It's hard not to feel for those who want to get the hell out of Afghanistan. Really depressing scenes. Whoever presided over the exit, it was bound to be a disaster and was naive to think that placing and propping up a Western template in the country would hold upon leaving. Still, I'm sure the billions of dollars of top notch military equipment that the Taliban now have and will use will no doubt set the ideal staging ground for future military involvement in the area. Money will flow into the right coffers as per usual.

Biden had little choice but to double down in saying how it was the right thing to do, but there's no getting away from how terrible and hapless it looks and how dispiriting it must be for the military. Then again they have routinely been used by governments for decades. The faux reverence shown towards them is a veneer, whereas the disinterest towards them after their service is more much in line with how the ruling classes actually view and value them.

This ex special services soldier says that the US and by extension us have thrown our people over their under the bus. Saying the failures have come from those in ivory towers.

[Link]

Edited by Stirlingsays (17 Aug 2021 12.19am)

There you go then. Maybe he wasn't for the lily livered rules of war and wants a reason to go back in to decapitate the taliban; not give them a black eye.
Who knows but what I have stated about freedom and dying for it has happened many times before. waterloo, WW1 WW2 Vietnam, Korea. And many before that. If I'm wrong then say so. Don't go pitching politics.
Sometimes you have to fight for what you want, not hope you get it.

Afghan security forces deaths, the people who snake-eyed Joe says won't fight, are over 70,000 since 2001.

Puts USA deaths, about 4000, into perspective, doesn't it.

That's probably about the same as died in local traffic over that period.

For us only about 20 a year.

It is actually war, I mean we are going into other people's countries fighting them, whether good or bad.

I don't think the idea of our opponents agreeing to suffer losses and not us, is on, certainly the taliban don't think so.

It is just not cricket, speaking of which, what about our friends in sport, the Afghanistan cricket team?

To be fair to them, they hadn"t been paid and knew the president or man in the said Ivory tower was creaming off there shekles, so they might have given up psychologically before the battle began, people at the top creaming off all the money? Where have I seen that before? hmmmmmmm

Afghan security forces deaths, the people who snake-eyed Joe says won't fight, are over 70,000 since 2001.

“The whole world was taken by surprise,” - Raab.

Well thank you Dominic, it's good to have such a proactive Foreign Secretary.

Remembered to set the recorder on before he went on his holidays.

He won't get re-shuffled, not with that lightening speed.