Antony Blinken is some bell-end
Except its not the will of the Afghan people, is it? Thousands of Afghans fleeing the advancing Taliban shows the real picture. They had elections, but no Taliban were elected, and guess why...too many bad memories from their previous experience of Talib rule .What's happening now is a military takeover at gunpoint. Give it a few weeks and see what will happen for ordinary Afghans.
Obama originally stated that withdrawal from Afghanistan was a goal of his. It's not a case Trump being to blame. Afghanistan is a mess and always has been, if we want to blame an American administration for the mess over there the blame lies firmly with the W Bush administration, but even at that the notion of a westernized Afghanistan is a pipe dream that isn't attainable purely because of the nature of the country. If after twenty years the first reaction of Afghanistan is to revert to Taliban rule after western withdrawal it's a clear indication of what the will of the Afghan people is, whether we want to accept it or not.
The West is old and getting older. Demographically it is in decline and will never recover, Spain and Italy will see their populations half over the next 4-5 decades. Most Western countries are in the same boat or just slightly behind. The world will fracture into many competing regions more so than ever. Europe especially needs to hunker down and protect itself if it is to have any chance of survival long-term.
I'm still suprised Kabul is gone without a fight ,media on the ground were saying the various special forces groups had sealed it off and were fully prepared to defend the city's ,wake up to the Taliban marching through the city and no opposition
Western power has diminished rapidly.
While the West still has the best weaponry and the majority of nuclear weapons, the era of American exceptionalism is over.
European powers like Britain and France are also a shadow of their former selves.
Simply put, nobody fears the US or NATO anymore. Whether it's the Taliban, the Interhamwe in Rwanda, Somali warlords or Russia strolling into Crimea.
I remember when I came across pictures of the new desert dpm and people saying there is no Irish troops of any kind in Afghanistan ,and the people (us) wouldn't allow it
Already happening, some pretty graphic pictures on Twitter of executed people who were working with the British and Americans.
As with lots of these regimes, the favoured ones and those at the top of the food chain will indulge in those things forbidden to the man on the street.
to be fair Biden was left an impossible situation.
Trump reduced numbers down to a couple of thousand troops Biden then had Sophie’s choice of either massively ramp up troop numbers again or get out.
I just happened to watch The Killing Fields last night. Pretty much bang on for has happened over the last few days. The big rush for the capital. The rush to get out. They'll be pics and videos of the Taliban rolling into town, greeted by people but behind the scenes there will be thousands being killed. Anyone remotely involved with the previous regime, army, police will be routed out very quickly.
It will decend into civil war soon enough....for long enough,they've had people occuping them to gel together a force to fight againest
50% afgan population is under 20,attempting to impose a strict form of religious goverence upon them simply wont wash,they will unlikely ever go to extremes of western civilization......but they arent headed back to an isis type state either imo (and i hope)
Dont count on it, wont matter one bit what the young, the old or anyone inbetween wants. Taliban Sharia law will be rigidly enforced same as it was in the past.Radio stations can now only broadcast Islamic themed music. They have already started painting over western or "unislamic" images on walls. The BBC News shows armed ANA soldiers giving up and being welcomed by the Taliban.....wonder what happened afterwards, outside of the camera's???
It's important to remember that the Taliban is essentially a collection of warlords and chiefs all controlling their own little fiefdoms. Some are moderate and open to negotiations, some are extremists who are reluctant to compromise. It's a big ask for the Taliban leadership to exert total control over all fighters in Kabul. Many of the more extremist militants are probably frenzied in their desire to strike out against coalition forces given their current weakness and all the water under the bridge over the years.
there was a constant rotation of a handful of Irish army personnel providing IED training from what I gather.
not forgetting that Ireland voted in favour of sending over an international security assistance force when it was last on the UN Security Council.
It's going to get very bloody by the end of the night. I was thinking the Taliban leaders would instruct the fighters to leave the airport alone. Maybe they have but a bunch of young, riled up, testosterone filled fighters who are ending a war will but tough to stop.
Also, Italian air force Boeing 767 on the way in now.
i think the taliban will be happy to let all the westerners leave. why would they want to stop them?
also all the tv pics i'm seeing show a lot of smiling men in kabul. the population seem to think it's a great day. taking loads of pics of themselves on their phones...which leads to another question...how are the taliban going to deal with the 20 something year old fighters who have grown up with smart phones and apps...considering music is not even allowed to be played on the radio...i don't think the young taliban fighters will be so keen to give up their technology
Most international overflights seem to switch their AIS off, or its not picked up over Afghanistan. Click on a few international flights that have flown over Afghanistan and their will a gap in their route there.
Plenty, it's ongoing. All happy to fly into Afghan airspace.
It's no surprise considering the grounds around the airport currently resembles a battlefield.
Whats new? Afghanistan has been an Islamic Country for many years, and of course Sharia Law has always been the law of the land...its not something new that the Taliban have brought in...what is new is their brutal interpretation of it. And thats something no Afghan wants. The Taliban using it as justification for their actions, is just perversion, same as isis.
This is getting more and more disastrous. Will we see American troops forced to fight to rescue the last of their remaining staff?
Think British Airways has already ordered flights to avoid Afghan airspace
Doesn't seem to be that many?
The US diplomatic situation is confusing and it seems the diplomatic mission is in utter chaos. Secretary of State Anthony Blinkenn has stated that they have moved the embassy to the US airport and that they are not leaving as occurred in Saigon. However US officials are now advising that the airport is under sustained fire. It's hard to imagine how the diplomatic mission can continue.
This will be the most equipped Taliban ever, Billions of highly sophisticated weapons all left for them to use.
So so many international passenger flights going through Afghan airspace, is that really safe now, considering the amount of Afghan Fighter Jets and other missiles abandoned and left for the Taliban.
You have American airlines, and British Airlines all happy to fly into Afghan airspace on their way to their destinations.
Looks like the airport is under fire.
The operative of your post:
"they allowed themselves to be walked over".
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