Might shock you but we had troops over there.
Wonder what will happen if the Americans ever leave Iraq. They do have a large and expensive base in Baghdad so perhaps will never leave like having Gitmo base in Cuba.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9898321/Freed-jail-help-Donald-Trump-Abdul-Ghani-Baradar-head-Afghanistan.html
One that comes to mind is the South African withdrawal from Angola in 1976 aka the tail end of Operation Savannah. After their advance was checked by Cuban/ MPLA forces at Ebo. The South Africans called up reserve military units and other units to facilitate their movements back to the Namibian border. It helped that during the battle of Bridge 14 they had given the Cubans a rather bloody nose. As such the pursuing forces to the withdrawal give them considerable space and advanced at a rather sedate pace.
Hard for rioting to change stuff that's already happened...
I assume even in their desperation they didn't believe they could actually hold on to a moving plane. I imagine they thought it wouldn't take off and they could force their way in or climb into the wheel hatch like some Hollywood movie.
Either way it is an incredibly shocking image
So the spin on this from the UK media is: There's a group of fake male Muslim terrorists taking over the country where one of their aims in to subjugate woman. I find it quite repulsive that some would turn this current crisis into an issue of misogyny.
I think when the intention is to leave Afghanistan altogether that a Taliban takeover would inevitably ensue whether a sudden withdrawal or a staggered one. The end result is always going to be the same.
We all know exactly what the problem is and there is no way we can fix it. It might fix itself in a few hundred years is about the best we can hope for. What truly democratic Islamic country's are there in the world anyway? There's isn't one so the idea we could turn Afghanistan into one is delusional.
Biden is coming under a lot of criticism for this but I'm behind him on this on. I wouldn't dream of sending Irish soldiers to Afghanistan to fix their underlying problems risking their lives for objectives that can't be fixed in the first place. It is not a matter of simply defeating a terrorist organization and that's it job done all sorted now. Wish it were but there it is.
Just watched ITN news. People clinging to the sides of planes taking off and then bodies falling to ground being reported. Awful scenes of desperation. Last time I saw something like that was 911 when people jumped from the windows in desperation knowing it was certain death. An awful situation for the people there .
yeah interesting point and i think it would require a thesis level amount of research. so if they didnt think they could do it orderly as perhaps doesnt work that way then they should have at least acknowledged that at the beginning.
Americans may see American issues a little differently to how you choose to see American issues
its simplifying the issue though and passing the buck. its the implementation - the plan that has gone astray. NATO is made up of many members there should have been more communication between the lot of them and looping in the UN, international aid agencies and NGOs etc, to make sure they could maximise the amount of people who could get out. seem like alot of people blindsided.
yeah I've been following her reporting on this - she is brilliant.
Binden is right about what are we supposed to do if Afghans Don't fight for themselves ,I'd don't agree how they went about the withdrawal and trump's negotiations which got us to this point,
They could have easily held on to bagram airbase and litterally gave the afgans airsupport and extra help with NATO special forces to back up the ANA ,
I see, so no substantive discussions from you then.
Is there any examples of orderly retreats/ evacuations from losing sides? I wonder if they rewrite history like in Vietnam to say they achieved their strategic even if their allies were defeated.
Because they believe the US military is over there protecting their freedoms....don't ask me how their freedoms got all the way over in the middle East,though they do seem to move around
That might make Reeling in the Years 2021 so I guess I'll watch.
The Taliban would get to appear normal on the international stage for once if they ensured safe passage to the airport for those on evacuation lists.
You see plenty in the shots of the crowds in the airport you just don't see them in the really crazy videos doing the rounds of lads chasing after and jumping on moving planes
Biden to make a TV appearance later on to talk about the ongoing situation in Afghanistan..
War reporters are a different breed! Fair **** to her. Wouldn't be me.
The Romans probably thought the same about Attila and the Huns.
Totally agree ,we seen how effective the Kurdish women fighting Isis were , fearless and not afraid to die for their homeland , serious women with balls of steel
What can you say but that woman has some stones.
I didn't see too many women and children running around that airport runway....make way for the bearded women and children again
If we decide to accept refugees, they should be women and children, not late teens and twenties males who travel on their own or in ragtag groups. All the refugees who come from all over the place seem to be young men.
maybe they should have trained the women in the country instead of the men as they would have something to fight for. Being fecitious but Pretty shameful how easy a rocket and kalshnikov militia could take over a massive country.
Some airsupport and a lot of armour and artillery ,they were quite well equipped and had good training over the last 2 decade's ,they are better equipped than our defence forces.
And yes they got completely rolled the Taliban in most cases they litterally walked away without even firing a shot ,
I reckon even the Taliban are surprised they walked into Kabul unoposed
Yes and no. It is true that they had all the time in the world, on the other hand, the reason the ANA failed was a lack of confidence. If the ANA could defeat a Taliban military campaign with US support, which they never really had an opportunity to do, they may be more reassured to stand on their own for a later point after the US finally leaves. The true question in such a case wouldn't be whether the Taliban could hold out until the US left (they obviously could), but whether the ANA would gain sufficient confidence before the US left.
By refusing to engage, the opportunity never presented itself. Any fighting previously was localised and minor.
Pretty modest. And the Afghan army had artillery and air support?
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