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Post by robeiae on Aug 13, 2021 7:56:09 GMT -5
No one ever learns jack shit: And I include in that "no one" the cruds of the Taliban, who are basically just setting themselves up for another protracted war in the near future, whether with the US or someone else, even as they subject people to daily brutality.
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Post by mikey on Aug 13, 2021 9:04:36 GMT -5
When you slow walk yourself out of an occupied country, you shouldn't be surprised when the door hits you in the ass on the way out.
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Post by Optimus on Aug 13, 2021 13:00:20 GMT -5
I'm not sure how I feel about this. It's an awful situation for the Afghan people. On the other hand, the Afghan government has had nearly 20 freaking years to get their shit together instead of just sitting back and letting us do everything for them. I had a friend in the Army who was deployed out there over a decade ago and was telling me that their soldiers were lazy as shit, never wanted to participate in any of the training drills (part of his job was to help train their troops to defend their own country), and would mostly just stand around and smoke while the US troops did all the work. So, hearing that from him and then seeing this kind of news...I'm not surprised at all and part of me doesn't feel much sympathy (at least for the failures of the Afghan government and military).
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Post by michaelw on Aug 13, 2021 14:58:31 GMT -5
I'm not sure how I feel about this. It's an awful situation for the Afghan people. On the other hand, the Afghan government has had nearly 20 freaking years to get their shit together instead of just sitting back and letting us do everything for them. I had a friend in the Army who was deployed out there over a decade ago and was telling me that their soldiers were lazy as shit, never wanted to participate in any of the training drills (part of his job was to help train their troops to defend their own country), and would mostly just stand around and smoke while the US troops did all the work. So, hearing that from him and then seeing this kind of news...I'm not surprised at all and part of me doesn't feel much sympathy (at least for the failures of the Afghan government and military). I've heard similar things about the Afghan army, although it does seem somewhat out of character. Historically, Afghans have been good fighters. (Actually more than merely good, if you think about what they were up against w/ the Soviet Union.) But maybe all the good ones of the current generation are w/ the Taliban at this point? I really don't know. But it does feel like the government and security forces are falling like dominos. And maybe they do carry a lot of the blame for that, but of course, it kind of goes without saying that a lot of additional people are going to suffer because of this, including people who haven't actually done anything wrong. So to my mind, no matter what angle I try to look at all this from, it's hard for me to see these events as anything but a massive, massive tragedy. |
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Post by michaelw on Aug 15, 2021 13:03:00 GMT -5
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Post by robeiae on Aug 16, 2021 6:34:13 GMT -5
The updates on the Taliban takeover read like it's a game of Call of Duty.
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Post by michaelw on Aug 16, 2021 7:06:48 GMT -5
I'm finding myself really appalled by just how badly the Biden admin has handled all of this. Even as someone who had a low level of confidence in Biden beforehand, I expected much better.
I also really don't understand all the Kabul/Saigon comparisons. It's meant to be a criticism of the Biden admin, so of course Blinken was pushing back on that idea, but he looked like an utter fool because in reality this situation is way worse, for at least two reasons...
A. In Vietnam, the US managed to get massive numbers of people out of the country. (Don't get me wrong, I understand that Afghanistan is land-locked, which probably makes evacuations more challenging, but Biden should've known Afghanistan was land-locked 7 months ago, right? Or is that expecting too much foresight?)
B. Compared to the government of Vietnam, the Taliban is much, much worse.
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Post by robeiae on Aug 16, 2021 7:20:26 GMT -5
I think Biden's team is sorely lacking in expertise, when it comes to IR and military operations, particularly when it comes to the people calling the shots. They're quite certain, of course, that they have such expertise, but hopefully this is a wake-up call for the admin. Saying "we're better than Trump" is fine fodder for the know-nothings, but it's hardly a sound policy approach.
Between this and the admin's apparent cluelessness on the perils of inflation, it already seems destined for a Carter-esque legacy.
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Post by robeiae on Aug 16, 2021 7:23:43 GMT -5
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Post by robeiae on Aug 16, 2021 7:30:16 GMT -5
Look at this:
And look at this pathetic attempt to cover for Biden:
Hey, Biden didn't make this happen, but then neither did Trump. Both are culpable, as are Obama and Bush, along with most of the Senate (so Biden and Obama get double dips, lol). But Biden sure as shit completely misread the situation and has made some unbelievably stupid moves since he took office.
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Post by robeiae on Aug 16, 2021 8:00:16 GMT -5
Of course, hindsight is 20/20, and there are an awful lot of pundits claiming that they knew this would happen exactly as it happened. Trump is even taking victory laps, ignoring the fact that he was calling for a full US exit earlier than August. Now, of course, Trump is saying Biden left too early.
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Post by Optimus on Aug 16, 2021 11:17:44 GMT -5
This is pretty much the only way they could get Harris to look more competent on foreign policy than Biden. So...congrats?
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Post by Optimus on Aug 17, 2021 18:14:22 GMT -5
This is pretty much the only way they could get Harris to look more competent on foreign policy than Biden. So...congrats? Whoops, I spoke too soon. Now Harris is basically trying to take credit for the whole thing which...doesn't really seem like something a politically-savvy person would be fully embracing right now, much less trying to rewrite history to take full credit for it.  |
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Post by robeiae on Aug 17, 2021 20:40:56 GMT -5
*headslap emoticon, eye rolly emoticon, popcorn munching emoticon, roll on the floor laughing emoticon*
Miss any?
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Post by robeiae on Aug 18, 2021 6:53:53 GMT -5
Stupid fucking piece with a stupid fucking premise: Afghanistan was a ghastly display of how wokeness weakens AmericaHe has something of a point re the defense contractors who made a bundle off of the US in Afghanistan. But the above is crap. He goes on to say this: Trump started this train a-rollin' and--as I noted above--was hitting the Biden admin for not getting out faster, until it all turned to shit. But even if--EVEN IF--the above was accurate, the fact that he says "total decimation" is enough to have him beaten to death with his own shoes. |
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