U.S Politics

Never was. The Doha deal was dumb under Trump but western military interventions are invariably disastrous. The Taliban retain much popular support, hence their strength. Western intervention in Afghanistan has resulted in almost a quarter of a million deaths, the invasion of Iraq around twice that , never mind the likes of Libya or Syria or Somalia. Bad situations have been made demonstrably worse.

Interesting geo-political responses unfolding as China, Russia and Pakistan have been relatively forthcoming in their willingness to work with the Taliban. Of course, nations that have limited to no acquaintance with the concept of human rights will act in that way, so quelle surprise, I suppose. 

The war was won by the West in 6 weeks. The mass murderers regime was removed, a legitimate President was appointed, a new government was elected, billions of pounds, dollars and euros were pumped into the country. Keeping the peace however was a different task, and clearly the locals were not up to it, even when they were armed with the best equipment going. Even after 20 years, the situation had not stabilised to the extent that the Yanks could withdraw. But they have, just so Blunder Biden can have a photo op with them at the Twin Towers next month for the 20th Anniversary, leaving the mass murderers to overthrow the democratically elected government, and carry on running the country where they left off. The chaos at the airport is a modern day Saigon, and a humiliating end to 20 years of blood sweat and many tears. But I'm sure the left wingers who voted for him sometime last autumn on the basis he would bring them all home, are proud of themselves. As he blames all and sundry for his own catastrophic error of judgement, his approval ratings have sunk to the lowest level yet.  So, considering they are our rivals and assuming they are now banned from all sport as it's not Islamic enough, you wonder what is the fate awaiting the Afghanistan cricket team.

planning wrote: The war was won by the West in 6 weeks. The mass murderers regime was removed, a legitimate President was appointed, a new government was elected, billions of pounds, dollars and euros were pumped into the country. Keeping the peace however was a different task, and clearly the locals were not up to it, even when they were armed with the best equipment going. Even after 20 years, the situation had not stabilised to the extent that the Yanks could withdraw. But they have, just so Blunder Biden can have a photo op with them at the Twin Towers next month for the 20th Anniversary, leaving the mass murderers to overthrow the democratically elected government, and carry on running the country where they left off. The chaos at the airport is a modern day Saigon, and a humiliating end to 20 years of blood sweat and many tears. But I'm sure the left wingers who voted for him sometime last autumn on the basis he would bring them all home, are proud of themselves. As he blames all and sundry for his own catastrophic error of judgement, his approval ratings have sunk to the lowest level yet.  So, considering they are our rivals and assuming they are now banned from all sport as it's not Islamic enough, you wonder what is the fate awaiting the Afghanistan cricket team.

Edited by tapfit2004 - 20 Aug 2021 at 2:36am

tapfit2004 wrote: Are you talking about the the deal that the trump presidential team negotiated with the taliban in Doha?

Green Cockade wrote: As with all these imperialist adventures, the home audience is invariably fed lies and the invaded lands are left worse off. Afghanistan remains one of the poorest countries in the world, seventh worst in terms of GDP per head, next to nothing spent on infrastructure initiatives that could have boosted economic growth. Not sure how all of that can be laid at the door of the Irishman in the White House for putting an end to his country's involvement in this violent and mendacious nightmare but there you go, nice of you to clear that up.

"Democracy" in Afghanistan was never comparable with the liberal western version. The country has always been a tribal society. The Taliban is not just a religious group but an ethnic one, mostly Pashtuns as terrified of the Uzbek/ Tajik dominated alliance as it is of them. Democratic institutions, as in Iraq, were hijacked for sectarian purposes. All this in a country where 99% support sharia law, 85% stoning for adultery, 79% execution for apostasy and the 2019 Presidential election attracted a derisory turn-out of around 5%. Seeking a central state along western lines, rather than a regional set-up based on ethnic realities, was doomed to failure from the get-go. Questions will be asked as to why the intelligence community did not know that the Afghan military leaders had done a deal with the Taliban and agreed to get offside in the wake of the Doha deal, where Trump's administration had gone behind their backs to negotiate with the Taliban. Ultimately I believe it will do little harm politically to Biden. He knew he had to get the withdrawal done well in advance of the mid-term elections in November next year, by which time it will not be an issue for most Americans. Over 70% of them wanted their troops home anyway, so the Irishman has stolen Trump's clothes on that one.

planning wrote: The reports out of Kabul this week have hit Biden's approval ratings hard. So if the place again becomes a terrorist training camp to launch attacks on America and American interests, it will be a factor in the next election. They have troops stationed in stable nations with no terrorist threat, the withdrawal should have been postponed until the Afghans are capable of guaranteeing everyone's safety. I accept that democracy there is not democracy as we know it, but it's paradise compared to what they have to face now, where there is no democracy, no human rights, and no economy. When even the IMF won't fund you, you know it's serious.

If there were any doubts about Biden's cognitive state, that instruction card should clear it up.