Afghanistan

[maxwelhse]

And Biden continues to regress to his second childhood.

I laugh, but it's sad to see them abuse the guy. I try to remind myself that he was always worthy of the abuse before he went senile so it's all fair in the end.

 

[Leadeye]

Tim Kennedy didn’t come right out and say it but made me think we* are sending some of our own to do private rescues/evacs.

*the ‘we’ are private companies that you can donate towards to help with their mission, whether it’s rescue of allies or the longer term support of vets.
Here are some links from Tim and the associated rabbit hole I went down.

Save Our Allies

The mission of Save Our Allies is to rescue and serve Americans and Allies in war torn environments.

saveourallies.org

The Mighty Oaks Foundation – Veteran Recovery Programs & Support

The Mighty Oaks Foundation is a faith-based nonprofit organization dedicated to helping veterans recover from ptsd and trauma. Learn more about our programs.

www.mightyoaksprograms.org

No One Left

Keeping Our Promise and Saving the heroic interpreters, and their families who served honorably alongside our forces in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan start a new life in the United States.

nooneleft.org

Wondering if anyone else is seeing this or has other suggestions on how to help?

Ross Perot did this during the Iran problem in the 70s and gained the eternal hatred of the government. Bull Simons got some of his people out.

 

[Tombs]

 

[Bennettjh]

I still think she's cute.

 

[rooster]

Ok so hear me out here.

taliban take over, meet with the CIA director and everything. We left all kinds of guns and equipment for them. the only opposition force im seeing reported on the internet are the former Afghan soldiers who got told to hand over their guns.

now Biden gets on TV talking about ISIS-k as an isis affiliate in Kabul that might attack Americans?

this whole thing sounds like Uncle Sam cut a deal with the taliban and the leaving of equipment isn’t a mistake but was the plan.
Obviously there have been lines of communication for a while if the CIA director went and had a meeting

 

[Cameramonkey]

Ok so hear me out here.

taliban take over, meet with the CIA director and everything. We left all kinds of guns and equipment for them. the only opposition force im seeing reported on the internet are the former Afghan soldiers who got told to hand over their guns.

now Biden gets on TV talking about ISIS-k as an isis affiliate in Kabul that might attack Americans?

this whole thing sounds like Uncle Sam cut a deal with the taliban and the leaving of equipment isn’t a mistake but was the plan.
Obviously there have been lines of communication for a while if the CIA director went and had a meeting

That is stupid enough it might be true.

 

[BigRed]

The piece of **** is more concerned about making sure you do not have firearms.

Joe can go to ****.

 

[Tombs]

Ok so hear me out here.

taliban take over, meet with the CIA director and everything. We left all kinds of guns and equipment for them. the only opposition force im seeing reported on the internet are the former Afghan soldiers who got told to hand over their guns.

now Biden gets on TV talking about ISIS-k as an isis affiliate in Kabul that might attack Americans?

this whole thing sounds like Uncle Sam cut a deal with the taliban and the leaving of equipment isn’t a mistake but was the plan.
Obviously there have been lines of communication for a while if the CIA director went and had a meeting

Another thing to remember here was that the taliban was meeting with Chinese heads of state back in July.
You can bet your bottom dollar quite a bit of our military technology is heading to China to be reverse engineered.

And I'm sure China has a top notch relationship with the taliban now.

I would not be the least bit surprised if this was some means of the left exporting our top military technology to China.

 

[BigRed]

Another thing to remember here was that the taliban was meeting with Chinese heads of state back in July.
You can bet your bottom dollar quite a bit of our military technology is heading to China to be reverse engineered.

And I'm sure China has a top notch relationship with the taliban now.

I would not be the least bit surprised if this was some means of the left exporting our top military technology to China.

They don't call him CCP Joe for nothin' ya know.

 

[Hatin Since 87]

joe looks tough

I’m gonna have to stop you right there...

 

[1DOWN4UP]

 

[Hatin Since 87]

He is an absolute piece of ****.

At least I can flush ****

 

[Leadeye]

Wonder how much will go up on Ebay, I could use a thermal and some new night vision.

 

[Cameramonkey]

I would not be the least bit surprised if this was some means of the left exporting our top military technology to China.

I dont think they are that smart.

At least not as a primary driver. Maybe an afterthought?

