend to take 600 out of the region because the air crew decided to leave without checking people's paperwork first. At the same time, thousands were at the gates of the airport in Kabul, begging to be allowed on to any flight that would take them. No one can get to the airport or in it because the Taliban is controlling the area that surrounds it.
The State Department has told people to make their own way there and is offering no guarantee of their safety en-route. The UK, Italy, France and Germany all sent half-empty planes out of Kabul on Tuesday and Wednesday because they couldn't process people to fill them. The Taliban is becoming increasingly violent in the town and is rounding people up on the streets. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby admitted on a call with reporters on Wednesday that he'd hoped the rescue would have gone 'more smoothly', but he said he had no 'next step' for how to solve the ongoing catastrophe. President Joe Biden has not spoken since Monday. He is refusing to take responsibility for the crisis.
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Only 2,000 people have been removed from Kabul on US military jets that could have taken at least 10,000 in the last 24 hours, the Pentagon announced on Wednesday morning. 18 C-17 jets were used to evacuate, which could have taken around 600 each but left with far fewer on board. A CBS reporter was on one of the planes (center) and she said there were 300 on board. The same plane was used at the weekend to take 600 out of the region because the air crew decided to leave without checking people's paperwork first. At the same time, thousands were at the gates of the airport in Kabul, begging to be allowed on to any flight that would take them. No one can get to the airport or in it because the Taliban is controlling the area that surrounds it.
The State Department has told people to make their own way there and is offering no guarantee of their safety en-route. The UK, Italy, France and Germany all sent half-empty planes out of Kabul on Tuesday and Wednesday because they couldn't process people to fill them. The Taliban is becoming increasingly violent in the town and is rounding people up on the streets. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby admitted on a call with reporters on Wednesday that he'd hoped the rescue would have gone 'more smoothly', but he said he had no 'next step' for how to solve the ongoing catastrophe. President Joe Biden has not spoken since Monday. He is refusing to take responsibility for the crisis.
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nivek
As Above So Below
China vows to 'crush' any US troops on Taiwan 'by force' and conducts live fire naval exercises in South China Sea after Biden abandoned Afghanistan
China today threatened to 'crush' any US troops stationed on Taiwan as it conducts live fire drills in the South China Sea after Joe Biden abandoned Afghanistan. An editorial in the regime-backed Global Times lashed out at a since-deleted tweet by Senator John Cornyn which erroneously stated there were 30,000 American soldiers stationed in Taiwan. The bombastic propaganda article said that if Sen. Cornyn's claim was true this 'is equivalent to a military invasion and occupation of the Taiwan Province of China. It is an act of declaring war on the People's Republic of China.'
It added that China would 'destroy and expel US troops in Taiwan by any means and realize reunification by force.' Backing up this fiery rhetoric, Beijing dispatched warships and fighter jets for drills off Taiwan on Tuesday in its latest show of strength to Washington. Although China is the dominant power in east Asia, many of its neighbours like Taiwan and Japan look to the US as their closest military partner. Beijing, therefore, revels in anything which undermines Washington's credibility.
Chinese state media pumped out the images of desperate Afghans flooding Kabul airport in an effort to flee on Monday as a sign of the chaos prompted by the US retreat. On Tuesday, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Washington had left 'an awful mess of unrest, division and broken families' in Afghanistan.
'America's strength and role is destruction, not construction.'
State media has peddled the idea that America's rush from Afghanistan reflects its fair-weather attitude to all allies - including in Taiwan, which seeks strength from Washington's security guarantee as it defies Beijing. Biden, hammered over the disorderly retreat, has defended the withdrawal saying China and Russia would 'love nothing more' than his country to have continued to sink resources into the Afghanistan quagmire.
But Beijing now perhaps senses any opportunity to seize the impetus in the region with the US licking its wounds over its calamitous foreign policy decision to quit Afghanistan. Warships, anti-submarine aircraft and fighter jets took part in the live fire drills in an undisclosed location off Taiwan on Tuesday.
People's Liberation Army spokesman Shi Yi called it a 'necessary activity in response to the recent situation in the Taiwan Strait.' It follows recent passages by US and European military vessels through the disputed waters in the South China Sea.
(More on the link)
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China today threatened to 'crush' any US troops stationed on Taiwan as it conducts live fire drills in the South China Sea after Joe Biden abandoned Afghanistan. An editorial in the regime-backed Global Times lashed out at a since-deleted tweet by Senator John Cornyn which erroneously stated there were 30,000 American soldiers stationed in Taiwan. The bombastic propaganda article said that if Sen. Cornyn's claim was true this 'is equivalent to a military invasion and occupation of the Taiwan Province of China. It is an act of declaring war on the People's Republic of China.'
It added that China would 'destroy and expel US troops in Taiwan by any means and realize reunification by force.' Backing up this fiery rhetoric, Beijing dispatched warships and fighter jets for drills off Taiwan on Tuesday in its latest show of strength to Washington. Although China is the dominant power in east Asia, many of its neighbours like Taiwan and Japan look to the US as their closest military partner. Beijing, therefore, revels in anything which undermines Washington's credibility.
