Do you honestly think it's that easy
TBH, No. :)
Sure the fighting season is scheduled around the poppy cultivation season. 94% of the worlds heroin comes from Afghanistan
The poppy trade fuelled the Taliban insurgence and they now view it as a positive because it is poisoning the west
It's all talk. The same people would be back hear bawling there eyes out about all the money we waste on a military that does nothing "when there are people waiting days on trolleys and 1000s of homeless on the streets"
Not in my case. Peace and security for its people is one of the primary roles of government and is worth investing in and that includes paying people well for making a commitment to such difficult work. Also, sh1t is getting real, globally speaking, and it is a dereliction of duty to underfund these things. We can invest in our military capabilities whilst maintaining a predominantly peace keeping/humanitarian stance too; it's not either/or. Things rarely are.
Regarding flying a plane into Kabul airport. Even thinking about the logisitics of it is beyond my pay grade, like most things, but how many planes have been shot down in Afghani airspace (not Tajik airspace) since this mess started unfolding? None.
In the circumstances, yes. It would be preferable if we could do it ourselves though, I'm sure you agree.
The "War on terror" hasn't really made the world anymore stable. Europe will continue to experience terrorist attacks from islamic fundamentalists albeit on a smaller scale to 9/11. This is an ideology, your not fighting armies and generals, its not something a conventional army can defeat.
America's foreign policy has left them in never ending wars in Iraq/Afghan, costing trillions.
I think you do need extra staff, possibly military. It's not as simple as picking them up, you need to distinguish and isolate them from others, which means herding 32 people from thousands, dealing with "what about my daughter she has no ID" or "my family isn't here yet" and doing documentation checks and of course the security risk of including the wrong person in your group. It's a very difficult task but not as big as the task facing the individuals concerned to get to the access point where their documentation can be checked. If it was me, I would be coming up with a plan to sneak over the Pakistan border and somehow get to India or Turkey via Iran. Doesn't sound like good options, even the most resourceful will fail.
The "war on terror" far from ending Islamic terrorism let to a new wave of it in Europe. The only way to stop Islamic terrorism in Europe is if Europe stops messing around in foreign countries but this of course would mean countries leaving NATO which probably will not happen.
Countries like Ireland don't have any Islamic terrorism because we don't go fking in Islamic countries
Carpets is the first thing that comes to mind. There are fruit exports too. There's natural resources in every country, but their opium "business" was the largest in the world.
Thats true so far, but can it be guaranteed??? The Taliban have "Inherited" many sophisticated weapons, so they now have the capabilities if they decided to do it. But on the balance of probabilities, I'd say its not going to happen. At this stage of the game, bringing down a plan, would not be a very good move.
Well not usually
A relatively cheap and simple rpg or machine gun could take down a large cargo plane easy enough ,
In saying that they only managed to down one or two aircraft over last 20 years ,
They Had some successes shooting down Blackhawks and Chinook helicopters ,
Usually US military fly in a spiral manoeuvre as they approach for landing in Afghanistan makes it alot harder to target
Countries like Ireland don't have any Islamic terrorism because we are a soft touch legally and a handy base of operations for fundraising, funneling money through for attacks on other EU countries.
In many ways America has had its time. The rest of the world is on to it and the propaganda just doesn't work any more. After the war they got a lot of good will and the cold war saw them receive sympathy from some areas too. But the realities of Vietnam, a country they should never have been in in the first place, and other conflicts/occupations based in their personal interests have become just too much for too many people. While their adventure in Afghanistan initially had a lukewarm support, it was the blatant lies and open warmongering of Iraq that sealed the deal for most people with regards to the US rampaging all around the world fucking things up and as you say, ultimatums like "with us or against us" in a situation like that was never going win the "hearts and minds" of the rest of the world.
Into the bargain their own bullshit regarding the "American dream" was falling apart right in front of everyone's eyes and people around the world and at home were just, simply, wising up. They were able to get away with most of the nonsense they put out in the 50's, but people are far more informed these days and the gloss well and truly has lost its sheen.
A lot of people now look at the US as a negative entity in global politics and as a truly malign and diseased one with respect to their internal politics - a situation which fuels external concerns as well. So a lot of people within the States and without are quite happy that they are going to, ostensibly at least, get out of countries they have no business being in.
Politically, however, they'll continue to export their brand of neo-liberalism and that type of conservative ideology is slowly conditioning people to look at nations as "economies" and its citizens as "taxpayers". There will no longer be countries, just businesses. So yes, the future is looking very bright for those that think the market is the be all/end all and it does not look very good for "the rest of us" because boom and bust, where only the wealthy don't get tanked, is about all that each generation will have to look forward too.
The fighting season is scheduled around the fact that in much of the country it's really bloody cold to be wandering around the mountains with a rifle for part of the year. It also happens to be too cold to be growing poppies in that same part of the year. When the weather heats up, the fighting restarts and the poppies can grow. It's not a causative effect.
Poppy production ballooned under US and NATO occupation.
The only time production was curtailed was during Taliban rule.
Though i've read this was as much to do with price manipulation than an honest effort to eliminate the trade.
Today, the Taliban claim they'll stop ban it again:
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210819-taliban-vow-to-ban-heroin-but-can-they-survive-without-it
And yet world was still flooded with heroine originating from Afghanistan,
The Americans did try but unfortunately many Afghan politicians had close relationships with opium producers as in families , they tell the Americans your not here to stop opium production and where and what they could raid .
The Taliban are minted, plenty of money to be made when you are the biggest drug cartel on the planet.
Wonder how drug heads sniffing cocaine convince themselves its harmless!
Really ?
I don't think the Taliban are into coke production or any narcotics production, TBH and any drug trade activity any of their members engage in is likely secondary to religiosity, but I could be wrong and your last sentence is true regardless.
Your right, they tend to focus more on the poppy and the drugs associated with that. Coke was a bad example.
Complete aside, I know, but I don't think the type of people that deal heroin are going to be persuaded to change their ways because of the trail of destruction involved in the drug trade, whether it's coming from the Taliban or the Mexican cartels. Without batting an eyelid, they will sell to people that are wasting away right in front of them. And those that take heroin are temporarily lost to us all, anyway, so I wouldn't expect them to consider the ethics of it much either. Coke heads need a kick up the arse.
Poppy production was way down during Taliban years. Its their only plus point
This is a great strategy by Biden. With the Taliban out of the mountains now is the time to deliver the decisive blow. 👍️
Get them used to bumper cars and trampolines and they will never be able to hide in the mountains again
Those bumper car and merry go round lads were having way too much fun. Ide say they have been taken out back already
Like other countrys world wide, Afghanistan has a big drug problem too. The Dragon does not recognise borders or religions.
They could literally wipe out the top tiers of the leadership and thousands of fighters over a week of two of bombings ,
But that would risk civilians and infrastructure too
Looks like we didn't have to rely on 'de brudder' in this instance anyway since the Taliban ensured that one of our citizens got to the airport safely and away off out to Pakistan. What times we are living in. And with the news out of D.C. today I am reminded of the prospects of internal conflict within the United States.. and the role of the media in pushing things in that direction.
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