The TALIBAN

Jackflash

Midfield General
Staff member
US President Joe Biden has left the people of Afghanistan in a even greater plight than just withdrawing troops.
Just read a report that the US military has left behind thousands of US made armoured vehicles, 30 / 40 aircraft and a huge number of small arms to the disposal of the Taliban.
 

Jackflash

Midfield General
Staff member
Biden needs a brain transplant , what's wrong with Americans and their system that only rich brainless morons can hold the presidency ?
Seems that's the way it works Blobs, they make large donations to either the Democratic or Republican Parties, normally involves those with a craving for power.
 

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
I believe that the equipment “left behind” was supplied to the Afghan army of 300k plus … the one led by “President” Ghani who bottled it and fled and on the first plane out. The military that was setup and trained for over a decade with a 5 to 1 advantage in numbers and superior equipment. The only thing they lacked was a spine and leadership. “Love” of country doesn’t apparently instill that. Apparently the “first Vice President” is now holed up in a valley somewhere mounting a resistance, while the “president” is in Qatar.

Biden was handed a negotiated agreement by Trump with the Taliban. One that was quite a shit show as you might expect from Trump. One that called for a withdrawal earlier in the year that Biden deferred until now. That the US was withdrawing now was no secret to anybody …. Including other NATO members, ghani was democratically elected in 2014, then again in 2019, so the people knew what they had and made their choice … one they are now having to live with and without as it happens

ironically, when the Taliban were deposed in 2001 there was no internet nor cellular service in the country … now they have relaxed their religious faux law to include those modern items to use for their own propaganda and communications. Culturally backward yet technologically advanced!

The only criticism that could be leveled is that the time of the withdrawal could / should have been postponed another couple of months. It turns out that for afghani people war is a seasonal thing … they don’t fight during the “winter” season … sounds very British. Withdrawing during the “winter” season would have had some impact on the Taliban’s operations. I guess “winter” came earlier to some out there than others.

this was always going to be a shit show. The only thing open for debate was how sloppy and stinky it would be. It was pretty loose and stinky in the country’s leadership and military. A political regime akin to a Seinfeld episode … Ghani and his cronies could assume power and “leadership”, they just had no idea how to use it. Affirmation of the age old adage: you can take a horse to water but you cannot it make it drink.

At least now the US military has secured the Kabul airport and operating an extraction point. The Taliban are wise to let that continue.
 

Jackflash

Midfield General
Staff member
I can't believe the UK & US governments are prepared to abandon thousands of people, some of them UK & US nationals, to possibly the fate of death, telling them they must try and escape the country by their own means.
These are people who previously probably saved hundreds of UK & US lives in the past.
These people must now accept that when UK & US troops are withdrawn they will be hunted down and killed.
For the life of me I can't understand why Biden wouldn't extend the withdrawal date when it became obvious the withdrawal couldn't be completed to date .Why ??? They are dealing with scum, rapists, watched footage of a hungry 4/5 year old boy who stole an apple, he was held down on the road and a lorry driven over his hand and wrist.
Are we expecting in the event of another conflict somewhere, the help of locals?
Maybe 20 years ago we should have resorted to turning rapists over to the public, and allow them to stone them to death, as the Taliban do to unfaithful women.
Is it not evidence enough that when someone who assisted us, but couldn't get on a flight, so desperate held onto the wing of a plane, and eventually fell to this death.
 

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
I expect Biden to extend occupation of the airport past the 8/31 date. I think that date was the stated goal … media in particular like dates certain, it allows them to create narratives and prognosticate … but not a date certain behind close doors. There’s a difference between a goal and reality … always has been and in fluid situations like nothing is certain but what has already / just happened.

since ISIS targets are now being picked off by drones and rockets on route to the airport, I am amazed at the level of intelligence being gathered. There must be massive satellite and drone surveillance taking place over a wide area.

There are still some 15k or so camped around the airport. And, reportedly the numbers arriving at the airport are now less than the numbers being flown out, so there appears to be a winding down in that regard.

this is going to continue long into September. There is some talk of a Turkish/Qatari coalition taking control of the airport With the support of the Taliban. if it happens this will take a while to unfold.
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
I expect Biden to extend occupation of the airport past the 8/31 date.
I expect nothing from this geriatric half-wit other than more blunders with monumental consequences for the West and its allies. My God, Trump was in cloud cuckoo land for much of the time but Biden doesn't even have the intelligence to qualify for that. Read the following and weep as I almost did - tears of frustrated rage. As a result of his actions and his abject failure to anticipate the speed of the Taliban's advance he didn't even have time to remove the US's arsenal of weapons. Because of this 'oversight' the Taliban are now in possession of the following:

HUNDREDS of helicopters including 33 Blackhawks and 33 Mi-17s. This means that the Taliban now possesses more attack helicopters than the UK!!!

It has also got THOUSANDS of trucks; more than 20,000 Humvees; HUNDREDS of tanks; almost HALF A MILLION rifles and pistols; 64,000 machine guns and HUNDREDS of artillery pieces.

