Afghanistan: Mission Accomplished

[Flavour]

As an aside, Chomsky makes the convincing case that the US war in Vietnam was not a "failed venture" but a success - the US successfully stamped out the spread of Communism in this corner of SE Asia - primary objective achieved.

That is ridiculous. The communist regimes which came to power as a direct result of the Vietnam War, i.e. Vietnam and Laos, are still in power today. Cambodia had four years of previously-backed-by-North-Vietnam Khmer Rouge before Vietnam invaded to put an end to it. The only country that was truly "spared" is Thailand. Myanmar has been a military dictatorship since before the Americans put boots on the ground in Vietnam, and the US has had little to no influence over its affairs.

 

[TopCat]

UK are fleeing now.

Afghanistan: Boris Johnson vows to help those left behind

Boris Johnson says he feels "regret" about those in Afghanistan as the evacuation efforts by the UK near an end.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[teqniq]

FFS

 

[_Russ_]

You should have paid attention perhaps Trump Becomes the First President Since Eisenhower to Change Faiths in Office

I think most can recognise that as just the usual Trump Piss and wind, Trump has allegiance to no one but himself

 

[_Russ_]

Is this whole thing setting us up for the next chapter in the War on Terror?.
America needs an enemy to keep its Arms industry in good shape and no doubt the UK will be willing accomplices in future ventures

P.S. I don't know if there is a block on Transponder use in the area but there appears to be fuck all flying in or out of Afghanistan this morning

 

[LDC]

Is this whole thing setting us up for the next chapter in the War on Terror?.
America needs an enemy to keep its Arms industry in good shape and no doubt the UK will be willing accomplices in future ventures

P.S. I don't know if there is a block on Transponder use in the area but there appears to be fuck all flying in or out of Afghanistan this morning

What do you mean 'setting us up'? That could have a number of interpretations.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

There’s a US C17 about 20 minutes out of Kabul, a Kam Air A340 just entered Afghan airspace, a Safeair 727 just leaving that airspace…

 

[Yossarian]

That is ridiculous. The communist regimes which came to power as a direct result of the Vietnam War, i.e. Vietnam and Laos, are still in power today. Cambodia had four years of previously-backed-by-North-Vietnam Khmer Rouge before Vietnam invaded to put an end to it. The only country that was truly "spared" is Thailand. Myanmar has been a military dictatorship since before the Americans put boots on the ground in Vietnam, and the US has had little to no influence over its affairs.

Yep, they clearly didn't stop the spread of Communism - Chomsky argued in 2006 that what the US achieved was fucking Vietnam up badly enough that other countries wouldn't view its system as an attractive alternative. US bombing didn't leave Laos in great shape either. Not sure if anybody's going to try to make the same claim about Afghanistan - would there be a prosperous and well-functioning Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in place today if the US hadn't invaded?

The United States went to war in Vietnam for a very good reason. They were afraid Vietnam would be a successful model of independent development and that would have a virus effect--infect others who might try to follow the same course. There was a very simple war aim--destroy Vietnam. And they did it. The United States basically achieved its war aims in Vietnam by [1967]. It's called a loss, a defeat, because they didn't achieve the maximal aims, the maximal aims being turning it into something like the Philippines. They didn't do that. [But] they did achieve the major aims.

 

[_Russ_]

There’s a US C17 about 20 minutes out of Kabul, a Kam Air A340 just entered Afghan airspace, a Safeair 727 just leaving that airspace…

Yea I was forgetting the time difference, then again I was looking on ADSB Exchange which still shows nothing while FR24 Shows a Kenyan 727 freighter just landed (a bit of an oddity in itself) I suppose they both have different feed sources

 

[_Russ_]

What do you mean 'setting us up'? That could have a number of interpretations.

