It was the Americans that signed an agreement with the Taliban last year. Trump was looking to have the US out of there last May. While Taliban rule is, indeed, a "tragedy" for the Afghans (empty platitudes aside) the fact of the matter is that this was always going to happen.
Nigel Farage has waded into the question, arguing that this is the greatest UK foreign policy error since Suez.
The Taliban number less than a 100,000 men, according to US Stats. In one month they have taken control of 90% of the country. Apart from a few contested areas and Kabul.
100,000 men cannot do that unless they have popular support from the people on the ground. Whether you or I like it or not, it very much appears that the majority of Afghans would rather have the Taliban in power than what they have had in the last 20 years.
You cannot explain away the advent of Islamofascism today by comparing it to some period in the past, or by blaming the Americans (the usual strategy employed).
What has happened today is a tragedy for the people of Afghanistan; and let's not forget the hundreds of thousands of refugees it will cause.
You can compare it to the past, but that's an attempt to offer a mellower explanation of today's events - as if to argue that it's not really that bad.
@jmreire's analysis is spot on.
Reports that thousands of Taliban and ISIS prisoners have now been released from jails.
No it was not their "Home Rule" it was imposed on them, courtesy of the Pakistani Madrassas. After the Taliban were ousted the Afghans held a Loya Jirga to decide on their leadership, and the Govt formed then was the legitimate elected Govt. Since then there was another election, in 2014. And this Govt is the legally elected Govt of Afghanistan. At no time were the Taliban either proposed or elected, yet you say that they are are the preferred form of Givernment??? Now again, they have another unelected government imposed on them ( and again at gunpoint I may add).. as for comparisons, are you saying that the Russian occupation was the same as the Americans?? So the Russians spent billions on modernizing Afghanistan?? The did like hell! in the 10 years they were there, they killed thousands and thousands of Afghans ,,their tenure there was complete opposite of the American one. To this day, and for many years into the future un-exploded Russian munitions from their occupation will continue killing and maiming Afghans.
I have yet to see any of these helicopter escape videos being hyped up in your talking points.
"We have big plans for the womens, big big plans"
What an absolute cluster fu*k the whole situation is turning into. This is incredible that it has been allowed to happen like this.
....
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Don't mention Biden, they'll all come over from the other thread raging that you've not bowed down to his greatness 🙂
Kabul was already in the Middle Ages up to today, when it has been dragged back to the Bronze Age.
Umm next few days at best
Biden has really fooked up.
He has managed to create another Saigon where they will be remembered for their fleeing helicopters. I guest we can expect Kabul to be back to the middle ages in the next few months.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOChk-crMQM No is the answer today
Bribes and a corrupt standing military that was, reportedly, withholding pay from police and military personnel. In one instance, an Afghan special forces team had been ordered by their CO’s to surrender without firing a shot. Several Provence’s surrendered their guns and equipment to the Taliban for cash payoffs.
As the militants expanded their control, government-held districts increasingly fell without a fight. Kunduz, the first key city overrun by the militants, was captured a week ago. Days of negotiations mediated by tribal elders resulted in a surrender deal that handed over the last government- controlled base to the Taliban.
Soon after, negotiations in the western province of Herat yielded the resignation of the governor, top Interior Ministry and intelligence officials and hundreds of troops. The deal was concluded in a single night.
“I was so ashamed,” said a Kabul-based Interior Ministry officer, referring to the surrender of senior ministry official Abdul Rahman Rahman in Herat. “I’m just a small person, I’m not that big. If he does that, what should I do?”
Over the past month, the southern province of Helmand also witnessed a mass surrender. And as Taliban fighters closed in on the southeastern province of Ghazni, its governor fled under Taliban protection only to be arrested by the Afghan government on his way back to Kabul.
Taliban enters Kabul, leaving Afghan government on brink of collapse
The Afghan military’s fight against the Taliban has involved several capable and motivated elite units. But they were often dispatched to provide backup for less-well-trained army and police units that have repeatedly folded under Taliban pressure.
