steveo87
22/11/2022 - got a maths joke.
As an aside, DW do some boss documentaries on a number of subjects.
Anyway, the 'debate' has started in the HoC, naturally after the fact.
Its the political equivalent of 'See the match?'
Afghanistan: Mission Accomplished
- Thread starter toblerone3
- Start date
As an aside, DW do some boss documentaries on a number of subjects.
Anyway, the 'debate' has started in the HoC, naturally after the fact.
Its the political equivalent of 'See the match?'
_Russ_
Never not Knowingly Misunderstood
Psychopaths are very good at such, You know...the sort that can have a business deal with a man minutes after raping his daughter without batting an eyelid. calm does not equal reasonable
That is what I see when I look at these people
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
Men in pubs have more influence on events in the Islamic Emirate
bimble
floofy
They’re not 75,000 psychopaths don’t be silly.
YouSir
Retired from Urban
Very briefly met someone who used to drive a truck for the Taliban once, was just a job, although he did get out as soon as he could. Wasn't any more psychopathic than the average van driver as far as I'm aware.
not-bono-ever
meh
shite
Brainaddict
slight system overdrive
This is the kind of offensive nonsense that can happen when you treat Afghans like some alien 'other' rather than human beings, which the left as well as mainstream media have been doing quite a lot in recent days. Afghanistan is a very poor country and militias pay some of the best salaries. They recruit perfectly ordinary men with the help of an ideology that may seem to have nasty elements to you and I, but claims - with some plausibility - to offer something better than perpetual colonialism and corruption. Like most armed insurgencies it offers the chance of self-respect to people who have been living in the shit with no chance to improve their lot. One of the reason the Western powers stood no chance of actually helping Afghanistan (apart from being motivated by revenge and the need to display their power) was that most of those involved can't see that Afghans are humans with exactly the same needs as anyone.
I've no idea. I barely know what day it is at the moment
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
Going back to the German doc I posted one of the women talked about the first Taliban government in 90s. She dressed as a young man to go out to work to feed her family.
The first Taliban were educated and recruited in the refugee camps of Pakistan. Where many Afghans had gone due to the ongoing war.
She said the young men who she met in Taliban had been formed by war. Many were orphans. There were some better than others. But she was saying that war / violence as an everyday part of life had a pyschological effect on people. Not saying that makes them all psychopaths but the ongoing trauma of endless war can damage people. She wasn't using this to excuse excesses of Taliban rule. It was her trying to make sense of how what had been an ordinary society if poor become a living nightmare for her and many others.
I agree with previous posts there is tendency to slip into viewing Afghans as different from rest. But I do think effect of endless war going over several generations now does have effect. Another woman in the doc said after all this she thought depression in Afghans was common.
The first Taliban were educated and recruited in the refugee camps of Pakistan. Where many Afghans had gone due to the ongoing war.
She said the young men who she met in Taliban had been formed by war. Many were orphans. There were some better than others. But she was saying that war / violence as an everyday part of life had a pyschological effect on people. Not saying that makes them all psychopaths but the ongoing trauma of endless war can damage people. She wasn't using this to excuse excesses of Taliban rule. It was her trying to make sense of how what had been an ordinary society if poor become a living nightmare for her and many others.
I agree with previous posts there is tendency to slip into viewing Afghans as different from rest. But I do think effect of endless war going over several generations now does have effect. Another woman in the doc said after all this she thought depression in Afghans was common.
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
Too early to say but I bet the democrats are glad they don't have elections this year! However, trump laid the foundation for this little clusterfuck with his Doha agreement so the republicans have a hand in the mess too
two sheds
Least noticed poster 2007
I think you'll find that never happened.
RNC deletes webpage celebrating Trump’s deal with Taliban
Page touting former president’s ‘historic peace agreement’ disappeared over the weekend
www.independent.co.uk
MickiQ
In My Defence I was left Unsupervised
We've always been at war with EastasiaI think you'll find that never happened.
RNC deletes webpage celebrating Trump’s deal with Taliban
Page touting former president’s ‘historic peace agreement’ disappeared over the weekend
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
Everything that went wrong in Iraq went wrong in Afghanistan earlier. Tbh the American way of warfare, smashing opponents with bombs, missiles and artillery, was always going to come a cropper when what was needed was a force which would live among the people rather than separate themselves: the same in Iraq. But there was no appreciation of counterinsurgency strategy or tactics for the important early years. And as your link makes clear, by seeking allies who were already powerful the Americans made friends with people beating down the population.
But even if different and better decisions had been made, I don't think a positive outcome was possible because of the isi and their involvement with the Taliban.
Kevbad the Bad
Amiable Bowel Syndrome
Typical loons
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
Psychos.
Brainaddict
slight system overdrive
This is a good long read from some proper journalism. As well as talking about US education spending in the country it fills in quite a few details on what has been going on in Afghanistan: Ghost Students, Ghost Teachers, Ghost Schools
RainbowTown
Well-Known Member
Exactly.
This is one of the undeniable truths that drives the Taliban and their medieval ideology: their underlying hatred of women and any kind of female empowerment or equality. They and Incel make for good bedfellows.
gosub
~#
This is exactly why they needed to spend money on education, the numeracy skills of some Afghan bureaucrats is clearly terrible
Casaubon
Well-Known Member
In 2008/9 I worked for the UK government, deploying ‘civilian experts’ to work on stabilisation/development/relief/nation-building in unstable places. Most of the work involved Afghanistan.
We deployed one person, on a salary in excess of £100K p.a. with deployment costs around £5K per week, to run a programme in the Afghan National Police.
The ANP were (or should have been) a vital element of national security. They were more of a gendarmerie than what we’d recognise as a police force and they were distributed through the country much more than the army, who tended to stick to their bases.
The programme was to reduce opium use within the ranks of the ANP. After 6 or 7 years of ‘capacity building’ the majority of members of the ANP were opium users. The only exceptions seemed to be those who joined to desert with their weapons.
miss direct
misfungled
Looks like my journalist acquaintance is leaving, as she's left her dog with a charity. I'm glad she is going as she's been getting quite a bit of attention in the media and would no doubt be a target.
cuppa tee
Well-Known Member
plenty vacancies for truck drivers in the U.K atm so maybe opportunities for refugees in search of a new life...
klang
klang
which, tbf, is pretty bad.
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