Race to oblivion ! Afghanistan vs. South Vietnam edition

[Redondo]

UN Peacekeepers could have helped maintain Afghanistan stability after US withdrawal, former minister says

One way to have a safer U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan would have been to set up a U.N. peacekeeping mission ahead of time, rather than drawing back troops and leaving civilians scrambling to evacuate as a lightning Taliban offensive retook the country, according to a former Afghan official who was forced to flee her homeland.

Nargis Nehan, Afghanistan’s former minister of mines and petroleum, had to leave her ailing father and sister behind when she fled Taliban-occupied Kabul this week with help from Norway, the U.S, and others.

"None of us thought that so suddenly everything would collapse, would fall apart," she told Fox News Saturday.

Nor did they foresee such a poorly planned U.S. draw down, she said, in which the military pulled out of Bagram Air Base before evacuating American citizens and Afghan allies.

"The withdrawal and the evacuation itself was very irresponsible," she said. "In a country like Afghanistan, where the risk of the conflict was so high, we were expecting for them that if we’re withdrawing at least they would deploy a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan so we could have prevented the catastrophe that’s going on in the country right now."

In fact, women’s rights groups, faith leaders and humanitarians had called for U.N. peacekeepers back in July, The Associated Press reported at the time.

The job of U.N. peacekeepers is to help "countries navigate the difficult path from conflict to peace." Peacekeepers currently have operations underway in 12 areas, but Afghanistan is not one of them.

[gotbeer]

Dang, just talked to one of my camping buddies.  One of the guys that's a regular at camp is a former Marine that served in Afghanistan.  My buddy said he's not taking it well, as a lot of bad memories came back after the attack.  That's going to be the lasting legacy of that campaign.  

[St1ck]

U.S. carried out military strike in Kabul, officials say
https://news.yahoo.com/u-carried-military-strike-kabul-134049919.html

American forces launched a military strike in Kabul on Sunday targeting a possible suicide car bomb that was aiming to attack the airport, U.S. officials said....

[fan_since79]

The mind reels at the insanity of all this.

https://beckernews.com/sec-of-state-blinken-well-be-looking-to-the-taliban-to-guarantee-americans-safe-passage-out-of-afghanistan-41204/

Secretary of State Antony Blinken appeared on Meet the Press on Sunday to double down on Biden’s ‘knock on wood’ strategy in Afghanistan. Blinken said the U.S. State Department will be “looking to” the Taliban to guarantee safe passage out of the Islamic terrorist state.

“You may have seen that just yesterday, a very senior Taliban official went on television and radio across the country and repeatedly assured people in Afghanistan that they would have the freedom to travel after August 31,” Blinken said.

“He even specifically said, those that work for the Americans and those that want to leave for whatever reason will have that freedom,” he continued.

[arch stanton]

I think we Americans are too accustomed to having a strong central authority that is the voice for the collective and whose directions are heeded by all. It doesn't work that way over here. The Taliban leadership would be quite happy to just let everyone who isn't a native get on a plane and go. They might feel like they have a bone to pick with some of the locals who were in cahoots with us and might try to block them. But even though the Taliban leadership can't control every group in the country and can't guarantee safe passage to everyone trying to get out now they're still the best bet to get anything done

[St1ck]

16 minutes ago, fan_since79 said:

The mind reels at the insanity of all this.

https://beckernews.com/sec-of-state-blinken-well-be-looking-to-the-taliban-to-guarantee-americans-safe-passage-out-of-afghanistan-41204/

Secretary of State Antony Blinken appeared on Meet the Press on Sunday to double down on Biden’s ‘knock on wood’ strategy in Afghanistan. Blinken said the U.S. State Department will be “looking to” the Taliban to guarantee safe passage out of the Islamic terrorist state.

“You may have seen that just yesterday, a very senior Taliban official went on television and radio across the country and repeatedly assured people in Afghanistan that they would have the freedom to travel after August 31,” Blinken said.

“He even specifically said, those that work for the Americans and those that want to leave for whatever reason will have that freedom,” he continued.

What other options do they have at this point? The military will be leaving in the next couple days. To get the few remaining morons that ignored multiple warnings to leave will have to be done diplomatically. 

[Rico]

When you lose a war you don't get to have a strategic exit.

[Kotchman]

The real dumbass move is importing all these terrorist to the US. I would have dumped their ass in Europe. 

[Tank]

 

 

[Tank]

16 minutes ago, cals said:

You guys realize we’re going to drone bomb the shit out of the equipment we left, probably starting next week, right?

I certainly hope so. 

[Kotchman]

21 minutes ago, cals said:

You guys realize we’re going to drone bomb the shit out of the equipment we left, probably starting next week, right?

Yes they don’t really have the ability to maintain it so it has a shelf life. Still likely jeopardizes any covert missions. That’s a ton of night vision equipment and communication equipment to lose. 

[Redondo]

Chilling moment US drone strike stops ISIS suicide bomber from pulling off another terror attack

The U.S. military conducted an airstrike against a vehicle carrying at least one suicide bomber who intended to target Kabul's international airport Sunday, a U.S. official confirmed. 

The strike in a crowded neighborhood northwest of the airport set off "significant secondary explosions," which indicated a "substantial amount of explosive material" inside the vehicle, Capt. Bill Urban, spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said in a statement. While the target was initially described as a vehicle-born improvised explosive device (IED), an official clarified that the explosives may have been worn by one or more bombers inside, rather than planted on the vehicle itself.

The U.S. military acted to intervene and prevent another event like the one that occurred Thursday when a suicide bomb killed 13 U.S. service members and 170 Afghan citizens.

"U.S. military forces conducted a self-defense unmanned over-the-horizon airstrike today on a vehicle in Kabul, eliminating an imminent ISIS-K threat to Hamad Karzai International Airport," Urban said. "We are confident we successfully hit the target."

Urban added that the military is assessing the possibility of civilian casualties.

 

That's a good thing they did

[tdawg87]

Thanks Biden!

[St1ck]

7 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

Thanks Biden!

 

[UndertheHalo]

[Kotchman]

59 minutes ago, Tank said:

I certainly hope so. 

Part of my job is adjusting on hand equipment quantities and initiating investigations into lost equipment. If a soldier lost any of this equipment they’re losing a months pay and potentially disciplined. If I lose accountability of anything, I can be held liable for the full amount. Pretty crazy that leaders can just lose 85 billion 

[tdawg87]

9 minutes ago, St1ck said:

 

Biden is a Keystone guy.

[Redondo]

29 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

Biden is a Keystone Geritol guy.

 

[Crampknees]

15 minutes ago, Redondo said:

Did you make a funny

[Blarg]

4 hours ago, Rico said:

When you lose a war you don't get to have a strategic exit.

Maybe you never heard of Dunkirk. Effectively the British had lost the war of holding Europe and yet still found a way to extricate their army. Biden and his administration failed miserably at their task. 

[Crampknees]

14 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Maybe you never heard of Dunkirk. Effectively the British had lost the war of holding Europe and yet still found a way to extricate their army. Biden and his administration failed miserably at their task. 

Didn't citizens come to their aid when we thought we could turn cave men pedophiles into an army that would aid themselves.  Bad move from the beginning, your analogy is weak. 

[Rico]

I'm about to sail my boat to the Arabian sea.

[Rico]

[Crampknees]

1 minute ago, Rico said:

lol, I will choose any Trump family member for my debate team before Blarg. 

[mmc]