Intra-Afghanistan talks in Qatar set for Sept 12th

[Filthy McChevy]

OBiden sucks! I'm not going to delay wiping my ass with the Joe Biden Toilet paper I'm getting.

 

[Provience]

OBiden sucks! I'm not going to delay wiping my ass with the Joe Biden Toilet paper I'm getting.

the white house made a fairly big deal of "bidens name WON'T be on the stimulus check....unlike TRUMP!!!!" and then what'd they do? turned around and send out a letter explaining how the 1.4k fulfills the campaign promise of 2k if you think of it in various ways and such and tells us to please be nice and then is signed by biden

seriously, virtue signaled to claim a difference, then spent more time/effort/money to do the same damn thing. i wish it wasn't so typical, but it reminds me exactly of the AFG policy at the moment.

 

[Filthy McChevy]

the white house made a fairly big deal of "bidens name WON'T be on the stimulus check....unlike TRUMP!!!!" and then what'd they do? turned around and send out a letter explaining how the 1.4k fulfills the campaign promise of 2k if you think of it in various ways and such and tells us to please be nice and then is signed by biden

seriously, virtue signaled to claim a difference, then spent more time/effort/money to do the same damn thing. i wish it wasn't so typical, but it reminds me exactly of the AFG policy at the moment.

I'll be using this:

 

[Roc Doc]

To celebrate 9/11? Hell I don't know makes no damn sense to me, if we going to leave. leave scorched earth behind us , drop bunker busters on the runways as the last plane leaves, destroy everything we can't bring back

Set up some C130s with those belt fed 40mm grenade launchers and keep a 2 mile perimiter around the base until just before you drop 2k bombs on it.

 

[Thefishguy77]

War mongers as the SCROTUS feeding the war machine, why am I not surprised.

 

[bigun]

the white house made a fairly big deal of "bidens name WON'T be on the stimulus check....unlike TRUMP!!!!" and then what'd they do? turned around and send out a letter explaining how the 1.4k fulfills the campaign promise of 2k if you think of it in various ways and such and tells us to please be nice and then is signed by biden

seriously, virtue signaled to claim a difference, then spent more time/effort/money to do the same damn thing. i wish it wasn't so typical, but it reminds me exactly of the AFG policy at the moment.

Then why did mom just get a letter from the IRS with a message from Joe telling her what a wonderful thing he had done by sending her $1,400 dollars, unlike Trump who only sent her $600

 

[Provience]

Then why did mom just get a letter from the IRS with a message from Joe telling her what a wonderful thing he had done by sending her $1,400 dollars, unlike Trump who only sent her $600

egg-fucking-zactly.

same reason we get to spend 6 more months in the mountains

 

[Filthy McChevy]

I'm tired of getting those letters about the last stimulus check from the I R S. I got 2 of them in addition to the 3rd check. I open them right away hoping it's not an a u d it notice.

As far as what's going on with the Taliban I'm sure team Obiden will just say it would have happened no matter what. We''ll never know for sure but it seems we broke the contract first.

 

[Provience]

I'm tired of getting those letters about the last stimulus check from the I R S. I got 2 of them in addition to the 3rd check. I open them right away hoping it's not an a u d it notice.

As far as what's going on with the Taliban I'm sure team Obiden will just say it would have happened no matter what. We''ll never know for sure but it seems we broke the contract first.

yeah it certainly wasn't a perfect year, but I'm honestly impressed with how generally "the taliban" actually did stick to the reduction in violence against US/NATO forces deal, as well as generally reduced against non-military targets.

kind of funny that the taliban and Afghan Government may have been the most fucked groups out of the USA 2020 election season, but not in the typical way we think of a political fucking

 

[Provience]

MSN

www.msn.com

Dozens of outposts and bases in Afghanistan have surrendered to the Taliban since May 1 when U.S. forces began to withdraw from the country, The New York Times reported.

