Afghanistan

[dpberr]

1 hour ago, keepthefaith said:

 

#2 is wrong.  We have been training Afghan pilots and maintenance people for at least 10 years and possibly closer to 15 years.  We spent $Billions on aircraft, parts, facilities and training.  Much of this done by Northrup Grumman and very qualified contractors. 

 

No I'm not.  We are both...correct.  See below.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/19/world/asia/Afghanistan-withdrawal-contractors.html

https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/08/16/afghanistan-military-collapse-private-contractors/

[B-Man]

1 hour ago, Governor said:

This is what I don’t get. The GOP was on record saying that they didn’t want to bring these people home 2 weeks ago, and now they’re pretending to be outraged right now.

 

They aren’t fooling anyone.

 

 

Link ?

[B-Man]

 

 

Here’s an amazing shot from inside one of those C-17s evacuating people from Afghanistan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Niagara Bill]

45 minutes ago, Just in Atlanta said:

Not sure I would remotely call this a “domestic fight“.

 

The attacks of 9/11 were largely coordinated from Afghanistan. The Taliban housed and abetted the terrorists who planned these attacks. The invasion of Afghanistan was logical and in our best interest.

 

Having said that, it’s shocking that in 20 years we haven’t taught these people to defend themselves and that they rolled over so easily, giving up their freedoms, dignity and a chance of a future. 
 

Perhaps the next time we choose to invade a country in our self interest, we take it over. Nation building does not appear to work.
 

 

People were trained as it was a way of making a living not to defend their country. Just a big social program and all the military leaders in the US, all the big time military contractors...the biggest social program in America, had a gravy train. 

Terrorists hid in Afghanistan but were not necessarily Afghanies. Just an excuse for military socialism, not nation building. 

And why would anyone want to take over this dust bowl...and why was it a good place for military contractors to get rich....because it is a big dust bowl and nobody in the world cares, not Europe, not the UN, not China, no one. 

[Chef Jim]

22 minutes ago, B-Man said:

 

 

Here’s an amazing shot from inside one of those C-17s evacuating people from Afghanistan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where are they taking them?

[TSOL]

1 minute ago, Chef Jim said:

Where are they taking them?

 

 

Probably to work at Amazon 

[Chef Jim]

1 minute ago, TSOL said:

 

 

Probably to work at Amazon 

No seriously. I would like to know where all these refuges are heading. 

[The Frankish Reich]

2 hours ago, Frat-Train said:

I’m as big a Trump hater as anyone, but you can’t be serious here…. Trump, for all his flaws, would have evacuated people before military and I doubt it would ever have gotten to that.  Trump is many, MANY things.  But his foreign policies and how he handled the Taliban, was some of his best work.  I think we all need to step away from our parties and call this what it is…. A failure of the most deadly proportions, and our President, VP, and their ENTIRE administration including our military leaders, are all 100% at fault, not Trump.

And we know Trump "would have evacuated people" (what people? you mean refugees? he's the guy who lowered the refugee admissions cap to the lowest levels ever!) because .... ???

If Trump wanted to do this, surely he would've started in December and January, ahead of handing over (well, being forced to hand over) the keys to the oval office.

I am not defending Biden. This is a debacle. But my disagreement is a principled one - I believe it was a disastrous decision to withdraw from Afghanistan completely. All this "but we needed to do it the right way" crap is hair-splitting nonsense. 

Biden followed through on Trump's plan. Period. If you liked Trump's policy re: Afghanistan, well, this is it in action.

[TSOL]

4 minutes ago, Chef Jim said:

No seriously. I would like to know where all these refuges are heading. 

 

 

I bet they take them to the US, we take in refugees. Especially in catastrophic humanitarian stuff like this. 

 

And, while I was half joking, I was also half serious because I bet they will be offered jobs... 

[Governor]

Maybe I was wrong by saying this wouldn’t be a defining point of Biden’s presidency.

 

That dude stepped up to the mic and said….I own the blowback from this and I’m doing it anyway because it’s the right thing to do.

 

That speech was for the record books.

 

Biden just had his Reverend Wright moment and his numbers are going to shoot upward in the coming months.

 

I didn’t think he had it in him but this administration has surprised me multiple times now.