This means that the Taliban is now one of the MOST WELL-ARMED FORCES ON THE PLANET. In fact, they are now better armed than almost every other country in NATO that sent troops into Afghanistan!!

Biden's is a blunder of epic historic proportions. What say the American people whose tax dollars have now been gifted by way of arms and ammunition to a bloodthirsty, barbaric regime that hates the West and all it stands for? And what about the thousands of American lives; hundreds of British lives and hundreds/thousands of our other allies' lives that now stand as a wanton waste of humanity?

Biden who, by the way is absolutely no friend of the UK, is an unmitigated moron of unimaginable proportions and has proved himself incapable of leading his local Derby and Joan club let alone the greatest power in the world. What in God's name possessed the American people to elect such a Grade A idiot and wimp as their President? Okay, I get that they weren't spoilt for choice with another term of Trump in prospect but at least he wouldn't have meekly sat on his arse and allowed all this shit to happen. And yes, I know he was the one responsible for making the decision to leave Afghanistan but surely he would have made sure that the debacle that Biden presided over wouldn't have happened.

All the innocent lives that tragically have been lost and the lives that are still to be lost can be laid at the feet of one man. Step forward, Biden. You have overwhelmingly proved that you are not fit for purpose.
 

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
The "US arsenal" was part of the 2 trillion investment that stood-up, equipped and trained the Afghan military that had everything to fight a war to defend their country except leadership and backbone. Money can't buy that. The inventory of equipment was surrendered by the "Afghan Military". Possessing equipment and knowing how to use it and more importantly the resources to maintain it are two entirely different things.

Biden was left with a settlement negotiated between the Taliban and Trump only, the existing Afghan government was not included in those negotiations. Exactly the involvement of NATO leaders, if at all, is not clear. Maybe Trump got a branding license for a new golf course somewhere out there in return ... the shit show that has resulted is what it is and for these reasons: a) the "negotiated settlement" between Trump and Taliban lacked any rational logistics, phased implementation and coordination with the national government; b) State Dept apparatus had been handcuffed to deliberately limit the number of Afghan helpers extracted into the US; c) the capitulation of the afghan military; d) the flight to safety of the Afghan president who wanted nothing to do with leading his country. Per Trump, the US was going to be out of there back in April/May. Biden deferred until August to try to resolve the dire situation he had been handed including an obstructionist residual Trump State Dept apparatus for vetting applications, assigning visas and evacuating Afghani helpers, US and other citizens and then the military.

Everybody is acting like this happened all of a sudden. It has not. It was public information to every NATO leader, contractor, US and other nationals on the ground. Every one of those national leaders bears their own responsibility for being caught offside in what was always going to be a shit show ... the only thing open to debate was how sloppy and sticky was this particular flavor of shit going to be.

Why US nationals were not the fuck out of there long before the final pull out of US military is insane and on them; every person still there bears a responsibility for their own well being. This phenomenon of ASS (arrogant, self-centered, stupidity) appears time and again in every high risk situation - whether it be a military / war scenario, a class 5 hurricane (those that decide to "tough" it out only to be left stranded on the roof of what remains of their home surrounded by sewage laden water with no food or shelter and then require others to assume risk to save them); a pandemic and anti-vaxers who decline to be vaccinated, then catch it, then expect exhausted and over burdened health systems to save their lives. People have the right to self-determine ... but they don't have a right to expect to be saved as result of their own ASS, this includes sucking it up when their self-determination contrary to basic common sense blows up in their face.

As a result of all this, US military and other militaries are now subject to grave risk of being bombarded with ordinates while maintaining the security of the airport. US tech is now running hyper surveillance over a broad area and is able to identify ISIS and other terrorist groups seeking to exploit. Sadly exterminating the vermin that would exploit this situation is resulting in collateral deaths and casualties. Once the US military finally departs, the Taliban are going get reamed out by the ISIS infiltration that is already occurring. Taliban v ISIS ... now that's a Match of the Day for you ... one set of cut-throats versus another. More proof that what goes around, comes around.
 

CroJack

Key Player
Biden's is a blunder of epic historic proportions.
He has not been on the field in Afganistan, Ivor. His generals and CIA, DIA, NSA, CSS, NRO, etc. were. A president can only make decisions on the basis of the intel he gets, and the intel he has got was that the Afgan army would be able to defend Kabul for at least six months.
Someone within the US military and intelligence services will pay for this blunder.
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
He has not been on the field in Afganistan, Ivor. His generals and CIA, DIA, NSA, CSS, NRO, etc. were. A president can only make decisions on the basis of the intel he gets, and the intel he has got was that the Afgan army would be able to defend Kabul for at least six months.
Someone within the US military and intelligence services will pay for this blunder.
I take your point, CJ. (Mind you, Boris wasn't afforded such latitude when he took so-called 'expert' advice about Covid). But Biden is still culpable. He was entreated strongly by the UK to delay the withdrawal of US troops to allow more time to get the logistics in order. He refused point blank and proceeded to withdraw his military. The UK and other allies then had no choice other than to follow suit. Had Biden (the US) stood firm for a while longer then her allies, especially the UK, would have stood by them and done the same.