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Wonder how much will go up on Ebay, I could use a thermal and some new night vision.

I picture the Taliban finding the high tech gear going something like this...

 

[Libertarian01]

I'm sure Ret. Navy Seal Willink is just a little ticked off about how all this played out and is blowing off a little steam out of frustration. But you're right. Maybe we should just ask (beg) the taliban for permission to stay a little longer past the deadline to get Americans out.

Yes, I agree. I am certain he is frustrated too. But you're right. We WILL need to ask/beg the Taliban for permission to stay a little longer. I am NOT being sarcastic here. Imagine what would happen were the Taliban to, oh I don't know, leak a rumor that the airport is now open and the Americans are taking as many as they can by tomorrow? Then the do NOTHING to stop the horde of civilians who will overrun the fences and clog the airport. Hell, they might even give them simple tools to get through or over the fence. See how far south it would go then.

I agree, it IS frustrating to watch. But what he said was naive and stupid.

I think his frame of reference in his imaginary speech was that this would be the first thing he would have said -if- somehow this would have happened on his watch. Like, before biden could even pull his finger out of his nose in the reality we have now, this would be the plan. If you apply that perspective of timeline to this statement it makes more sense. Come out strong, soften as needed. Leaving the airports blown up is feature, not a bug, anyway.

I'm not sure he meant we'd be scaled down but still there, long term, but just long enough to finish what we need. Of course, if this country had the stomach to elect Jocko, this would have been a 3 year war and we would certainly not be feeling the shame of the current leadership.

He would also have the same benefit as the current admin does of changing his mind, but coming from a strong reaction to softening instead of the other way around (albeit barely) which shows how soft you are.

His is a reaction that obviously resonated, and whether we agree with the war or not, I have to feel for those who served and now have to watch the outcome.

Yes, but what came before is now irrelevant. The plan certainly could have been made and executed FAR better than it was.

Commenting about supplying freedom fighters and supporting with special forces IS scaled down but staying long term, just phrased a different way. And there is no winning. We lost. Game over. We lose. Like Vietnam we won every battle and lost the war.
My issue is now, today, the reality is that the Taliban controls all of Afghanistan, at least heavily influences.

I was thinking that the military industrial complex was elated that all that stuff had been "lost" and will now most certainly need to be replaced, for safety's sake. For the children!

Yes, they are probably happy about the replacements. However, they LOVE ongoing contracts. Those will be much diminished with the pullout of Afghanistan.

A-10s, Apaches and AC130s to do the initial 'lawn-mowing'. Harriers, helps and F35Bs if they crater the runways

Our civilized credibility with the world is already in the tank. When no one is innocent, you are not killing innocent people

Agreed on long term strategy, but if we decided to own the place long enough to evac we could do it but it would be bloody. Taking real estate from the Taliban is easy. Trying to hold onto it is where they bleed you

All the aforementioned aircraft will do nothing to clean up a runway that has been spoiled. We can bomb and kill all we want, but in the end if the Taliban wants to make almost any runway unusable there is not much if anything we can do to stop it.

We still have reasonable credibility for not being barbarians. Park several of those vehicles in or near civilian targets and there is no way we will take it out.

I truly don't know if we could hold the airport if they really don't want us to. They could as I mentioned before incite tens of thousands of civilians to flood the airport and overwhelm whatever guards are there. They could launch a few HE rounds into the runway. Eventually a landing or taking off plane will have a catastrophic accident that will take too long to clear.

Plus, how many people are there now? Around 20,000. Source: https://nypost.com/2021/08/23/us-military-jets-to-land-in-kabul-as-20k-remain-at-airport/

If the Taliban forces us to drag this out that is 60,000 meals a day. Say half male and female. That's 40,000 gallons of water a day. Siege warfare can be brutal.

If we really want to we can go back and get them out, but without a runway it would be a very, very, very ugly situation. Anyone that thinks it's chaotic now - just imagine trying to slog everyone to helicopter evacuation range? And who is everyone? Who gets left behind? If they march that is a LOT of food and water to supply.

This thing is a clusterF***, no doubt. My problem is with your final line - it is 100% correct!!! We cannot handle being bled. We don't have the psychological capacity to handle it. My issue with Mr. Alpha Male SEAL is that he actually believes what he says. There is NO WAY a military solution will ever work. It cannot, not for the next century at least.

