Erwin Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 (edited) At the risk of appearing jaded, it seems to me that all that is missing is a link so one can send money to a Nigerian prince or an Afghan warlord "fighting for freedom". We really don't know what is going on there, (or who are trustworthy players). All we know for sure is that gobs of money (billions) have already been sent there, and the entire system is hopelessly corrupt. Edited August 22, 2021 by Erwin 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted August 22, 2021 Author Share Posted August 22, 2021 (edited) If you don't know who Ahmad Massoud is (which you clearly don't if you are drawing equivalence between him and a 419 scammer), you really might want to stay out of this one...Seriously. Edited August 22, 2021 by Sgt.Squarehead 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 Let's just say that the US at least has been burned, and then burned again (and again). I admit that I have grown cynical about our Afghanistan involvement and who claim to be our friends. When one considers how many billions have been pumped in and disappeared, one knows that many of our warlord friends have their families and primary homes in Switzerland or similar locations and are living like royalty. It's awful the way we are leaving, but we probably should never have been there in the first place, and it's good to end the longest ever war in US history. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted August 22, 2021 Author Share Posted August 22, 2021 Done? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckdyke Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 Looks like the Taliban infiltrated the regular Afghan army. Visited Vietnam a few years ago and the same thing happened there. Families had members serving the Vietcong and also the South Vietnamese army. The presidential palace was bombed by an aircraft made in the US and flown by a pilot trained by the US. Here we have Pompeo posing with the leader of the Taliban just released from jail who is now running the country. Naturally still blaming Biden with a straight face. Broke my promise again not criticizing US politics so I am sorry. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted August 22, 2021 Author Share Posted August 22, 2021 Apparently 10,000 regulars have rallied to Massoud's banner.....If that's true and he can keep them provisioned (big if, that one), it's enough troops to make assaulting Panjshir hellish for the Taliban. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted August 24, 2021 Share Posted August 24, 2021 On 8/21/2021 at 7:18 PM, Erwin said: Let's just say that the US at least has been burned, and then burned again (and again). I admit that I have grown cynical about our Afghanistan involvement and who claim to be our friends. When one considers how many billions have been pumped in and disappeared, one knows that many of our warlord friends have their families and primary homes in Switzerland or similar locations and are living like royalty. It's awful the way we are leaving, but we probably should never have been there in the first place, and it's good to end the longest ever war in US history. I would hesitate to say burned. Not because I disagree with the result, but burned seems more like getting ripped off. in our case it is more we went in trying to impose our own perspective despite the facts on the ground. We saw what we wanted to see. Interesting parallels to our efforts in Iraq. We brought in external "leaders" who were utterly clueless with no real base of support and without the proper force ratios or plan to maintain order. In my own probably wrong perspective, we were never going to really stabilize Afghanistan with a regime next door with an active interest in supporting the Taliban (Pakistan). Hell Osama had been living there who knows how long and I'll be damned if I don't think the ISI knew the whole time. That's not even the Taliban, it's f'n Al Qaeda. It may be decades before we really know the impact of Western occupation and support in Afghanistan, but it is going to take a significant cultural shift across the region before the fundamental facts on the ground change. As it is I don't think there was any way we were going to withdrawal and this fiasco not happen. We just haven't wanted to face it which I think is the real reason it has taken so long. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted August 24, 2021 Share Posted August 24, 2021 1 hour ago, sburke said: We brought in external "leaders" who were utterly clueless with no real base of support and without the proper force ratios or plan to maintain order. In my own probably wrong perspective, we were never going to really stabilize Afghanistan with a regime next door with an active interest in supporting the Taliban (Pakistan). Totally agree... And we have done this too many times. One could say the same thing about Vietnam. Even Korea has parallels. (You see what I did there?) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bufo Posted August 25, 2021 Share Posted August 25, 2021 (edited) 13 hours ago, sburke said: we were never going to really stabilize Afghanistan IMHO the only way Afghanistan could be stabilized is by using medieval methods. Edited August 25, 2021 by Bufo 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckdyke Posted August 25, 2021 Share Posted August 25, 2021 1 hour ago, Bufo said: IMHO the only way Afghanistan could be stabilized is by using medieval methods. Yes, the Iceberg already showed its tip on numerous occasions. Allied units shot at by rogue Afghan units, civilian contractors transporting logistics from Pakistan. No exit strategy is the worst, look at Dunkirk at least the Brits knew how to withdraw. It is divide and rule right now the US is politically divided. Imagine capturing Hitler during WW2 than let him out of prison and pose for a picture before starting negotiations because war is an expensive business. Anyway we are a hobby community no room for politics. