How does the World view America these days?

[auxien]

38 minutes ago, Upset man said:

it was a mistake and everyone deserves blame

it was a mistake from the beginning, yeah. every day that it went on was a new mistake. the way the US is exiting is also a mistake, undoubtedly, but at least it might be the last mistake we make there.

again, not excusing anything, just thinking out loud really. i only know so much about the situation which is obviously still unfolding. seeing traffic jams to the airport and huge crowds at the airport with no direction and claims of no security at all. hopefully everyone who wants to leave will be allowed to do so peacefully. the Taliban are saying that they're 'not going to retaliate against the Afghan people' so hopefully there will be some kind of a peace there. 

[Amen Warrior]

I have friends in Afghanistan, a married couple and their two young daughters. They made arrangements for the wife and daughters to move to Dubai immediately after the exit was announced. He left a few days ago. He (was) a government minister. They would've almost certainly all been murdered. They are in bits about the friends and colleagues left behind. It's so fucking awful.

[usagi]

everyone loses, most of all ordinary Afghanis.

Edited August 16, 2021 by usagi

[cern]

USA Have never been good at fixing longterm problems. 

[ignatius]

15 minutes ago, cern said:

USA Have never been good at fixing longterm problems. 

or determining what the problem is

[Lane Visitor]

Do you guys think Biden or any coalition forces will take any action?

[ignatius]

1 hour ago, Lane Visitor said:

Do you guys think Biden or any coalition forces will take any action?

they did. they went there to evac americans and those who worked with americans so they won't be murdered. 

beyond that i expect there will be sanctions.. maybe at some point some bombings and intelligence operations of some kind including satellite spying etc. then after afghanistan is a busy hive of terrorist activity.. well, we'll see. also probably do something to heighten tensions amongst the different groups there. there's many tribes so to speak and they don't all like the taliban. 

[cern]

1 hour ago, Lane Visitor said:

Do you guys think Biden or any coalition forces will take any action?

I believe US have made an agreement with the Talibans.

This shit stinks and It is hard to believe USA just "gave it all up" and now Biden just want this going away from his table. 
China is next to deal with it. 

[ignatius]

59 minutes ago, cern said:

I believe US have made an agreement with the Talibans.

there's been negotiations for years about what would happen when the US forces left.  taliban was supposed to have a seat at the table but not take over the country by force though a lot of people expected them to because very smart people were saying "don't trust anything they say or anything they've agreed to".  the thinking was the afghan forces were well equipped and trained and would hold their own or there would be an all out civil war. 

taliban turned out to be smart and strategic. they gained momentum and afghan forces didn't want to fight too hard. 

sometimes things are what they appear. i don't think there was a deal where USA said "we leave you can have the country". the big risk, or certainty is that afghanistan will become playground for terrorist groups planning attacks and training. this, more than anything, will get US attention if/when it happens. 

[cern]

No the Talibans made a good deal and that is why there was no fight what so ever! 

300 000 soldiers and 40 million citizens got defeated by 65000 Talibans in Jeep cars. 
They gonna steer the ship with the promises of no blood now.  "We gonna cooperate with all the countries and no war" they said. 

China is already ready to build Afghanistan now, as long as they get a pipeline.
USA is humiliated in this big time! 

[usagi]

lol

[ignatius]

21 minutes ago, cern said:

as long as they get a pipeline.

opium pipeline would be dope. 

afghanistan does have mineral wealth ready to be mined.. though i suspect there's a lot of effort involved to make that happen due to terrain, infrastructure problems etc. i think there's natural gas and some oil reserves. will be interesting to see how that all plays out. maybe they could pay back america. can't wait for trump to say we should've left with the oil. 

[Rubin Farr]

3 hours ago, cern said:

I believe US have made an agreement with the Talibans.

This shit stinks and It is hard to believe USA just "gave it all up" and now Biden just want this going away from his table. 
China is next to deal with it. 

Armies have been trying to invade Afghanistan for thousands of years, and no one has really succeeded yet. You would think humanity would learn its lesson by now, but no. This is one of the most inaccessible regions on Earth, and it will most likely always be that way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasions_of_Afghanistan

[Squee]

Well, luckily the US is going to embrace Afghan refugees, right?

[cern]

That is the only question all the people want to know: Where will the refugee goes? 

I don't think people are interested in what happens in Afghanistan now. 

But it is strange that abdomen porcelain is so silent about this? Why can he not even say that they failed? 
 

[iococoi]

https://www.flightradar24.com/FEVEP12/28cd318a

 

Edited August 16, 2021 by iococoi

[iococoi]

20 minutes ago, iococoi said:

https://www.flightradar24.com/FEVEP12/28cd318a

 

erased from existence..

[Squee]

What plane was that?

[Scaramouche]

2 hours ago, ignatius said:

opium pipeline would be dope. 

afghanistan does have mineral wealth ready to be mined.. though i suspect there's a lot of effort involved to make that happen due to terrain, infrastructure problems etc. i think there's natural gas and some oil reserves. will be interesting to see how that all plays out. maybe they could pay back america. can't wait for trump to say we should've left with the oil. 

Yeah, reports of around 2-3 trillion dollars of precious metals/REEs. 

The Taliban will make a move for legitimacy as they did before the war in 2001. I wonder what that will do to their current cash crop? Afghanistan is reported to be responsible for 85% of the world's heroin market (circa 2010 numbers). America/NATO didn't make a dent in production in the time they were there, despite spending billions. Opium has kept the Taliban coffers overflowing, even with their attempted "banning" of farming just before the war started in 2001. 

The spice must flow. 

[iococoi]

8 minutes ago, Squee said:

What plane was that?

https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/c130/hc-130j-combat-king-ii.html

[usagi]

I think the question is "what was the plane for", not "what model is it". was it a recovery/evac plane or something? when it was up I saw it doing loops but I couldn't make sense of it really.

[iococoi]

ya well..it is the

Quote

U.S. Air Force's only dedicated fixed-wing personnel recovery platform

so best guess us staff..why they were circling like crazy in that area is another thing..may be mid-air fueling or they were waiting for permission

to enter pakistan airspace

Edited August 16, 2021 by iococoi

[Amen Warrior]

There are videos on twitter of desperate Afghans clinging to the side of that plane as it takes off from Kabul, and falling to their deaths. I won't share. Grim.

[cern]

17 minutes ago, Amen Warrior said:

There are videos on twitter of desperate Afghans clinging to the side of that plane as it takes off from Kabul, and falling to their deaths. I won't share. Grim.

Share come on 

[Amen Warrior]

Ok...same account on twitter has a continuing clip of the poor souls falling off post take off if you're desperate to see it. I wish I hadn't.