The way to beat the Taliban is the same way we beat nobility, communism, and every other problem. You create a better system, in our case liberty and prosperity through the recognition of the value of civil rights, property rights, private ownership, and capitalism. You don't achieve it with Hollywood glitter and sparkle, but with the average, everyday American being able to live a decent life, acquire knowledge, and know that their children will probably have a better life than they did. That does NOT happen overnight, or even over a decade. But in my mind creating and implementing a better system, then living that system, is what defeats inferior systems and inferior values.

But Hey, I could be wrong. Maybe air strikes, secret incursions, and forever wars are the best. What scares me is we might find out.

Regards to All,

Doug

 

[BugI02]

Yes, I agree. I am certain he is frustrated too. But you're right. We WILL need to ask/beg the Taliban for permission to stay a little longer. I am NOT being sarcastic here. Imagine what would happen were the Taliban to, oh I don't know, leak a rumor that the airport is now open and the Americans are taking as many as they can by tomorrow? Then the do NOTHING to stop the horde of civilians who will overrun the fences and clog the airport. Hell, they might even give them simple tools to get through or over the fence. See how far south it would go then.

I agree, it IS frustrating to watch. But what he said was naive and stupid.


Yes, but what came before is now irrelevant. The plan certainly could have been made and executed FAR better than it was.

Commenting about supplying freedom fighters and supporting with special forces IS scaled down but staying long term, just phrased a different way. And there is no winning. We lost. Game over. We lose. Like Vietnam we won every battle and lost the war.
My issue is now, today, the reality is that the Taliban controls all of Afghanistan, at least heavily influences.


Yes, they are probably happy about the replacements. However, they LOVE ongoing contracts. Those will be much diminished with the pullout of Afghanistan.



All the aforementioned aircraft will do nothing to clean up a runway that has been spoiled. We can bomb and kill all we want, but in the end if the Taliban wants to make almost any runway unusable there is not much if anything we can do to stop it.

We still have reasonable credibility for not being barbarians. Park several of those vehicles in or near civilian targets and there is no way we will take it out.

I truly don't know if we could hold the airport if they really don't want us to. They could as I mentioned before incite tens of thousands of civilians to flood the airport and overwhelm whatever guards are there. They could launch a few HE rounds into the runway. Eventually a landing or taking off plane will have a catastrophic accident that will take too long to clear.

Plus, how many people are there now? Around 20,000. Source: https://nypost.com/2021/08/23/us-military-jets-to-land-in-kabul-as-20k-remain-at-airport/

If the Taliban forces us to drag this out that is 60,000 meals a day. Say half male and female. That's 40,000 gallons of water a day. Siege warfare can be brutal.

If we really want to we can go back and get them out, but without a runway it would be a very, very, very ugly situation. Anyone that thinks it's chaotic now - just imagine trying to slog everyone to helicopter evacuation range? And who is everyone? Who gets left behind? If they march that is a LOT of food and water to supply.

This thing is a clusterF***, no doubt. My problem is with your final line - it is 100% correct!!! We cannot handle being bled. We don't have the psychological capacity to handle it. My issue with Mr. Alpha Male SEAL is that he actually believes what he says. There is NO WAY a military solution will ever work. It cannot, not for the next century at least.

The way to beat the Taliban is the same way we beat nobility, communism, and every other problem. You create a better system, in our case liberty and prosperity through the recognition of the value of civil rights, property rights, private ownership, and capitalism. You don't achieve it with Hollywood glitter and sparkle, but with the average, everyday American being able to live a decent life, acquire knowledge, and know that their children will probably have a better life than they did. That does NOT happen overnight, or even over a decade. But in my mind creating and implementing a better system, then living that system, is what defeats inferior systems and inferior values.

But Hey, I could be wrong. Maybe air strikes, secret incursions, and forever wars are the best. What scares me is we might find out.

Regards to All,

Doug

Rome's military solution for Carthage would work, but we haven't got the stomach for it

I would heed Niccolo's advice concerning if authority cannot be both loved and feared

 

[rhamersley]

I still think she's cute.

 

[Tombs]

I picture the Taliban finding the high tech gear going something like this...

They've had decades of CIA training, paid for with our taxes.

I'm sure they're a bit more familiar with it than you might think.

 

[rooster]

I missed the speech but saw this gem.how do you background check people from a tribal world?