Given the wide ranging interests and talents here-worth a look; Getting out of Afghanistan

JohnInCarolina

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/afghanistan-unravelled-twenty-years-building-a-civilised-society-ends-in-the-return-of-these-brutes-1.4651788

Botch

https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2021/08/what-i-learned-while-eavesdropping-taliban/184676/

nolaegghead

JohnInCarolina said:

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/afghanistan-unravelled-twenty-years-building-a-civilised-society-ends-in-the-return-of-these-brutes-1.4651788

"Many people have been astounded by the speed of the Taliban takeover and asked if there had been a western intelligence failure. But the debacle in Afghanistan is a result of bad policy, not bad intelligence. The most disastrous policy has been the so-called peace process, launched by the Trump administration in September 2018 and continued by the Biden administration. This process was fundamentally flawed. Instead of bringing peace, it enabled the Taliban victory through an approach of appeasement."

Kayak

Seems more like 20 years of building a phoney society suddenly evaporated, along with billions of $ in payola. All those statements about the progress being made over the years turned out to be just so much ass-covering hot air.

nolaegghead

Kayak said:

Seems more like 20 years of building a phoney society suddenly evaporated, along with billions of $ in payola. All those statements about the progress being made over the years turned out to be just so much ass-covering hot air.

If I want ass-covering hot air, I just sit on my bidet and press a couple buttons. But that's usually because I just waged some jihad on my plumbing.  #bidetsmatter

HighHeat

No when ever got Covid while being waterboarded.

Botch

Curious how so many republican congressmen want to maintain a military presence in Afghanistan to “preserve democracy”, while doing everything to restrict voting rights in the US….

Botch

A very admirable strike today.  A drone, launched from outside the country, nailed a vehicle that, due to the double-explosion (also admirable that they can measure that remotely) was loaded with explosives and headed towards the airport.  
Don't know if we can keep up that fidelity of surveillance from outside the country, but I'm sure the DoD and the President know much more than I do.  

nolaegghead

Botch said:

A very admirable strike today.  A drone, launched from outside the country, nailed a vehicle that, due to the double-explosion (also admirable that they can measure that remotely) was loaded with explosives and headed towards the airport.  
Don't know if we can keep up that fidelity of surveillance from outside the country, but I'm sure the DoD and the President know much more than I do.  

Great tactical strike, no doubt.

On the up side, drone programs are relatively cheap and there are drones with incredible ranges.  Also they can operate at altitudes where people on the ground will never see them (especially without radar).

On the down side, the people with the people that we blow up down below increase their "death to America" desire.  If we could just drop some amnesia drugs and GTFO...

Botch

According to WaPo, all military are cleared out now.  It's 2:06 am there as I write this, probably a good idea to get them out at the beginning, rather than the end, of the 31st; there were too many taliban walking around with RPGs.  
 
Just hope we can get the rest of US citizens out who couldn't get to the airport.  

fishlessman

vigil tonight down the street, 10000 expected. dangerous to grow up in lawrence ma but the community is tight

https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/as-family-mourns-marine-sgt-killed-in-afghanistan-lawrence-to-hold-vigil/2479622/

lousubcap

A good read about how this played out across a few decades:
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/08/a-vast-criminal-racket-sebastian-junger-on-how-the-us-corrupted-afghanistan?utm_source=nextdraft&utm_medium=email  

dbCooper

lousubcap said:

A good read about how this played out across a few decades:
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/08/a-vast-criminal-racket-sebastian-junger-on-how-the-us-corrupted-afghanistan?utm_source=nextdraft&utm_medium=email  

Thank you for posting that article.  Hopefully it gets a wide read.

Botch

I am really jealous about these people who can explain clearly and succinctly, and verbally, a complicated situation; so much better than I can, carefully written, slowly, liberal use of the Backspace key, even sleeping on it a time or two.  Thank you Beau.  
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm4zwo5EvJw

JohnInCarolina

lousubcap said:

A good read about how this played out across a few decades:
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/08/a-vast-criminal-racket-sebastian-junger-on-how-the-us-corrupted-afghanistan?utm_source=nextdraft&utm_medium=email  

Junger is world-class.

Kayak

lousubcap said:

A good read about how this played out across a few decades:
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/08/a-vast-criminal-racket-sebastian-junger-on-how-the-us-corrupted-afghanistan?utm_source=nextdraft&utm_medium=email  

This is a good read, but it does take a convenient starting point of history. You'd think that Afghanistan was previously caught in a steady state of backwards hellholism before us, and we had a chance to 'make a modern country' out of it but blew it. That they had a country on the path to modernism, which we decided to use as a pawn in the Cold War, is apparently unknown to most. I think it makes most Americans feel good about themselves, that their country means well but sometimes can't overcome the natural instincts of the uncivilized countries we try to save. I also wouldn't dare to suggest that they had the exact kind of government we wanted, considering the number of governments we've replaced in favor of those willing to do our bidding.

fishlessman

field trip to afghanistan....mom, sign my permission slip

https://www.aol.com/news/29-sacramento-students-stuck-afghanistan-120202872.html

JohnInCarolina

https://twitter.com/jonkarl/status/1433762453360463873?s=20