Afghanistan

[yote hunter]

 

[KellyinAvon]

I'm trying to be diplomatic here, but leaving the possibility open we'll support them again at some point is the most American thing about this. It's how we fought the Cold War. It's why we don't care that a Saudi prince had a journalist murdered or how they treat women. It's why Manuel Noriega was our ally, then our enemy, then our ally, then our enemy. It's why we buddied up to the Kurds until it was choose Kurds or Turks and we chose Turks. You can be actively disgusted by it, but it's not exactly a new play for us as a nation. We will overlook any number of human rights abuses or ideological conflicts if it gains us a lever against someone we like less.

The Montagnards in Vietnam...

Edit: I'd still rather live here than anywhere else.

 

[KLB]

Communist Party goal is to subvert the Constitution of the United States of America, and destroy the concept of limited government.

This part of your post is just a little off base. Neither party wants a limited government. They just have different things they want to control with the beast.

 

[Magyars]

 

[ditcherman]

This part of your post is just a little off base. Neither party wants a limited government. They just have different things they want to control with the beast.

Meh. Not wrong. He just didn't say that most republicans are communists too.

Edit; upon reading your reply again, I guess you're saying the same thing, basically.

 

[wagyu52]

 

[Thor]

Afghanistan didn't actually fall as there has never been an Acrapistan other than lines on a map. There would never have been a "government" there or "military" there if we didn't pay for it and hold it up with our own military.

As the British and Russians discovered before us the only things that matter inside that line on a map are tribal and fanatical religious alliances. It only took us twice as long as the Ruskies to figure that out.

That being said, Obiden did the worst pullout possible. It's like he had a fort sheltering a wagon train from hostile injuns and the first thing he did was withdraw the cavalry and trust the injuns to let the suttlers go.

I guess if he can't be the best (illegitimate) president ever being the worst is still in the cards.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I don't disagree with your assessment that we've propped up terrible regimes before, I think that's a given. I disagree with your contention that this situation is the same as all the other examples you listed. None of those other example (possible exception being the Saudis if they were involved in 9\11) were responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans. I also wouldn't call this approach "American" although it may have been carried out by Americans. It's not consistent with our traditional values, and may be one reason why the world seems completely FUBAR right now.

We've buddied up with those who've killed Americans as well, particularly in the run up to WW1 through the Cold War era. The Taliban didn't Pearl Harbor us. We declared war on them after negotiations over handing over Al-Queda failed. When you go to war, the other side will kill some of your side and you will kill some of their side. That's not remotely the same as saying they are good guys or should be our allies (and that's not what was under discussion that brought this up, the notion of NGO action for things like food relief was), but I don't see it as out of our national character in the slightest. It's against our marketing, maybe. It depends on if you believe America First or if you believe Spread Democracy. I only believe in the first one now.

 

[daddyusmaximus]

Perfect missed opportunity...

Whatever happened to "Never let a crisis go to waste'?

 

[Leadeye]

I'm trying to be diplomatic here, but leaving the possibility open we'll support them again at some point is the most American thing about this. It's how we fought the Cold War. It's why we don't care that a Saudi prince had a journalist murdered or how they treat women. It's why Manuel Noriega was our ally, then our enemy, then our ally, then our enemy. It's why we buddied up to the Kurds until it was choose Kurds or Turks and we chose Turks. You can be actively disgusted by it, but it's not exactly a new play for us as a nation. We will overlook any number of human rights abuses or ideological conflicts if it gains us a lever against someone we like less.

Realpolitik

 

[DragonGunner]

'My kid was a hero': Family honors Logansport Marine Humberto Sanchez

The deadliest day for Americans in Afghanistan became one of the most harrowing for a Logansport family.

www.pharostribune.com

 

[Sylvain]

To be fair I think vehicles under US control, left at the airport might have been disabled like Pentagon dude is saying.

The vehicles we see in this video were probably given to the Afghan military and not stored at the airport.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

To be fair I think vehicles under US control, left at the airport might have been disabled like Pentagon dude is saying.

The vehicles we see in this video were probably given to the Afghan military and not stored at the airport.

I got to see some photos of stuff left at the airport. It's sapped. You may be able to park it in front of the local Afghanistan Legion post for propoganda purposes, but it's busted.

It sounds like (not from media sources) that what was taken intact air craft wise was Afghan gov't stuff. US stuff was sapped and wasn't military anyway, it was stuff that was obsolete and had been repurposed to various civilian agencies and/or NGOs.

From my own experience, the US military provided us (us being DynCorp) with APCs...but not the same ones they were using. They were either old M113s (and even the newest M113 was obsolete as Bradleys and MRAPs had been fielded) or South African wheeled APCs. Those might have actually belonged to DynCorp, I'm not sure, but they were commercially avialable.

 

[Sylvain]

I got to see some photos of stuff left at the airport. It's sapped. You may be able to park it in front of the local Afghanistan Legion post for propoganda purposes, but it's busted.

It sounds like (not from media sources) that what was taken intact air craft wise was Afghan gov't stuff. US stuff was sapped and wasn't military anyway, it was stuff that was obsolete and had been repurposed to various civilian agencies and/or NGOs.

