Afghanistan

[d000hg]

it took trillions of dollars and thousands of lives to avoid the Taliban for 20 years

FTFY

[NotAllThere]

That's the problem with having utterly dull posters become admins.

They make utterly dull forums. I'm out.

Nice of you to admit you were trolling. And confirming my decision to delete your post and SuEllen's quote of it. was correct.. oh. He's gone. Oh well.

[DoctorStrangelove]

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/britains-f...234313080.html

In 2009, I met some tribal elders from the village of Gandamak, where the British troops made their last stand in 1842.

Already then, a decade before this weekend’s debacle, they could see the way the winds were blowing.

All the Americans here know their game is over,” said one elder.

“It is just their politicians who deny this.”

“These are the last days of the Americans,” said his friend. “Next it will be China.”

Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Those who do not remember their past are condemned to repeat their mistakes.

Those who do not read history are doomed to repeat it.

Those who fail to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors are destined to repeat them.

Wot he said.

[BigDataPro]

Taliban takeover was 'more smooth than the presidential transition in the US'

-Chinese Media

[OwlHoot]

AIUI, in their haste to have every Yank out of Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary of 9/11 (2001) the Americans evacuated all their contractors who maintained high-tech weaponry and planes for the Afghan forces.

So it wasn't so much a case of the Afghan army dropping their weapons in a fright and hoofing it en masse (or joining the Taliban) but that they couldn't have fought a battle anyway.

[d000hg]

Taliban takeover was 'more smooth than the presidential transition in the US'

-Chinese Media

Certainly far less disputed.

[DealorNoDeal]

They seem a lot more PR savvy these days.

Surprised they haven't rebranded themselves New Taliban. Things can only get better...

[Andy2]

Ever generous tory govt is doubling the aid to £286m
https://twitter.com/DominicRaab/stat...98047255498754
The UK will double its humanitarian and development aid to Afghanistan to £286m this year. We call on others to follow our lead to ensure the most vulnerable Afghans receive the humanitarian assistance they need." - Dominic Raab, UK Foreign Secretary.

[TestMangler]

Nice of you to admit you were trolling. And confirming my decision to delete your post and SuEllen's quote of it. was correct.. oh. He's gone. Oh well.

Like herpes, he'll be back. Probably as soon as they announce the return of the X Factor

[xoggoth]

They seem a lot more PR savvy these days.

Surprised they haven't rebranded themselves New Taliban. Things can only get better...

May be just a front, we'll see. Various atrocities have been reported but that happens in all wars. There are signs of increasing moderation among more extreme Islamic nations. Couple of examples here:

https://metro.co.uk/2020/11/09/uae-r...ther-13561685/
https://www.euronews.com/2020/04/26/...-and-floggings