At least 26 outposts and bases in four provinces - Laghman, Baghlan, Wardak and Ghazni - surrendered after the Taliban used village elders to deliver to outposts messages to surrender or be killed, some elders and government officials told the Times.

The insurgent's territory grab, which includes four district centers, has removed hundreds of government forces from fighting the group and allowed it to gain weapons, ammunition, vehicles and wins to add to its propaganda campaign.

The collapses point to the Afghan government's swiftly crumbling effort to hold back the Taliban as the United States pulls its troops and equipment from the country following President Biden's April order to end the more than 20-year conflict.

Biden set Sept. 11 as the deadline for the withdrawal, but reports this week indicate U.S. troops along with NATO allies are expected to be fully out of Afghanistan by mid-July.

The forces are rapidly leaving despite unresolved issues regarding how threats in the region will be handled from afar.

Among those concerns is a rise in violence in Afghanistan due to a spike in clashes between the Afghan military and the Taliban in the past month. The country has also been hit with several bombings, including most recently at a girls school near Kabul that killed dozens of people.

The recent surrenders to the Taliban are only expected to continue as more international troops leave and the group works on a broader spring offensive in which it has surrounded at least five provincial capitols, according to a Pentagon inspector general report released earlier this month.

AFG government needed to get their shit together last year, going to be a long haul for them.

but, in keeping with the terms of the agreement, as long as the taliban sticks to conflict inside AFG proper and doesn't launch or host launches into nations we care about, they will be on the terms they laid out.

 

[bigun]

So after 20 years untold billions of dollars. American and Afghanis dead or crippled for life, what do we have to show for the Cheney war?

It was the fucking Saudi's who bank rolled the 9/11 strike and it was Saudis who took over and flew the airplanes.

 

[Provience]

So after 20 years untold billions of dollars. American and Afghanis dead or crippled for life, what do we have to show for the Cheney war?

It was the fucking Saudi's who bank rolled the 9/11 strike and it was Saudis who took over and flew the airplanes.

and if the god damned taliban had taken their Paki brethren advice and said "Fuck yeah GWB, you and your boys can cruise through the mountains and round up whoever!" we wouldn't have been there for 20 years and they'd have never been booted from power.

 

[arse_sidewards]

and if the god damned taliban had taken their Paki brethren advice and said "Fuck yeah GWB, you and your boys can cruise through the mountains and round up whoever!" we wouldn't have been there for 20 years and they'd have never been booted from power.

If they were really smart they would have picked their house guests more wisely in the first place.

 

[Provience]

If they were really smart they would have picked their house guests more wisely in the first place.

nah, they were able to get waaay more foreign investment this way. Sure, most of the OG guys are all dead, but their legacy people's made fawkin bank on this war + the massive improvement to general AFG infrastructure. i'd love to have the answers for them, but the American People made it pretty damned clear that we aren't about that life after about 2003+ at the end of major operations there and the political climate here.

 

[DR. SMASHER]

So everyone makes an agreed upon date to leave the country and pull out troops. Obiden makes his own pull out date. Taliban attacks on the day that was agreed upon initially, because our troops are still there on the day they were supposed to be gone. Well, duh.

 

[Provience]

So everyone makes an agreed upon date to leave the country and pull out troops. Obiden makes his own pull out date. Taliban attacks on the day that was agreed upon initially, because our troops are still there on the day they were supposed to be gone. Well, duh.

and we are on track to be out of there before the new date

i hope we burn more shit than we hand over to the AFG government at this point. there are some great afghani's who really do want their country to not be a shithole and are fighting for it, but damn they've got an uphill battle

 

[Provience]

Taliban says Afghans who worked for foreign forces will be safe

Group says Afghans who worked with US and NATO in past 20 years have nothing to fear as long as they show ‘remorse’.

www.aljazeera.com

Taliban says people who worked for foreign forces in Afghanistan will be safe as long as they show “remorse” and should not leave the war-ravaged country.

“They shall not be in any danger on our part… None should currently desert the country,” a statement released by the armed group said on Monday.