Perhaps the wrong words, I mean it as in preparing the stage. Would anyone be surprised if America started regarding the Taliban as allies in the fight against this Isis K or whatever they are called that seems to have suddenly popped into the narrative?, I wouldnt

 

[Yossarian]

Perhaps the wrong words, I mean it as in preparing the stage. Would anyone be surprised if America started regarding the Taliban as allies in the fight against this Isis K or whatever they are called that seems to have suddenly popped into the narrative?, I wouldnt

The US and the Taliban are already effectively working together as partners in the evacuation effort and US commanders have said positive things about the Taliban, including that they have helped thwart some ISIS-K attacks, though of course it wouldn't benefit the airlift mission if they came out and said "We deeply resent the fact that we're being forced to cooperate with these murderous shitbags."

 

[planetgeli]

What a car crash:

Erm...he said 85 Billion.

Kinda puts the funding of the mujahideen into the shade (12 billion, top estimate)

As for leaving names, addresses, cvs, digital recognition stuff....fuck them and the Black Hawks they rode in on.

Unbelievable. Except all too believable.

 

[Combustible]

Perhaps the wrong words, I mean it as in preparing the stage. Would anyone be surprised if America started regarding the Taliban as allies in the fight against this Isis K or whatever they are called that seems to have suddenly popped into the narrative?, I wouldnt

The US has already been working with the Taliban against ISIS, for at least a few years.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/10/22/taliban-isis-drones-afghanistan/

 

[YouSir]

Where do ISIS-K draw their support from? Don't doubt there's some foreign power/elements of it backing them - same as there is with the Taliban. Wonder if the countries & individuals doing it will ever feel any effects from that conflict rather than projecting all of the proxy misery onto Afghans.

 

[seventh bullet]

Yep, they clearly didn't stop the spread of Communism - Chomsky argued in 2006 that what the US achieved was fucking Vietnam up badly enough that other countries wouldn't view its system as an attractive alternative. US bombing didn't leave Laos in great shape either. Not sure if anybody's going to try to make the same claim about Afghanistan - would there be a prosperous and well-functioning Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in place today if the US hadn't invaded?

If the idea that Communism (and we're specifically talking about Marxism-Leninism here) was to be made an unattractive alternative by way of war and government repression then why did the Vietnamese themselves bother with such a struggle at the same time Korea was literally reduced to a famine-ridden wasteland of burning rubble, and the US government was considering using atomic weaponry on the Viet Minh? Why did it intensify to the point of Communist prospects of victory before direct intervention at the same time Indonesia was turned into a bloodbath and right-wing dictatorships were a response to left wing movements in South America? The diminishing prospects of the Soviet Union and the reasons for it in the 1980s is something the US didn't forsee.

 

[Dogsauce]

BBC reporting ‘British Nationals’ as victims of yesterday’s blast. Curious as to this wording, rather than just saying ‘Britons’. Is it some codified term for ‘brown people’ or is there some more logical reason for stating it like this? Can anyone explain the difference for me or point to the term being used more generally?

 

[ItWillNeverWork]

BBC reporting ‘British Nationals’ as victims of yesterday’s blast. Curious as to this wording, rather than just saying ‘Britons’. Is it some codified term for ‘brown people’ or is there some more logical reason for stating it like this? Can anyone explain the difference for me or point to the term being used more generally?

I think maybe you're just reading too much into it

 

[Pickman's model]

If the idea that Communism (and we're specifically talking about Marxism-Leninism here) was to be made an unattractive alternative by way of war and government repression then why did the Vietnamese themselves bother with such a struggle at the same time Korea was literally reduced to a famine-ridden wasteland of burning rubble, and the US government was considering using atomic weaponry on the Viet Minh? Why did it intensify to the point of Communist prospects of victory before direct intervention at the same time Indonesia was turned into a bloodbath and right-wing dictatorships were a response to left wing movements in South America? The diminishing prospects of the Soviet Union and the reasons for it in the 1980s is something the US didn't forsee.