An Afghan special forces officer stationed in Kandahar who had been assigned to protect a critical border crossing recalled being ordered by a commander to surrender. “We want to fight! If we surrender, the Taliban will kill us,” the special forces officer said.
“Don’t fire a single shot,” the commander told them as the Taliban swarmed the area, the officer later recounted. The border police surrendered immediately, leaving the special forces unit on its own. A second officer confirmed his colleague’s recollection of the events.
Unwilling to surrender or fight outmatched, the members of the unit put down their weapons, changed into civilian clothing and fled their post.
“I feel ashamed of what I’ve done,” said the first officer. But, he said, if he hadn’t fled, “I would have been sold to the Taliban by my own government.”
Their hatred of women shows what kind of weak and cowardly men they are. There are some breakthroughs in the middle east though, Saudi Arabia is changing, albeit very slowly, Iran in private isn't very religious by all accounts.
It may take decades but change can come eventually, it's hard to fight against technological progress these days, although not impossible.
Are some people really having trouble with comparisons here?
COMPARED to nearly 30 out of 40 years of foreign occupation/outright war and several years of infighting, the "most stable" period Afghanistan has known was in the 90's. Nobody's saying it was a utopian democracy, but to most Afghans it was their home rule.
The fact of the matter, whether we like to admit it or not, is that the Afghans would rather have the Taliban in power than a foreign occupier, irrespective of what we, in the west, think of them. This is the reason why there's no resistance to them. A band of a few hundred thousand men that's been hiding out in the mountains for much of the last two decades.
They look like a bunch of demented hillbillys.
Once every non-Afghan is evacuated the international airport should be closed for everything except humanitarian aid, let them ruin the country for a while the Red Cresent should provide humanitarian care. They will implode within a few months and that might be the start of sorting the mess out (maybe)
I never used the term "all the left thinks" anything.
You inferred that I was talking about opinion pieces written by random people online. You didn't do any research to back that up, I provided links from three mainstream media outlets to back up what I said. Now you're resorting to describing what I'm saying as "dopey shite" designed to derail these type of threads.
I talk about a notion that was widely reported on and pushed by mainstream media outlets and you see that as meaning there's no hope for me? And now for the good of the thread you're going to leave me to it?
You made assertions about what I said being BS, you did no research to validate that claim and as soon as you are provided with links you start whinging about the thread being derailed.
You did get one thing right, there is no hope for some people.
No Country likes to be occupied by a foreign power, but for sure, Afghans did not have their most stable period under the Taliban. What they did have was food, water and electricity shortages. Little or no health care, massive childbirth death rates, crumbling roads and bridges, and a population living in fear. No sports allowed, and football pitches used for public Sharia Law punishments of the most brutal kind. No functioning economy ( except the drug trade) Natural disasters, earthquakes, flooding etc, and famine. Several times during their reign, the UN and other Humanitarian actors had to step in to feed the population, or help with handling natural disasters. Most of these crisises can be laid directly at the feet of the Taliban's mis-management of the Country. For them,it was always a case of Ins'h Allah. As God Wills. Of their long history, the 20 years with the Americam have been the most peaceful, and most of the problems encountered have been externally generated. No other "Invader" has ever spent so much time and money on helping Afghanistan.
Number of western civilians like this one dotted around the country...
Taliban have let loose all the people in prison, all running free now.
CNN are like '' The Presidential Palace has been handed over in beautiful ceremony to the Taliban ''
WTF
Tell it like it is CNN, Biden fcked up big time.
This is the moment a US missile should have landed in that room.
True, Haha 🙂
They'd probably take that as a compliment.
Links are up in reply to another poster.
Washington Post, New York Times, USA Today or as you might say "opinion pieces by whoever".
Saying you may be able to do a simple Google search isn't a big ask in terms of research.
If you absolutely have to be condescending when replying to somebody and casually calling BS you should know what you're on about at the very least.
Saudi Arabia evacuating it's mission now and the US sending 1,000 more troops to aid theirs.
When a regime is too hard core for the Saudis...
They look like absolutely no craic...
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