Afghanistan - 20 years on

The Running Man said:
Won't the refugees become a problem in the Arab countries with them being only 1 border away?

Why would the Arab league want the taliban in power? Wouldn't it be in their vested interest to surround Iran with allies?
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The Taliban aren't Arabs, same as the Iranians aren't Arabs. Hell, the Iranians hate Arabs nearly as much as they do Jews. I don't think Afghanistan is bordered by a single Arab country.
 
Honestly didn't expect Kabul to fall with barely a shot fired - but then the defensive situation was ****** from the start - but so sad to see the stories like this one:

bbc.co.uk said:
Zeb Hanifa* started her career as a PR consultant and writer in 2013 after finishing her college degree in the Balkh province.

Her first job "gave her wings to fly", she reminisces, adding that it was proud moment when she travelled to another country alone with the money she had saved. It was a proud moment for her mother too as she had never set her foot outside her hometown.

She says the next few years were amazing for her as got promoted and learnt new skills.

"It was like my mother was living her dream through me. But she used to have this constant fear of something growing wrong - she grew up in conflict. I didn't understand her then but I do now."

Hanifa was planning to take her mother on her very first foreign trip when the pandemic hit and now she is not sure such an opportunity will ever come again.

"I am broken. I am not sure if I will ever be able to work or do everything I wanted to do. There are so many young women like me - our dreams are shattered. And our hopes for a better future are fading fast."

*Name has been changed to protect identity
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-asia-58219963
 
StriderX said:
Biden has done what he should have, that it's a mess is not solely his fault as this is a result of multiple administrations worth of rot that has culminated in this embarrassing outcome. His great failing here is that he should have just been honest about the outcome, however I don't know whether he's even been given the information by the Pentagon/CIA without colourful representations of the facts, so being honest might not have been possible.

Nobody will care in a few months (weeks even), all that will matter is that we're finally extricating ourselves.
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Dunno about that, I suspect this just further increases the chance of him being a one-term President tbh... Some of his claims are spectacular own goals right now and the manner in which they've withdrawn has turned into a bit of a **** show with the US and others having to rush in more troops.
 
dowie said:
Dunno about that, I suspect this just further increases the chance of him being a one-term President tbh... Some of his claims are spectacular own goals right now and the manner in which they've withdrawn has turned into a bit of a **** show with the US and others having to rush in more troops.
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Honestly how does "300,000" troops "equipped as well as any army in the world" turn into Kabul over-run with barely a shot fired... I think it is a more spectacular **** up than if they'd over-run the capital by force with 1000s dead in clashes.

That said Biden's plan all along seems to be to "reset" the situation in the region as ultimately it is more lucrative to the US interests in the long run. Hence he has pretty much pulled the rug out from under them.

While there is a lot of support for getting out of Afghanistan in the US this is going to be a massive humiliation for the US which likely won't go down well for Biden.
 
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Afghan may be a complete ******* mess now, but I have a feeling that there's going to be a 'main event' in the not too distant future. Can see Pakistan having some serious internal problems, especially if the Taliban decide they want the tribals, namely Waziristan, to become part of a larger 'Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan'. Then there's the little problem of Iran, who have already threatened 'swift repercussions' if the minority Shi'ite population in Afghanistan face any violence. That would be interesting to see.
 
Malevolence said:
Afghan may be a complete ******* mess now, but I have a feeling that there's going to be a 'main event' in the not too distant future. Can see Pakistan having some serious internal problems, especially if the Taliban decide they want the tribals, namely Waziristan, to become part of a larger 'Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan'. Then there's the little problem of Iran, who have already threatened 'swift repercussions' if the minority Shi'ite population in Afghanistan face any violence. That would be interesting to see.
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I'll be surprised if the Taliban can hold together as a collective whole over the whole country in the longer run - tribal, etc. lines are likely to become fractious and so on. There are going to be disagreements, etc. especially as there seems to be a growing division between hardline elements and more moderate and those who are leaning towards a political outcome and those with more extreme views - in some of the interviews in provincial towns, etc. there seemed to be a definite divide between some of the Taliban and the "old guard".
 
Rroff said:
While there is a lot of support for getting out of Afghanistan in the US this is going to be a massive humiliation for the US which likely won't go down well for Biden.
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Yup the rushed manner in which it's been done is really poor optics and very damaging for the US, especially with various Afghans being hung out to dry.

Also, the small subset of Afghan SOF, pilots etc.. who are actually competent are rather screwed now too - reports of them being dragged out of their homes and murdered.


Indians have been screwed over, their government doesn't seem to be doing much to get them out:


Meanwhile, on a much lighter note, some British student/4chan poster had taken a holiday in Kabul just before all this was going on!!!! Got himself bank cards with a dubious "Lord" title in case he gets captured, apparently, he's made it past the Taliban and to the airport now:

pAjOc7Q.jpg


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...rapped-Afghanistan-going-warzone-HOLIDAY.html
The Loughborough physics student says he is hiding in a United Nations safehouse in Kabul, where about 50 others including Britons, Americans and Turks are also staying, after arriving in the country this week.

In posts to message board site 4chan and livestreaming platform Twitch, Mr Routledge, from Birmingham, claims he was quizzed by armed Taliban militants while on his way to Kabul International Airport.

They apparently asked him where he was from - to which he said Wales. He claims the fighters did not know where Wales was, and let him go. Mr Routledge says he later came across another armed convoy during the Taliban insurgency and took a selfie on one of their gun emplacements.
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dowie said:
Also, the small subset of Afghan SOF, pilots etc.. who are actually competent are rather screwed now too - reports of them being dragged out of their homes and murdered.
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Was wondering what is going to happen to the NDS SF, etc. who were actually standing their ground, I guess many will try and blend into the population but some of the higher profile ones are probably screwed.
 
deuse said:
That's not proof and you know it.

You need a time machine to tell what someone would or would not have done on that day.
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It was literally the deal Trump made with the Taliban. A deal within which the Taliban agreed to not attack US soldiers. Do a bit of thinking and work out what likely would have happened if Biden decided to completely go back on the deal and keep soldiers there....

Do you think the Taliban would have just accepted the deal being broken with no repercussions, and that the afghan army would have miraculously become brave soldiers that fought the Taliban to the death if it was Trump withdrawing the troops?
 
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