Russia - threadbanned users in OP

The square kilometres taken at the moment will be the hardest as their on the wrong side of the defensive lines. Once they get past the lines they will multiply significantly. Have a feeling Zaluzny is playing down things to get more arms and give the Russians a false sense of security

No armchair warrior here Yagan. If I'm commenting on a post about a particular Country, it means that I've lived in it, and that includes Russia too. Ukraine, I've traveled through several time's, and I recognize a lot of the names of the places that are mentioned, because I've been in them. I lived and worked in Afghanistan for several years, and saw the before and after Afghanistan. In fact I was there for Sept 11th. The Taliban came from the Pakistani Madrassa's, hence the name Taliban, which means "Student". And they are largely Pakistan Pashtun, ( Pashtun are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan also ) And that's not quite the same thing as saying that the Taliban are 100% Afghan, What the US didn't understand Yagan, is hundreds and hundreds of years of Afghan Tribal Culture, where clans / tribes are interlinked. And in the end, ultimately, these bonds proved impossible to overcome. And no, yagan the Taliban are not a normal part of traditional Afghanistan Culture. They were a Pakistani inflicted means of control, which has now morphed into what may become a threat to the Pakistan itself give the Military hardware they " inherited" from the US. Afghans now pray for the return of the US, and the removal of of a form of Islam that the Taliban espouse, and a return to a more conventional Islam that existed before the Pakistan Taliban arrived. As an Afghan friend said to me back when then, when the Taliban first arrived " Who are these people? Where have the come from? Who sent them? They claim to come to teach us about Mohammad, but we have always been for Islam. These people are not representative of Afghan's."

Yes Kowloon, that happened, as you say. But the by-product ( if you like ) was that for 20 years, school's and hospitals were re-built and modernized. Ditto Roads and other infrastructure same thing. The Afghan Civil administration was funded by the US, Schools, Hospitals, Military etc, Girls for the first time in generations got to get an education all the way to university. Infant and Mother ( plus other) mortality rates dropped, There were many positives for the US Invasion. Now in marked contrast, we compare the effects of the many Russian invasion's. Destructive, Murdering, Raping, Thieving, Torturing, Kidnapping monsters. Give me the US Invaders any day, any time. Its what the Afghans say too, and its what they are praying for presently, because the Taliban are quickly undoing all the progress made during the US years.

Weren’t the Taliban also backed by Saudi money, and the main reason they got into power was that their cruelty and barbarism restores a semblance of law and order after the civil war?

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It's turning out exactly as I predicted, actually. I have always seen the war as a foregone conclusion. If Ukraine started making meaningful gains on the battlefield I'll happily reassess my opinion but I've seen nothing to suggest Ukraine is able to break Russian defensive lines and they are going to continue taking unsustainable losses in manpower and equipment.

The reality now is that Ukraine cannot break Russian lines. It's not my opinion, that's just how things stand at the moment. With the best will in the world I don't see how that can change.

When the Russians were kicked out of Afghanistan, and all Russian influence at that time ended, that left a power vacuum that caused a civil war ( seems to be the standard thing) The fighting was really severe, the nightly ( and daily) barrage's of rockets and mortars into Kabul did massive damage. So when the Taliban arrived they were initially welcomed as they stopped the worst of the fighting and destruction. ( except in the North, where the population were largely Tajik, and the Taliban were fiercely resisted ) But as the Taliban showed their true colors, that acceptance change to resentment, and outright resistance, which the Taliban ruthlessly put down. In a sense, they behave very like Putin's Russian's. He uses the images and language of Hitlers Nazi Germany to convince them that Hitler 2 is coming, and only he can save them. The Taliban use a brutal version of Islam to terrorize and subdue the Afghan's. Same methods, different power source to enforce and control their respective population's. Same methodologies. As for Saudi money? I'm not sure about that, but would not surprise me in the slightest.. Allies of the US ( because of Saudi -Yemen war) but also helping their Taliban friends. For sure, Pakistan ( another erstwhile US "Friend and Partner" were helping the Taliban all their years in Exile. But why not? The Taliban were "born and bred" in Pakistan. But Pakistan needs to tread a very careful line with their Afghan Taliban now. Because Pakistan has a very large Pashtun population, related to their well armed Afghan Pashtun cousin's .

Right, like this one?

Tell that to Afghan girls who can no longer go to school (among other things).

How quickly we forget.

If you think the Russians are the bad guys, and christ knows they are animals, I would implore you to watch Fahrenheit 911, from about an hour in , and view the US carry out war crimes, an absolute mirror image of what the Russians are doing today. The US soldiers and tank crews speaking in front of the camera like the "intercepted" Russian calls, dead kids and adults, kids limbs torn apart.

War is ****

Read the thread title and it will tell you what this thread is about.