“The Islamic Emirate would like to inform all the above people that they should show remorse for their past actions and must not engage in such activities in the future that amount to treason against Islam and the country.”

The statement came as the United States and NATO forces are continuing to pull out, after US President Joe Biden set September 11 as the deadline to end Washington’s 20-year military involvement in the country.


Thousands of Afghans worked with the international forces in the past 20 years as interpreters, security guards, and helpers in other capacities.

They fear retaliation from the Taliban once the foreign forces have left. Many have applied for special visas to leave the country.


Several countries – including the US, Germany and Britain – have programmes to resettle their local staff.

The applications of about 18,000 Afghans seeking a special immigration visa are currently pending at the US embassy in Kabul, according to embassy data.

Thousands of others have already been resettled to the countries they have worked with.

Last week, the Taliban also tried to calm foreign embassies after the Australian mission shut down in Kabul.

The group said it would provide a “safe environment” for these missions to work even after foreign forces leave the country.

According to No One Left Behind, a US non-governmental organisation, about 300 people who worked as local staff for the US military or their family members have been killed since 2016.


In the past, the Taliban said Afghans working with the “invaders” are “traitors” or “slaves”.

The group called on these Afghans to “show remorse for their past actions” and says they should not engage in such activities in the future.

“We viewed them as our foes when they were directly standing in the ranks of our enemies,” the statement added.

“But when they abandon enemy ranks and opt to live as ordinary Afghans in their homeland, they will not face any issues.”

It is questionable whether the local staff will trust these statements.

Twitter users who support the Taliban also routinely express ideas about how the local staff should be dealt with after the troops have withdrawn.


Many of those are not in line with Monday’s statement. They say, among other things, that one can never forgive those who used to work for the foreigners.

Over the past two decades, dozens of Afghan translators have been killed and tortured in targeted assaults by the Taliban.

In recent weeks, many of these Afghans have staged demonstrations in Kabul, demanding that the foreign forces and embassies that they worked with should relocate them outside of Afghanistan.

“They are tracking us,” Omid Mahmoodi, an interpreter who worked with US forces between 2018 and 2020, told AFP news agency last week.

“The Taliban will not pardon us. They will kill us and they will behead us.”

Another interpreter, Omar, who worked with the US embassy for about 10 years, feared that without leaving the country he would not evade the Taliban for long.



“I regret working for the US. It was the biggest mistake of my life,” said Omar, who asked AFP not to use his full name. “My own uncle and cousins call me an agent of America.”



- personally, i'll take 18,000 afghans who worked in support of the US/NATO as political refugee's over those simply 'fleeing poverty'. tough spot to be in, hopefully those that stay are able to fight like hell

 

[78bronco460]

When will someone say what this is really about?

O
P
I
U
M

Always has been.

 

[Provience]

When will someone say what this is really about?

O
P
I
U
M

Always has been.

Talc: the everyday mineral funding Afghan insurgents | Global Witness

How talc from #Afghanistan’s opaque and poorly regulated mining sector is helping fuel the Islamic State and Taliban #AfghanTalc

www.globalwitness.org

Through interviews with informed sources and analysis of satellite imagery we have exposed how talc mining has become a key strategic priority for the Islamic State in Afghanistan (IS-KP). As one IS-KP commander told us: ‘At any price we will take the mines’.

Access to talc mines is also a current source of conflict between the IS-KP and the Taliban – already estimated to be making around $300 million a year from Afghanistan’s mineral wealth - in the mineral-rich Nangarhar province.





opium, and talc fear, power, funding, control.

 

[bigun]

US troops leave Afghanistan’s Bagram airbase after nearly 20 years

Departure marred by poor liaison with local forces and comes just before 20th anniversary of start of US operations to topple Taliban

www.theguardian.com

US troops have left Bagram, the sprawling airbase north of Kabul that was the symbolic and operational heart of the American military operation in Afghanistan.

