Afghanistan - 20 years on
- Thread starter GreatAuk
- Start date
Caporegime
It will be interesting to see if the government put a number on the amount they will accept. 1000, 5000, 50,000. It’s strange because going back in is not a vote winner, but accepting thousands of refugees isn’t either.
Bit of a damned if you do situation
Soldato
#Afganistan situation report
0.41 Central European Summer Time
2 USAF B-52 aircraft in the air, bound for #Afghanistan. Their mission is to bomb the airports where planes and helicopters are being captured by the #Taliban.
0.41 Central European Summer Time
2 USAF B-52 aircraft in the air, bound for #Afghanistan. Their mission is to bomb the airports where planes and helicopters are being captured by the #Taliban.
Man of Honour
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Not sure that’s a great idea when they are closing in on the main evacuation airport.
What an absolute mess. Shockingly poor planning from the US and UK.
But that's because they're a functional army and thier neigh ours aren't going to murder their family while they're away fighting
Man of Honour
Oh the UK Government will probably commit to a shockingly low number and then come up with some reason why they couldn't actually accept any of them
Yeah I'd be holding off bombing anything for a couple of days; its very unclear how much control the Taliban "leaders" actually have over the disparate groups on the ground; bombing of airfields could easily spur smaller groups to attack.
Man of Honour
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And if we’re not careful we’ll get drawn into a wider conflict, again.
Tricky getting everyone out, especially if they are cut off in other towns. Why weren’t they doing this ages ago? It was even an issue that was flagged up months and months ago.
The US and UK could really do with a good century without any conflict or meddling, at least not one like this. Hopefully the taliban just leave the west alone and everyone can just carry on with their lives.
Tricky getting everyone out, especially if they are cut off in other towns. Why weren’t they doing this ages ago? It was even an issue that was flagged up months and months ago.
The US and UK could really do with a good century without any conflict or meddling, at least not one like this. Hopefully the taliban just leave the west alone and everyone can just carry on with their lives.
That happened at least 12 hours, and the alleged target wasn't Kabul airport.
Man of Honour
I was listening to Tim Marshall on Sky News (I think he's their ex Foreign Editor from the War on Terror era) and he made the point that Taliban themselves generally aren't interested in "exporting" their world-view; they're happy just to control Afghanistan.
The problem becomes if we see Terror Groups using Afghanistan again like we did pre-2001; that said Al Qaeda isn't what it was and he suggested that there is little love lost between the Taliban and ISIS so its perhaps less likely they will work with those groups again.
Well that sounds somewhat positive at least. I do feel very sorry for the people of Afghanistan though, very little was spent in helping to rebuild their nation in comparison to the amount spent on fighting (like in Iraq), no wonder it all collapsed like a house of cards and so quickly
. It shows the futility of war and expecting conflict to produce a just outcome.
How we put these countries on the path to democracy with good governance is beyond me. If we are going to invade in the first place then we owe them this (I see war as a last resort so it's debatable whether we should invade).
I wonder whether the US, UK etc should have governed these countries temporarily until they could be transitioned to democracy, rather than putting a corrupt and ineffective government in charge, although I suspect that is too close to colonialism and the people wouldn't accept it.
its not over, the UK will be more involved again soon in my opinion
Man of Honour
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Well that sounds somewhat positive at least. I do feel very sorry for the people of Afghanistan though, very little was spent in helping to rebuild their nation in comparison to the amount spent on fighting (like in Iraq), no wonder it all collapsed like a house of cards and so quickly
It shows the futility of war and expecting conflict to produce a just outcome.
How we put these countries on the path to democracy with good governance is beyond me. If we are going to invade in the first place then we owe them this (I see war as a last resort so it's debatable whether we should invade).
I wonder whether the US, UK etc should have governed these countries temporarily until they could be transitioned to democracy, rather than putting a corrupt and ineffective government in charge, although I suspect that is too close to colonialism and the people wouldn't accept it.
Plus the best in the country who would otherwise help rebuild tend to leave. I remember our old neighbours who after everything that happened in Libya paid their way out and into the Uk - both were highly educated and successful medics, but you can’t really blame them.
Man of Honour
Well that sounds somewhat positive at least. I do feel very sorry for the people of Afghanistan though, very little was spent in helping to rebuild their nation in comparison to the amount spent on fighting (like in Iraq), no wonder it all collapsed like a house of cards and so quickly
It shows the futility of war and expecting conflict to produce a just outcome.
How we put these countries on the path to democracy with good governance is beyond me. If we are going to invade in the first place then we owe them this (I see war as a last resort so it's debatable whether we should invade).
I wonder whether the US, UK etc should have governed these countries temporarily until they could be transitioned to democracy, rather than putting a corrupt and ineffective government in charge, although I suspect that is too close to colonialism and the people wouldn't accept it.
We did rule Iraq for a period after the invasion; but only for 14-15 months or so; these countries almost need a post WW2 Japan style occupation where the Western Powers ruled for 5-6 years and put in place many of the building blocks that caused Japan to be the industrial and economic success it is today.
I'm not saying that I expect Iraq or Afghanistan to become Japan but this kick out the old regime and then invest little in rebuilding (In Afghan at least) can't happen again surely...
Associate
Last edited:
Associate
A Taliban delegation is now at the presidential palace to strike a deal, meanwhile Afghan police have started to surrender.
Caporegime
I'm just happy that covid19 might not be the only thing on tv and social media for a few days......
Gonna be a few heads on poles in Kabul tonight....
I hope this is the last time "we" do the regime change type nonsense and instead focus of fighting China and Some kind of Jihad Islam super army.
what a shower of ****.
Gonna be a few heads on poles in Kabul tonight....
I hope this is the last time "we" do the regime change type nonsense and instead focus of fighting China and Some kind of Jihad Islam super army.
what a shower of ****.
Soldato
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I'm just happy that covid19 might not be the only thing on tv and social media for a few days......
Gonna be a few heads on poles in Kabul tonight....
I hope this is the last time "we" do the regime change type nonsense and instead focus of fighting China and Some kind of Jihad Islam super army.
what a shower of ****.
There will be a surge no doubt from the lack of social distancing measures from the Taliban. Lockdown needed in Kabul to protect the NHS
The insane thing is, the son and his girlfriend (both in their 20s) of my other half are already shouting loud from the rooftops that the UK should allow any person from Afghanistan to come to the UK as refugees, no questions asked because thats the "humane" thing to do. They are both very leftist inclined, strong Labour fans and often march/protest about pretty much every "cause" there is in existence and this is clearly their new "cause". I tried to explain to them the incredible security risk, especially with the Taliban returning to power, of simply saying if you are Afghani and want to come here as a refugee we will automatically accept you, but it falls on deaf ears. They just say that I am uncaring, out of touch, part of the problem, racist etc and walk off.