I don't know the fine detail behind his decision and neither does anyone else outside of the loop. We can only speculate. But I'm reading/hearing opinion by informed military and political commentators from both sides of the pond that Biden has committed a brain-fart of the worst kind; the horrendous ramifications of which will only become apparent in the fullness of time.
 

KVetch

Key Player
They're saying the Taliban now has one of the largest air forces in the world lol. Can they fly them though? They also left behind millions of US dollars. My best would be rival terrorist groups are going to battle with them for control of the weapons and cash. Afghanistan will be an even worse war zone. They should have done far better to get those people out. These politicians only care about themselves, their image and their pockets.

The Taliban is going to use that money to grow even stronger unless someone bigger comes along and takes it away from them.
 

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
NYT is reporting that the US is out of afghanistan, lock, stock and barrel. Over 100k people have been evacuated. Taliban now have control of the airport.
 

Jackflash

Midfield General
Staff member
NYT is reporting that the US is out of afghanistan, lock, stock and barrel. Over 100k people have been evacuated. Taliban now have control of the airport.
So Biden didn't extend US airport occupation after 31/8. great news for those US citizens left behind, some who probably voted him into power.
Does he really think he can negotiate with them now that they've left, the only negotiations they understand is the rule of the gun, they say it was a peaceful takeover, what else would anyone expect when their entire fighting force were armed with AK47's, an entire arsenal that could have been gathered up and dumped in the sea. I think if Biden was to run for election today, after the handling of affairs since being in office his chances would be laughable.
 

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
Those US Citiarms that remain are apparently there of their own free will. Horse and Water. I guess there was no justification to keep assets on the ground under risk of attack for a few that didn’t want to take advantage of the last train out of town.

54% percent plus are still polling in favor, which is still much higher than Trump ever received.
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
54% percent plus are still polling in favor
Doesn't say much for their intelligence? Personally, I would put the buffoon out to grass whilst the going is good. The UK lost its reputation years ago and Biden has now made the US the laughing stock of the entire western world (not that there's anything at all to laugh about here). I have the utmost contempt for the old idiot and the utmost sympathy for all those US service personnel whose lives were wasted - and of course those of other nations. Never a truer saying - when old men fall out, young men die.
 

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
@ivoralljack .... to call Biden a buffoon leaves no words in the English language to describe the detritus that was Trump. To date: Biden's biggest struggle has been shoveling all of the shit out of the stable left by Trump; coupled with seditious and obstructive elements in Congress that still remain but shall be identified and expelled in good time.

Biden is not perfect by any means, but he is nothing if not honest and acts in good faith and with good will. The antithesis of Trump. I don't think many outside the US realize just how seriously close we came to democratic disaster on January 6th. It may seem like a glorious video game to some; but there was bitter hand to hand combat throughout the Capitol building with the willful intention to destroy the Constitutional process and lynch anybody that got in the way.

Biden inherited: a Justice Dept riddled with corruption stemming from AG Barr; a State Dept stripped of veteran diplomats and experienced service officers; a Defense Department infiltrated by Trump civilian execs with cohorts of military personnel as Trump supporters and at risk of betraying their oath of service. And these are just the main government departments; with the intelligence apparatus weakened and similarly compromised.

And in addition, there was/is the fallout from the pandemic, which in an of itself is enough to cause severe grief to other governments and leaders.

All of this needs to be sorted out, while the juggernaut of US operations civilian and military continue.

Last week, the leader of the militia group that attempted to kidnap the Governor of Michigan, received a 6 year prison term ... and this guy pled guilty and chose to cooperate with Federal prosecutors. His fellow conspirators are going to get hammered. Federal prosecutions of the seditionists are proceeding and felony complaints are now being tried. All of the idiots who followed and acted out on the Big Lie are going to have their lives destroyed as a result ... Federal felony convictions are unrecoverable and will render them practically unemployable.

Biden inherited Trump's "Solution" to Afghanistan. He did his best to play the shit hand he had been dealt. Under the circumstances, that there were only 13 military deaths in such a hostile environment is pretty remarkable. Afghanistan is now Taliban with ISIS incursions. In their haste and eagerness to advance and take control the Taliban have bitten off more than they can chew and they're now on their own against ISIS.
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
I wasn't advocating Trump over Biden, they are both Grade A idiots, imo. It's a shame that America has been reduced to the likes of them. Surely there are some honest people of integrity and intelligence that have credible credentials to become POTUS?
 

Jackflash

Midfield General
Staff member
I don't know what it is about Biden, when he speaks to the nation he doesn't sound the least bit convincing, it sounds more like a 10 yr old child reading a script, just a continuous one level drone. No anger in his voice for the suicide bombing that killed 13 army personnel and numerous civilians, only to say "we will hunt you down, then to sanction a drone attack which in turn killed innocent children.
 
Top Bottom