With that hub handed over to Afghan security forces, it sets the scene for the final departure of American forces from the country only months before the 20th anniversary of the start of US operations to topple the Taliban, launched in response to the 9/11 attacks.



The US departure was marred by disorganisation. There was a gap between the American troops leaving and their Afghan replacements arriving, allowing looters to ransack parts of the base.

“Unfortunately the Americans left without any coordination with Bagram district officials or the governor’s office,” the district administrator, Darwaish Raufi, told the Associated Press.

The Pentagon said the outgoing US force commander, General Austin Miller, would be formally handing over his responsibilities to US Central Command chief General Kenneth McKenzie “effective later this month”.

US President Joe Biden denied reports that the US withdrawal would be completed in the next few days, but then ducked further questions at the White House, saying he wanted to celebrate the 4 July holiday weekend and would address the issue next week. The White House spokesperson, Jen Psaki, later said the withdrawal would be complete “by the end of August”.

However, only a minimal presence remains. Although the Pentagon has stopped giving up updates on forces levels, there are thought to be less than a thousand US troops left in Afghanistan, virtually all in Kabul, where they will provide security for the embassy and potentially for the international airport.

Bagram, which lies about 40 miles (64km) north of the Afghan capital, Kabul, was the hub of US operations and is strategically vital to anyone who wants to hold it. It was captured at the start of that campaign and remained the key staging point for international hardware and personnel over the past two decades, offering a first glimpse of Afghanistan to everyone, from footsoldiers to presidents.


Afghan civilians take up arms against Taliban as foreign troops depart
Read more
A ceremony on Saturday will mark the official transfer of Bagram to government control, an Afghan official said, but like the rest of the foreign drawdown, the transfer was managed largely without fanfare.

Most of America’s Nato allies have already taken their troops home, in a muted end to an international mission that began two decades ago as a show of committed solidarity with a still stunned and grieving America.

Britain and Turkey are among the last few nations still to have boots on the ground. UK soldiers are expected to leave within days, although special forces may keep a covert presence, documents leaked to the BBC suggested recently.

The Turkish military is in negotiations to remain in Kabul, securing the international airport, with some international military presence considered vital to foreign embassies staying open there. About 650 US soldiers will stay on to guard their compound.

But with Bagram’s runway and hangers handed over to Afghan troops, the Taliban are likely to start testing its defences, although defending such a strategic and propaganda prize will be a priority for the Afghan armed forces.

Built by Soviet engineers in the 1950s, the airbase has been at the heart of two ill-fated foreign military campaigns, one launched by Moscow in 1979, and America’s own “war on terror”, dubbed the “forever war” because it seemed to have no endpoint.

In 2001, the base was devastated by years of civil war; the two ends of its 3km-long runway held by opposing factions. But the US quickly built it into a sprawling citadel that embodied the problems, waste and contradictions of the international military effort in Afghanistan.

It had a “black jail”, second only to Guantanamo in its notoriety, where Afghans swept up on suspicion of Taliban or al-Qaida connections were tortured and in some cases killed. The murder of a taxi driver in detention there was the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary.

But there were also boardwalks, fast food restaurants, a sewage treatment camp and even at one point a swimming pool. At its peak, 40,000 military personnel and civilian contractors were stationed there, many of whom saw no more of Afghanistan than the six square miles enclosed within its blast walls and razor wire fences, and the mountains surrounding them.

Rockets sometimes landed inside its perimeter, and there were insider attacks by Afghan security forces, but the camp was deemed safe enough to host visiting VIPs, including celebrities on morale boosting tours and senior politicians.

Camp commanders were so far removed from the threats facing soldiers at frontline posts, they had time to dream up a “Bagram Batman” campaign, dealing with petty military offences such as unauthorised use of cars, or misplacing weapons.

Taliban spokesman Sohail Shaheen said the group welcomed the US departure from Bagram. The militants have been seizing swathes of territory across the country in recent months as foreign troops headed home, taking control of 50 out of nearly 400 districts since May.