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbsapp Posted August 25, 2021 Share Posted August 25, 2021 4 hours ago, Bufo said: IMHO the only way Afghanistan could be stabilized is by using medieval methods. That's too cruel! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckdyke Posted August 25, 2021 Share Posted August 25, 2021 4 hours ago, Bufo said: MHO the only way Afghanistan could be stabilized is by using medieval methods. Never were truer words being spoken. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bufo Posted August 25, 2021 Share Posted August 25, 2021 47 minutes ago, dbsapp said: That's too cruel! You are killing me 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted August 26, 2021 Author Share Posted August 26, 2021 The Panjshir resistance are doing OK, certainly better than the Afghan army managed in recent years: https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2021/08/anti-taliban-resistance-makes-modest-gains-outside-panjshir.php 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted September 3, 2021 Author Share Posted September 3, 2021 More news from the Panjshir: https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2021/09/national-resistance-front-repels-multi-day-taliban-assault-on-panjshir.php So far, so good. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holien Posted September 4, 2021 Share Posted September 4, 2021 BBC earlier had title saying it was going against them, headline now changed to more neutral tone. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-58443679 They are under severe pressure. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holien Posted September 4, 2021 Share Posted September 4, 2021 BTW for those not subscribed to Mark Felton he has a good quick overview on former Afghan army Interesting watch for me... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted September 4, 2021 Share Posted September 4, 2021 Very nice summary of Afghan recent (20th Century) history. Thanks... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted September 5, 2021 Author Share Posted September 5, 2021 14 hours ago, Holien said: They are under severe pressure. It's not the first time Panjshir's been in that situation.....IMHO young Masoud has more to fear from treachery than a direct Taliban assault, that's how Al Qaeda got his father after all. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted September 7, 2021 Author Share Posted September 7, 2021 Not, good: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/9/6/dire-situation-for-130000-residents-trapped-in-panjshir Not good at all. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted September 7, 2021 Author Share Posted September 7, 2021 (edited) The Taliban are playing about with tanks in Panjshir: Let's hope that goes as well for them as it did for the Soviets. More: https://anna--news-info.translate.goog/taliby-vedut-boi-na-podstupah-k-tsentru-pandzhshera/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB&_x_tr_pto=ajax,elem Edited September 7, 2021 by Sgt.Squarehead 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted September 7, 2021 Author Share Posted September 7, 2021 The news from, the normally extremely reliable, Long War Journal is equally gloomy: https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2021/09/taliban-completes-conquest-of-afghanistan-after-seizing-panjshir.php Poor bloody Afghanistan! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted September 7, 2021 Author Share Posted September 7, 2021 (edited) This article (& those it links to) is well worth a look for anyone interested in the ideology driving the Taliban: https://consortiumnews.com/2021/08/30/the-talibans-ideological-roots-in-colonial-india/ "Saudi leaders, in fact, used the influence of their money to push their own interpretation of Islam – Wahhabism – at the Deobandi madrassas. Wahhabism is a deeply conservative form of Islam that believes in a literal interpretation of the Quran. At this point, the Deobandi madrassas moved far away from their religious roots." Edited September 7, 2021 by Sgt.Squarehead 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holien Posted September 9, 2021 Share Posted September 9, 2021 Well looks like it is just down to peaceful protests to oust the Taliban forces, I am sure that will work out well for those brave folk holding banners... What a sad story for those left... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted September 10, 2021 Share Posted September 10, 2021 What no one is mentioning is that Afghanistan has a tiny route to the east all the way to the Chinese border. The real threat is that China will exploit this situation along with its client state Pakistan and encircle India... plus open routes to threaten all the nations that Afghanistan borders. Of course we can only hope that China decides that it can tame Afghanistan just to prove to the Brits the Soviets and the US how superior are the Chinese. That we can dream about... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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