Is no one disappointed?

[cbelt3]

'2 years to plan" ? It's important to remember that the last administration completely and utterly blocked Biden's access to any information. And gutted the entire organization that created planning, information, etc.. It's like Trump was a paid agent of a foreign power whose goal is the downfall of the United States...

[vision63]

cbelt3 wrote:
'2 years to plan" ? It's important to remember that the last administration completely and utterly blocked Biden's access to any information. And gutted the entire organization that created planning, information, etc.. It's like Trump was a paid agent of a foreign power whose goal is the downfall of the United States...

Good point.

[$tevie]

I think the media has done a terrible job reporting on this. They are making it sound as if the evacuation isn't going well.

Supposedly somewhere between 250,000 and 300,000 people need to be evacuated by the U.S. And supposedly 110,000+ people have been taken out since the end of July. Okay, that's "only" 30% but the media makes it sound like we have hardly gotten anyone out.

It's so easy to sit around and carp about it, but what exactly did the administration know regarding the ability of the Taliban to overwhelm Afghanistan in a matter of days? Did Trump know it while he negotiated with the Taliban and cut out the official Afghan government? Should we have started airlifting everyone out back before the announcement? Is the Taliban so stupid that they couldn't guess what that meant?

I hate how everyone is now a military and/or intelligence authority. I have as much faith in them as I did when they were vaccine and epidemic authorities.

[mattkime]

This is what it looks like when an adult takes responsibility instead of kicking the can down the road.

Why do politicians avoid doing difficult things? Reactions like this.

[pdq]

FWIW, before it all goes down the memory hole, here’s Mike Pompeo, Trump’s Secretary of State, posing with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar of the Taliban during the unprecedented negotiations with them in Qatar in 2020:

Pompeo at the signing wrote:

“When it comes down to it, the future of Afghanistan is for the Afghans to determine. The U.S.-Taliban deal creates the conditions for Afghans to do just that," he said.

…and here is Zalmay Khalilzad, Trump’s “envoy for peace in Afghanistan”, shaking hands with Mullah Baradar at the signing ceremony in February 2020.



…and here is the signing:



…and here is Mullah Baradar, when the Taliban took over the offices of the Afghanistan government in Kabul:



…and here is Mike Pompeo, saying it’s all Biden’s fault.

[hal]

I think it's hard for people to put this all in proper perspective.

This is a war that WE LOST.

When has any loser ever just walked away from a war without getting their butt kicked on the way out? When has any loser ever declared the terms of the defeat?

So far, every single suggestion for improving the situation involves keeping a US presence continuing indefinitely.

I hate everything that has happened in the last few weeks EXCEPT the commitment to leaving. It had to be done - the 'right' time for it to happen is a fantasy.

[vision63]

$tevie wrote:
I think the media has done a terrible job reporting on this. They are making it sound as if the evacuation isn't going well.

Supposedly somewhere between 250,000 and 300,000 people need to be evacuated by the U.S. And supposedly 110,000+ people have been taken out since the end of July. Okay, that's "only" 30% but the media makes it sound like we have hardly gotten anyone out.

It's so easy to sit around and carp about it, but what exactly did the administration know regarding the ability of the Taliban to overwhelm Afghanistan in a matter of days? Did Trump know it while he negotiated with the Taliban and cut out the official Afghan government? Should we have started airlifting everyone out back before the announcement? Is the Taliban so stupid that they couldn't guess what that meant?

I hate how everyone is now a military and/or intelligence authority. I have as much faith in them as I did when they were vaccine and epidemic authorities.

You've probably seen this thread. This guy nails it. https://twitter.com/djrothkopf/status/14...9271523330

[bfd]

Really just goes to show what the level of ineptitude someone like Dumbf dropped on us can do to a country.

MAGA :bs:

[Don C]

I will be interested to see what a response to ISIS-K is. Do they have a group of leaders holed up someplace were a smart bomb can take them all out? What is their organizational structure that makes a credible response possible?

rhetorical questions, of course.

edit: after posting noticed the thread above saying that we have already responded. Will have to follow up on that.

[Racer X]

Lemon Drop wrote:
No other organization in the world plans or does logistics better than the US military.

I'm humbled and amazed by those courageous soldiers at Kabul airport. They are putting their own lives at risk from violent medieval mofos in order to save other people's lives. Most of us never do anything remotely that brave, or significant.

Don't forget the retired, or at least not directly in US Armed Forces service anymore, who are doing the REALLY dangerous stuff, simply because it's the right thing to do. :patriot: https://forums.macresource.com/read.php?2,2664447

I purchased a 10" Ruger pistol upper yesterday from a Boeing employee. He is headed to Qatar next week for a 56 day straight rotation to support C-17 maintenance. The Air Force has been putting SERIOUS hours on those airframes under essentially combat conditions. Corckscrew takeoffs and landings, with chaff and flares to hopefully defeat any SAMs or RPGs. I think one is on the way from the Malaysian Air Force to help out.