Chinese state media pumped out the images of desperate Afghans flooding Kabul airport in an effort to flee on Monday as a sign of the chaos prompted by the US retreat. On Tuesday, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Washington had left 'an awful mess of unrest, division and broken families' in Afghanistan.
'America's strength and role is destruction, not construction.'
State media has peddled the idea that America's rush from Afghanistan reflects its fair-weather attitude to all allies - including in Taiwan, which seeks strength from Washington's security guarantee as it defies Beijing. Biden, hammered over the disorderly retreat, has defended the withdrawal saying China and Russia would 'love nothing more' than his country to have continued to sink resources into the Afghanistan quagmire.
But Beijing now perhaps senses any opportunity to seize the impetus in the region with the US licking its wounds over its calamitous foreign policy decision to quit Afghanistan. Warships, anti-submarine aircraft and fighter jets took part in the live fire drills in an undisclosed location off Taiwan on Tuesday.
People's Liberation Army spokesman Shi Yi called it a 'necessary activity in response to the recent situation in the Taiwan Strait.' It follows recent passages by US and European military vessels through the disputed waters in the South China Sea.
(More on the link)
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nivek
As Above So Below
The Taliban special forces: Heavily armed fighters with American equipment and commando-style bullet proof vests and 'night vision goggles'
The unit, previously unveiled by the Taliban in promotional material, are reportedly highly trained and equipped with state-of-the-art military equipment. Where the unit acquired the equipment is unknown, but it appears to be a combination of U.S. military hardware and that use by Afghan forces, likely seized as Western and allied forces withdrew from the country. In videos released by the group, the Badri 313 soldiers are seen with military helmets and sunglasses instead of the usual tuban, bullet proof vests over camouflage jackets and trousers instead of the typical robes, and armed with tactical rifles. In addition, the unit appears to be armed with modern sidearms, wearing modern combat boots, and even have night vision goggles - making them difficult to distinguish from any other country's special combat units.
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The unit, previously unveiled by the Taliban in promotional material, are reportedly highly trained and equipped with state-of-the-art military equipment. Where the unit acquired the equipment is unknown, but it appears to be a combination of U.S. military hardware and that use by Afghan forces, likely seized as Western and allied forces withdrew from the country. In videos released by the group, the Badri 313 soldiers are seen with military helmets and sunglasses instead of the usual tuban, bullet proof vests over camouflage jackets and trousers instead of the typical robes, and armed with tactical rifles. In addition, the unit appears to be armed with modern sidearms, wearing modern combat boots, and even have night vision goggles - making them difficult to distinguish from any other country's special combat units.
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AD1184
Celestial
It has been widely reported that he wanted the withdrawal complete before the 20th anniversary of 9/11. And that is an entirely artificial deadline. That much is true.
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nivek
As Above So Below
Quite possible he thought he was going to score huge political points for this move, but instead he as showed clearly that his decision making is a clear and present danger...I think Biden needs to take a competency test, I don't think he's fit to lead this country...
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nivek
As Above So Below
It looks like Boris is set to announce the plan to take in of tens of thousands of Afghan refugees, if he hasn't announced it already....
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nivek
As Above So Below
State Dept tells all Americans in Afghanistan to go to Kabul airport NOW and insists Taliban will let them through as flights take off half full: Defense Sec Austin warns US troops can't collect them
There are still some 11,000 Americans in Afghanistan waiting to be flown home. Some are at the airport but some are too afraid to make their way there through Taliban-controlled streets. Some say they have tried and have been turned away at checkpoints. There are also tens of thousands of Afghan nationals desperate to get out but who do not want to present themselves to the terrorists they worked against for years. The only way anyone in Kabul can get to the airport is if the Taliban lets them through.
On Wednesday afternoon, the State Department updated its guidance to tell all remaining US citizens to make their way to the airport but it couldn't guarantee anyone's safety on the journey.
At a Pentagon press briefing a short time afterwards, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed troops would not go to collect anyone, saying: 'We don't have the capability to go out and collect up large numbers of people.'
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There are still some 11,000 Americans in Afghanistan waiting to be flown home. Some are at the airport but some are too afraid to make their way there through Taliban-controlled streets. Some say they have tried and have been turned away at checkpoints. There are also tens of thousands of Afghan nationals desperate to get out but who do not want to present themselves to the terrorists they worked against for years. The only way anyone in Kabul can get to the airport is if the Taliban lets them through.
On Wednesday afternoon, the State Department updated its guidance to tell all remaining US citizens to make their way to the airport but it couldn't guarantee anyone's safety on the journey.
At a Pentagon press briefing a short time afterwards, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed troops would not go to collect anyone, saying: 'We don't have the capability to go out and collect up large numbers of people.'
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nivek
As Above So Below
This is unbelievable, they cannot guarantee the safety of Americans trapped in Afghanistan...Wtf...
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nivek
As Above So Below
Instead of getting all of the American civilians out ahead of time for the sake of their safety, Biden is okay with leaving them there to fend for themselves if they cannot make it to that airport which they also have to do on their own without US military's help or support...This is getting worse and worse...
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