From my own experience, the US military provided us (us being DynCorp) with APCs...but not the same ones they were using. They were either old M113s (and even the newest M113 was obsolete as Bradleys and MRAPs had been fielded) or South African wheeled APCs. Those might have actually belonged to DynCorp, I'm not sure, but they were commercially avialable.

Have you used armored buses as well?
I've read that they (US gov) used those to transport their folks, journalists etc, to and from the airport.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Have you used armored buses as well?
I've read that they (US gov) used those to transport their folks, journalists etc, to and from the airport.

Nope, never saw such a thing.

 

[yote hunter]

 

[JTScribe]

We may not have learned the lesson of Vietnam, but it's very clear to me Joe Biden learned the lesson of Jimmy Carter. In my mind's ear, I can almost hear him saying it over the phone to a staff member in Lyndon Johnson's tone of voice:

"Listen here boy, we're not going to have ourselves another g*ddamn Jimmy Carter Hostage Crisis here, dragging on forever making me look bad...if they can't get out by the deadline, then leave them there and let them f*cking die..."

My whole family sat up and stared speechless the other night, when the U.S. General stood up on national TV and told the American public, the number of Americans left was in the "Very low, and I do mean very low, hundreds." My son was dumb-struck by it, and he's not old enough to have a historical reference for how the US should handle the issue of American lives at-risk overseas. The unacceptability of getting yourself into a situation where you have say that, was self-evident.

The Iran hostage crisis was 52 people, to put it into perspective. We left several times that number in Afghanistan.

 

[smittygj]

US Marine shot lots of video and compiled it all into one video. He said he tried to keep it as PG as possible. Below are his words, followed by the link to the video, which by the way, facebook and instagram have been killing every time it gets posted, so a Marine agreed to host it on his website. NOTE: and before anyone says the Marines were shooting people, they were using rubber bullets and bean bag rounds along with flash bangs and tear gas in this video. They even gassed themselves at one point:

"I'd love for this to go viral for many reasons. I hope sharing this with the people on social media it brings light to what happened in Kabul through my point of view. This is all my footage and i also edited everything. I hope this answers questions but also provokes you to ask more. Share and repost this as much as possible. To my brothers and sisters who were there i made this for you and your family.

When you have the lack of ability to explain all that happened in those two weeks, show them this. Stand tall and wear the last two weeks on your chest. I havent found a way to explain it with anywords i know. These clips are not from one or two days, they are from two straight weeks of worsening conditions. This is barely even a glimpse. Many of us have felt a purpose greater than ourselves written in history for ever, the need to protect defend and fight for what we believe is right.

Living in the shadows of the legends and giants who wore this uniform before us. To our knowledge ending a dark era for the United States military. Not knowing or caring about the circumstances. Only caring about what needs to be done and how we need to do it, putting ourselves last. Many of us joined because we liked fighting and were good with adversity and conflict. Two weeks in Kabul at HKIA put all of that to the test. I cant say enough how proud i am of the Marines i serve with.

Most of us old enough to have witnessed the day this war started, and many of us currently serving as teenagers. Odds were stacked against us, circumstances undeniably out of our control but we never let it deter our tenacious approach towards our mission at hand. Adversity and challenges happened 24/7 many at the same time, and almost all had no predesignated plan. We did our absolute best and remained stoic through the sleepless nights and round the clock work with minimal food and water.

Staying up for two or more days straight at a time grinding but remaining intensely vigilant. I serve with someones father/son/brother/sister/daughter/mother and i never take that lightly. I take it as a responsibility to never let those people down. I dont have answers for a lot of stuff we had to see and deal with and i dont expect any. But i truly hope this sheds light. I assure you no matter how awful it may seem every single one of us wanted to be there, doing what we were doing, serving our nation that we love and owe. Never take for granted your freedom liberty and pursuit of happiness.

To the Marines, sailors and soldiers injured and killed, you will live on as a legacy for decades to come. Never forgotten. I tried to keep it as PG as possible with out jipping anyone of the experience. The familys and loved ones of the service members effected need our help, i searched for as many of their gofundme’s and charities as i can find they are posted at the end. I can always get you a link if you ask and if you have anymore details about them please feel free to let me know."

- Michael Markland

https://www.brokenjarhead.com/kabul-evac-video

 

[Cameramonkey]

This isnt good. We knew who the bomber was, where he was going to strike, and even had a drone lock on him, but the brass refused to authorize the shot. Now 13 soldiers are dead because of that inaction. like that is why we didnt win this war.

Bombshell Report Claims US Knew About Kabul Bomber, Had Drone Lock, but Didn't Take the Shot

redstate.com

 

[DoggyDaddy]

This isnt good. We knew who the bomber was, where he was going to strike, and even had a drone lock on him, but the brass refused to authorize the shot. Now 13 soldiers are dead because of that inaction. like that is why we didnt win this war.

Bombshell Report Claims US Knew About Kabul Bomber, Had Drone Lock, but Didn't Take the Shot

redstate.com

How long before the Dems propose an amendment that will allow someone from the Taliban to run for president of the US? I mean, they're already controlling our military apparently thru Jihad Joe Biden.