Afghanistan

[jamil]

No, that oversimplifies it and makes it seem like its just an issue with ability. Ability is part of it, but there's also just a strong cultural aversion.

Imagine aliens land and demand you learn to cook and to do in their way. They provide equipment you've never seen, don't understand, can't maintain, and can't source from anyone else. They provide ingredients you hate the sight, taste, and smell of and, again, can't source from anyone else. They have techniques that require you to have tentacles and infrared vision to properly do. Your friends think only sissies learn to cook. Your vaguely convinced it's sinful behavior to learn to cook. You are always aware that the aliens will eventually leave, that your access to the required equipment and ingredients may be fleeting.

That's sort of the issue. It's not just you don't have the base skills to build on, although that's also true.

We may have read the same books.

 

[funeralweb]

Taliban got a Blackhawk in the air. And some people think the CIA isn’t or didn’t train them...... smh

Goat herding just got easier.

 

[BugI02]

Yes. Inshallah attitude is prevalent. Lack of being detail oriented, lack of being concerned with times and schedules, etc. I'm much more familiar with Gulf Arabs on this topic, but it was frustrating to infuriating to me originally.

Would there be any quasi-religious (for want of a better term) pushback against being too detail oriented as perhaps having insufficient faith in god, perhaps subconsciously

I know some folks who exhibit an Insh'Allah type of attitude but it seems more fey or fatalistic, as in:

"You could be killed walking around in that area at night"

"Insh'Allah"

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Would there be any quasi-religious (for want of a better term) pushback against being too detail oriented as perhaps having insufficient faith in god, perhaps subconsciously

I know some folks who exhibit an Insh'Allah type of attitude but it seems more fey or fatalistic, as in:

"You could be killed walking around in that area at night"

"Insh'Allah"

Maybe, but I think it's just a culture that hasn't had the need to be detail oriented and therefore doesn't value it.

Consider timeliness. What does a nomadic herder need time for? There's no shifts to work. There's no appointments to keep. Seasons are good enough. How shaped by the Industrial Revolution are we compared to, say our agrarian ancestors? A pocket watch used to be a luxury after all, how did you know if Johnny was 15 minutes late to meet you? Did you care? Starting in the 1800s being punctual became a thing in industrialized nations where it hadn't been in agrarian times. Being punctual came to also indicate being reliable, which is why it ticks me off when someone is late. It implies they don't value my time and aren't reliable, although I wasn't always aware of exactly why it ticked me off so badly. If your culture doesn't have those implications or values, what's the motivator for timeliness?

 

[BehindBlueI's]

We may have read the same books.

Probably, or at least some overlap. I read quite a bit on the topic when I lived in Qatar and began realizing how vastly ignorant I was about where I was, who I was around, and why we were there. It just sort of spiraled from there.

 

[ditcherman]

Apparently vets are getting people out on their own.

Language warning:

See post 1292, Tim Kennedy is on his way there right now.
Copied below...

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?

 

[Libertarian01]

No, that oversimplifies it and makes it seem like its just an issue with ability. Ability is part of it, but there's also just a strong cultural aversion.

Imagine aliens land and demand you learn to cook and to do in their way. They provide equipment you've never seen, don't understand, can't maintain, and can't source from anyone else. They provide ingredients you hate the sight, taste, and smell of and, again, can't source from anyone else. They have techniques that require you to have tentacles and infrared vision to properly do. Your friends think only sissies learn to cook. Your vaguely convinced it's sinful behavior to learn to cook. You are always aware that the aliens will eventually leave, that your access to the required equipment and ingredients may be fleeting.

That's sort of the issue. It's not just you don't have the base skills to build on, although that's also true.

I've heard of creatures just like this.

They're here now.

They're normally called "Mothers in Law!"