Er the first Indochina war or whatever you call it, the one with the Viet Minh, started in 1946. The Korean war started rather later. So by the time the Koreans started the Vietnamese were already going great guns.

 

[not-bono-ever]

Where do ISIS-K draw their support from? Don't doubt there's some foreign power/elements of it backing them - same as there is with the Taliban. Wonder if the countries & individuals doing it will ever feel any effects from that conflict rather than projecting all of the proxy misery onto Afghans.

its a franchise of the bigger IS lot. the yanks have been bashing these for years now in Afghanistan but it didnt really filter through to most news.they have an ongoing beef with pakistan iirc. think some fighters from other conflicts have been drifting to Afghanistan of late. the taliban are lefty liberal wokeists compared this this franchise.

 

[Aladdin]

Am I alone in noticing the frequency with which the names of the bastards of the 21st century start with b? Bush, Blair, Biden, Boris...

Goodness...you are right. I just went through the absolute cunts in my life and their surnames start with B.

 

[TopCat]

BBC reporting ‘British Nationals’ as victims of yesterday’s blast. Curious as to this wording, rather than just saying ‘Britons’. Is it some codified term for ‘brown people’ or is there some more logical reason for stating it like this? Can anyone explain the difference for me or point to the term being used more generally?

The uk are shit and a bit racist.

 

[20Bees]

Newlywed Marine slain in Kabul was expecting baby & wife is 'crushed'

HERO Marine Rylee McCollum’s new wife was expecting their first baby in just three weeks and his mother-in-law says his death has left the family shattered, The Sun can exclusively reveal. Mc…

www.thesun.co.uk

Isn’t there something particularly, horrifically poignant about the death yesterday of U.S. Marines who were 20 years old?
RIP

 

[TopCat]

Newlywed Marine slain in Kabul was expecting baby & wife is 'crushed'

HERO Marine Rylee McCollum’s new wife was expecting their first baby in just three weeks and his mother-in-law says his death has left the family shattered, The Sun can exclusively reveal. Mc…

www.thesun.co.uk

Isn’t there something particularly, horrifically poignant about the death yesterday of U.S. Marines who were 20 years old?
RIP

I have no tears for them. Just horror at the death and maiming they do.

 

[teqniq]

I am not going to click on a Scum link on general principles.

 

[BillRiver]

Newlywed Marine slain in Kabul was expecting baby & wife is 'crushed'

HERO Marine Rylee McCollum’s new wife was expecting their first baby in just three weeks and his mother-in-law says his death has left the family shattered, The Sun can exclusively reveal. Mc…

www.thesun.co.uk

Isn’t there something particularly, horrifically poignant about the death yesterday of U.S. Marines who were 20 years old?
RIP

What, more than the others who died yesterday?

 

[not-bono-ever]

Afghanistan: Boris Johnson vows to help those left behind

Boris Johnson says he feels "regret" about those in Afghanistan as the evacuation efforts by the UK near an end.

www.bbc.co.uk

is there any less compelling phrase that one that has "Vows"? .. maybe Pledges i spose

 

[20Bees]

No. My reaction was ill-considered. Apologies.

 

[Humberto]

We/our people who are left behind are fucked aren't they?

 

[seventh bullet]

Er the first Indochina war or whatever you call it, the one with the Viet Minh, started in 1946. The Korean war started rather later. So by the time the Koreans started the Vietnamese were already going great guns.

I know. If American military action was such a good deterrent against Communism then the devastation of Korea wasn't considering not long after saw the establishment of the DRV. The Vietnamese Communists were right in 1945 that the struggle against French colonial rule was only a first step, the Americans posed a greater danger, and certainly were from the 1950s onwards.

 

[spring-peeper]

We/our people who are left behind are fucked aren't they?

yip


Some school board in Canada says there are 26 of their students are trapped.

They are children of Afghanistan refugees who went back to visit.

For context, the school population is made up of Afghan and other refugee families.