Edited August 17, 2021 by Governor

[Doc Brown]

4 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said:

And we know Trump "would have evacuated people" (what people? you mean refugees? he's the guy who lowered the refugee admissions cap to the lowest levels ever!) because .... ???

If Trump wanted to do this, surely he would've started in December and January, ahead of handing over (well, being forced to hand over) the keys to the oval office.

I am not defending Biden. This is a debacle. But my disagreement is a principled one - I believe it was a disastrous decision to withdraw from Afghanistan completely. All this "but we needed to do it the right way" crap is hair-splitting nonsense. 

Biden followed through on Trump's plan. Period. If you liked Trump's policy re: Afghanistan, well, this is it in action.

The isolationist/nationalistic views (especially when it came to trade) is one of the many reasons why I never cared for Trump.  Biden knows this was the wrong thing to do and he cowardly went through with it anyways for political purposes.

[Irv]

1 hour ago, Governor said:

But he didn’t do that because he didn’t want to pay the political price before an election, then pushed it to the next president, and even went as far as setting land mines for that new president, for him and others including Pompeo.

 

Voters can see all of this.

OK. This is laughable. We can agree that no political party wanted to be in that hell hole anymore.  ButnDemented Biden’s strategy is such a mess.  Incompetence.  What a mess.  

39 minutes ago, B-Man said:

 

 

Here’s an amazing shot from inside one of those C-17s evacuating people from Afghanistan

 

 

 

What a Biden Mess

 

 

 

 

 

[Governor]

1 minute ago, Irv said:

OK. This is laughable. We can agree that no political party wanted to be in that hell hole anymore.  ButnDemented Biden’s strategy is such a mess.  Incompetence.  What a mess.  

When the dust clears you’ll realize that you’re mistaken.

[reddogblitz]

17 hours ago, oldmanfan said:

Yes I would.

 

Good for you. You are a true believer. When you post about your daughter I get the impression you love her dearly.  She is prime fighting age. Women can now be in combat. Who can forget the female soldier in Iraq whose convoy got lost and attacked by Iraqis?   So if you think its worth sacrificing her life for this more power to you.

 

I also have a daughter that I love dearly and I would NEVER encourage her to go fight in the boondoggle you propose.  To each his own.

[Irv]

4 minutes ago, Governor said:

When the dust clears you’ll realize that you’re mistaken.

We agree on a couple of things. But can you at least admit that whoever wanted to avoid the strategy to exit that the current administration is in charge???  And Biden screwed the pooch.  It’s HIS strategy that failed.  Fact.  
 

 

Edited August 17, 2021 by Irv

[OrangeBills]

4 hours ago, Governor said:

But if we get most of these people out, no one is going to remember a minor blip. 
 

When I left the house, it was a bunch of Afghans on their phones waiting for the next plane to come.

 

I think you might be sensationalizing this to some degree.

 

I'm sorry.   You're just dumb here.   Just dumb.  Wake up.  These people are all going to die, horribly.   

[Irv]

3 minutes ago, Governor said:

When the dust clears you’ll realize that you’re mistaken.

Maybe all the dead will be easier to see when the dust clears. You’re nuts. 

[Governor]

1 minute ago, OrangeBills said:

 

I'm sorry.   You're just dumb here.   Just dumb.  Wake up.  These people are all going to die, horribly.   

Doesn’t appear to be happening. I know that saddens you.

[TSOL]

Biden was always going to be a sacrificial lamb and he knew it going in. The world is getting astronomically more complicated by the moment and our country has alot of loose ends hanging out there. 

 

He knew he was getting hired to... Fall on his sword. He's just too old and sleepy to worry about it. 

[Governor]

3 minutes ago, TSOL said:

Biden was always going to be a sacrificial lamb and he knew it going in. The world is getting astronomically more complicated by the moment and our country has alot of loose ends hanging out there. 

 

He knew he was getting hired to... Fall on his sword. He's just too old and sleepy to worry about it. 

I realize that’s hyperbole but you might end up being slightly right. The way he’s been performing I see no reason why he wouldn’t run again. It’s too early to tell.

 

Who is going to beat him?

Edited August 17, 2021 by Governor