Gen Austin Miller, the top US commander in Afghanistan warned last week the country could be headed for civil war. He said on Friday that despite the Bagram handover, the US “still retains all the capabilities and authorities to protect the forces” stationed in Kabul.

Few politicians want to highlight that a military project launched to destroy the Taliban is ending with the group resurgent across Afghanistan.

The US withdrawal agreement was reached under Donald Trump, but Biden has pushed ahead with the drawdown, saying on Friday it was “on track”, despite warnings about the grave security threats. Some intelligence analysts have warned the government in Kabul could collapse within months.

Asked about that possibility, Biden responded: “We were in that war for 20 years … I think they have the capacity to sustain the government.”

In the face of further questioning from the press, the president responded: “I’m not going to answer any more quick questions on Afghanistan. Look, it’s the 4th of July. I’m concerned you guys are asking me questions I’ll answer next week. But it’s a holiday weekend. I’m going to celebrate it. There’s great things happening.”

Biden told his Afghan counterpart, Ashraf Ghani, on a visit to Washington last month that “Afghans are going to have to decide their future”. Peace talks between the government and the Taliban, meant to be kickstarted by the US withdrawal, have largely stalled as militants try to consolidate their position on the ground.

 

[Ebs]

Pulling out of Vietnam 2.0?

 

[bigun]

Pulling out of Vietnam 2.0?

Yep and sounds like they left them a nice modern military airbase complete with runways that will take all known military and commercial air planes

 

[Provience]

Pulling out of Vietnam 2.0?

I dunno, maybe. looks like we are leaving a pretty good sized dept of state/embassy presence in AFG compared to what happened in vietnam, hopefully they get their shit together so that in 20 years they will be stable enough for tourism and such, that'd be neat

 

[Provience]

MSN

www.msn.com

on a more positive note, at least there is real progress starting to happen

The first group of Afghan interpreters and other workers, who worked with American troops and diplomats during the 20 years the United States was in the country, have been evacuated from Afghanistan and are due to arrive in the US at any moment, according to multiple news reports.

only like 5% or 10% or whatever of the total, but hopefully they don't delay too incredibly long

 

[KacksterK5]

Not worth our guys to even go over there and fight on the ground this time. The rules of engagement that are in place right now and the liberal media are not conducive to putting boots on the ground. Would turn into a media battle even worse that the mid 2000's.

If we are going to get involved, drone strikes and aerial attacks only just to keep them in check. Door kicking doesn't need to happen.

Hell just flatten it all.

 

[arse_sidewards]

After lengthy siege, Lashkar Gah is taken by the Taliban | FDD's Long War Journal

Frankly I’m impressed with the taliban. They kept up an effective insurgency against the most technologically advanced military in the world, and have quickly and effectively taken control of the country yet again. Showing yet again that although the us military might be extremely effective against a near peer force, we don’t posses the ability to defeat a bunch of properly motivate farmers.

No military can defeat an insurgency made up of people who will put up with a 10:1 death ratio and have the support of the locals.

To deafest something like that you need to literally colonize the place to the point where the people you're fighting and the people who support them are a subjugated minority and your people run the show. The first world nations simply don't do that stuff anymore because they can't justify it at home.

 

[MuntCuffin]

No military can defeat an insurgency made up of people who will put up with a 10:1 death ratio and have the support of the locals.

To deafest something like that you need to literally colonize the place to the point where the people you're fighting and the people who support them are a subjugated minority and your people run the show. The first world nations simply don't do that stuff anymore because they can't justify it at home.

They've done it here. In our schools, in our entertainment, in our news, social media, books, etc.

 

[animator]

Well I think it’s safe to say that Biden won’t be getting a Nobel peace prize for any of this.

 

[realsquash]

The only way to defeat them is to go door to door and shoot them. Short of that we need to get out of there.

 

[MuntCuffin]

The only way to defeat them is to go door to door and shoot them. Short of that we need to get out of there.

How do you tell a taliban guy from a non taliban guy? Are they extra brown?