Doug

 

[HoosierLife]

Look at Kuwait. A much more educated country that is very pro-US and has mostly adopted the notion of a western style military. The logistical support is done by foreign workers because it's "beneath" the Kuwaitis to learn to do maintenance. I've heard very similar stories from tanker trainers as well. Status/social standing was more important to them then learning to do field expedient fixes that could potentially save their lives. It's dumbfounding to us. I had initially just chalked it up to laziness, but I read "The Arab Mind" (a book on psychology of Arabs broadly) and it's a lot more than that. There's a cultural aversion to manual labor that's associated, often subconsciously, with sinfulness. The reasoning is that God cursed Adam to till the soil/work for his food due to The Original Sin, so work is a curse. Not working must therefore be what God meant for us, and if you must work the less physical it is the better.

Well they missed the boat there. Work was around before the Fall.

 

[Expat]

You all should be ashamed of yourselves. I just heard that the Taliban has come out against climate change. They are obviously a progressive civilized group of people.

 

[DadSmith]

As planeloads of Afghans come here, nobody is asking the obvious question

As we witness planeloads full of Muslim Afghan citizens head for America, it's time to start asking why Muslim countries aren't stepping forward to take care of their co-religionists. Isn't it time they did? Afghanistan has ...

www.americanthinker.com

 

[BigRed]

Trump killed terrorists.
Obiden takes orders from terrorists.

 

[Hatin Since 87]

You all should be ashamed of yourselves. I just heard that the Taliban has come out against climate change. They are obviously a progressive civilized group of people.

They ride camels. They’re against any change.

 

[rooster]

Taliban takeover could drive covid crisis in Afghanistan as vaccinations plummet, U.N. warns — The Washington Post

As thousands of Afghans flee the Taliban takeover, thronging the Kabul airport and huddling in camps, aid agencies are warning that the overcrowded conditions could bring a new surge in coronavirus cases. The turmoil, the United Nations said this week, has already hindered its ability to respond.

apple.news

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Taliban takeover could drive covid crisis in Afghanistan as vaccinations plummet, U.N. warns — The Washington Post

As thousands of Afghans flee the Taliban takeover, thronging the Kabul airport and huddling in camps, aid agencies are warning that the overcrowded conditions could bring a new surge in coronavirus cases. The turmoil, the United Nations said this week, has already hindered its ability to respond.

apple.news

Is there anything they won't blame on Covid?

 

[1DOWN4UP]

View attachment 154899

Psaki?

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Well they missed the boat there. Work was around before the Fall.

Work existed, but working for your food did not. Literal or allegorical reading Adam has to start working to survive where before things were just provided for him. See:

Pre-Fruit Eating:

"Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so."

"The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food." "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;"

Post-Fruit Eating:

"
To Adam he said...

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food

So, I don't think they really "missed the boat" on the notion, but regardless that is what the idea is attributed to in "The Arab Mind".

 

[rhamersley]

Psaki?View attachment 155103

Yes, reminds me of, anyway…

 

[Cameramonkey]

Idiots.

BREAKING: American Teenagers Among Those Trapped in Afghanistan - Todd Starnes

At least 24 teenagers from Cajon Valley Union School District in California along with 16 parents are stranded in Afghanistan after taking a summer trip abroad.

www.toddstarnes.com

 

[indyjohn]

It's long. But, there are a number of former military that speak to the massive failure that Biden has brought. Make time to watch all of it.

 

[KellyinAvon]

Idiots.

BREAKING: American Teenagers Among Those Trapped in Afghanistan - Todd Starnes

At least 24 teenagers from Cajon Valley Union School District in California along with 16 parents are stranded in Afghanistan after taking a summer trip abroad.

www.toddstarnes.com

Todd Starnes sums it up brilliantly: Who in their right mind who take a bunch of American teenagers to a war-torn, terrorist-infested country like Afghanistan?

Had they already been to north korea? Too many connections to get a flight into Somalia? Djibouti is too mainstream? Not enough violence in Yemen? It would've been much closer and much safer to go to a town in Mexico where rival drug cartels shoot it out on a regular basis.