Afghanistan

[d000hg]

It almost certainly still is an overwhelmingly popular decision in the US - I don't think this will damage Biden politically in the medium/long term at all, even though various GOP are jumping in to trash him as you might expect. The Americans want out of pointless foreign wars, and if anything the fact that things have unravelled so quickly just serves to highlight how pointless the whole exercise was.

Depends if/when the terror attacks start, I guess. If they can take the country in a week, what else have they been cooking up?

[mattster]

It's a curious one for the Trumpists. They've been arguing for ages they want out, but they will have to criticise Biden and tell everyone how much better it would be under Trump. Whereas it's precisely the Trumpesque decision to pull out in a grand gesture with no planning and no forethought that has led to the current situation.

And now there's the possibility of a proper war to get excited about.

Yes. Trump's last missive on the subject, back in April, was complaining that Biden was taking too long. What was the plan anyway? As far as I can tell, it was to leave - which they did - and then just hope the Afghan army held on long enough to get everyone out before the Taliban took over. The failure is entirely one of intelligence here, but it might have been prudent in retrospect to get everyone out first, just in case. Beyond that, the plan was always just to let the Taliban take over - Trump actually struck the deal, after all.

[minestrone]

Everyone agreed they needed to leave. Trump plan was to leave early in the year when weather was poor, Biden delayed that as they though they could make a better plan.

Biden is building a strawman arguing the case for leaving while ignoring the total fook up of actually leaving. Clearly there are people who fall for it.

[mattster]

Everyone agreed they needed to leave. Trump plan was to leave early in the year when weather was poor, Biden delayed that as they though they could make a better plan.

Biden is building a strawman arguing the case for leaving while ignoring the total fook up of actually leaving. Clearly there are people who fall for it.

Oh FFS do you really think Trump thought any of this through at all?

[minestrone]

There are thousands of Americans hiding around Kabul just now. Biden's plan evacuated the soldiers before them.

This tulip show is all on Biden.

[AtW]

Oh FFS do you really think Trump thought any of this through at all?

No, but if Biden can’t do better than Trump then what’s use in him?

[minestrone]

CNN have folded on him. That's pretty much his main supporter.

[d000hg]

Everyone agreed they needed to leave. Trump plan was to leave early in the year when weather was poor.

That does sound like the sort of moronic idea he'd have. So it might have taken them 4 weeks instead of 1 to seize control, but they would have had longer to do it in.

[minestrone]

That does sound like the sort of moronic idea he'd have. So it might have taken them 4 weeks instead of 1 to seize control, but they would have had longer to do it in.

That was the exact plan.

Trump said last year it was possible the Taliban would take over. Not like captain dementia who told us 3 weeks ago it would never happen.

You either go on some fantasy like Blair and Bush that you change them in democracy that they dont want while they blow your troops up. Drone the fookers into caves like Obama did who dropped like tens of thousands of missiles on them and killed thousands of normies. Or just leave and let them get on with it.

leaving is not the issue, it's totally fooking up the leaving to the point there are now thousands of Americans hiding in the city and cant get out. Folk falling off planes. There should have been weeks or months between leaving and them talking over. This has the potential to get very very bad now.

[vetran]

That was the exact plan.

Trump said last year it was possible the Taliban would take over. Not like captain dementia who told us 3 weeks ago it would never happen.

You either go on some fantasy like Blair and Bush that you change them in democracy that they dont want while they blow your troops up. Drone the fookers into caves like Obama did who dropped like tens of thousands of missiles on them and killed thousands of normies. Or just leave and let them get on with it.

leaving is not the issue, it's totally fooking up the leaving to the point there are now thousands of Americans hiding in the city and cant get out. Folk falling off planes. There should have been weeks or months between leaving and them talking over. This has the potential to get very very bad now.

We should have tapered. We have left the poor sods to a bunch of nutters.

20 years of the kids going to school it would have become a wonderful tolerant country.


We still have troops in Germany. 19,100 in 2010. 180 now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britis...Army%20Germany.