Twenty years, two trillion (!) dollars, and 2500 American lives, for
what? To catch bin Laden? He was caught more than a decade ago, in a different country. To establish a pro-western government? Before US
troops could even finished pulling out, the Taliban was back in power,
as if the past 20 years had never happened.
As horrible as the Taliban is, at least they're against "bacha bazi,"
i.e. the rape of young boys, unlike the local troops who were allied
with the US.
Speaking of catching Osama, he was found by using a public health
pretext. That was a line that should never be crossed. Even the
Nazis respected the Red Cross. By violating that line, the US has
greatly damaged the world's trust in health authorities, which has contributed to the widespread worldwide mistrust of covid-19 vaccines.
That shortsighted decision has caused more deaths every day than bin
Laden caused in a lifetime.
The US should let the Middle East go to hell in its own way. America
isn't the world's policeman. And the enemy of one's enemy isn't
ncessarily one's friend.
--
Twenty years, two trillion (!) dollars, and 2500 American lives, for
The US should let the Middle East go to hell in its own way. America
isn't the world's policeman. And the enemy of one's enemy isn't
ncessarily one's friend.
On Wed, 18 Aug 2021 00:19:39 +0000, Keith F. Lynch wrote:
Twenty years, two trillion (!) dollars, and 2500 American lives, for
Isn't it odd, or at least intriguing, that this is transpiring
very, very close to the exact 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks?
On 8/17/21 8:19 PM, Keith F. Lynch wrote:
The US should let the Middle East go to hell in its own way. America
isn't the world's policeman. And the enemy of one's enemy isn't
ncessarily one's friend.
Biden said something which was remarkably intelligent for a US
president: "I will not repeat the mistakes we've made in the past. The mistake of staying and fighting indefinitely in a conflict that is not
in the national security interest of the United States."
As horrible as the Taliban is, at least they're against "bacha
bazi," i.e. the rape of young boys, unlike the local troops who
were allied with the US.
The US should let the Middle East go to hell in its own way.
On 8/17/21 8:19 PM, Keith F. Lynch wrote:
The US should let the Middle East go to hell in its own way. America
isn't the world's policeman. And the enemy of one's enemy isn't
ncessarily one's friend.
Biden said something which was remarkably intelligent for a US
president: "I will not repeat the mistakes we've made in the past. The >mistake of staying and fighting indefinitely in a conflict that is not
in the national security interest of the United States."
On 8/17/21 8:19 PM, Keith F. Lynch wrote:
The US should let the Middle East go to hell in its own way.
America isn't the world's policeman. And the enemy of one's
enemy isn't ncessarily one's friend.
Biden said something which was remarkably intelligent for a US
president: "I will not repeat the mistakes we've made in the
past.
On Wednesday, August 18, 2021 at 7:20:43 AM UTC-4, Gary McGath wrote:
On 8/17/21 8:19 PM, Keith F. Lynch wrote:
The US should let the Middle East go to hell in its own way. America isn't the world's policeman. And the enemy of one's enemy isn't ncessarily one's friend.
Biden said something which was remarkably intelligent for a USThe whole venture was a mistake, made in white-hot anger
president: "I will not repeat the mistakes we've made in the past. The mistake of staying and fighting indefinitely in a conflict that is not
in the national security interest of the United States."
after 9/11. It should have been possible to take out OBL and AQ
without a full takeover of Afghanistan.
That said, this is The Great Game, and Putin and Xi are both
now maneuvering to be the Talibans' BFF. I suspect China will
win; the Taliban have bad memories of Russia still.
Out of curiosity, I compiled this little table:
Invasions of Afghanistan
* US/Nato 2001-2021
* USSR 1979-1989
* USSR 1930
* USSR 1929 (different from 1930)
* UK 1918
* UK 1878-1880
* UK 1838-1842
* Sikh Empire 1834-1838
* Mughal Empire 1506
* Tamerlane 1383-1386
* Mongols 1219-1221
* Muslim conquests 7th-12th centuries
* Kushans 1st century AD
* Alexander the Great 330 BC
* Achaemenid Empire (Darius I) 516 BC
* Medes ~ 600 BC
pt
On Wednesday, August 18, 2021 at 10:19:44 AM UTC-4, pete...@gmail.com wrote:
On Wednesday, August 18, 2021 at 7:20:43 AM UTC-4, Gary McGath wrote:
On 8/17/21 8:19 PM, Keith F. Lynch wrote:
The US should let the Middle East go to hell in its own way. America isn't the world's policeman. And the enemy of one's enemy isn't ncessarily one's friend.
Biden said something which was remarkably intelligent for a USThe whole venture was a mistake, made in white-hot anger
president: "I will not repeat the mistakes we've made in the past. The mistake of staying and fighting indefinitely in a conflict that is not
in the national security interest of the United States."
after 9/11. It should have been possible to take out OBL and AQ
without a full takeover of Afghanistan.
That said, this is The Great Game, and Putin and Xi are both
now maneuvering to be the Talibans' BFF. I suspect China will
win; the Taliban have bad memories of Russia still.
Out of curiosity, I compiled this little table:
Invasions of Afghanistan
* US/Nato 2001-2021
* USSR 1979-1989
* USSR 1930
* USSR 1929 (different from 1930)
* UK 1918
* UK 1878-1880
* UK 1838-1842
* Sikh Empire 1834-1838
* Mughal Empire 1506
* Tamerlane 1383-1386
* Mongols 1219-1221
* Muslim conquests 7th-12th centuries
* Kushans 1st century AD
* Alexander the Great 330 BC
* Achaemenid Empire (Darius I) 516 BC
* Medes ~ 600 BC
ptVery few people remember that it was Clinton who first bombed Afghanistan in 1998. Bin Laden's return fire pulled the Americans into a 20 year losing war.
In article <sfiqea$c3g$1...@dont-email.me>,
Gary McGath <ga...@REMOVEmcgathREMOVE.com> wrote:
On 8/17/21 8:19 PM, Keith F. Lynch wrote:
The US should let the Middle East go to hell in its own way. America
isn't the world's policeman. And the enemy of one's enemy isn't
ncessarily one's friend.
Biden said something which was remarkably intelligent for a USWe have had a number of presidents who asked about leaving Afganistan
president: "I will not repeat the mistakes we've made in the past. The >mistake of staying and fighting indefinitely in a conflict that is not
in the national security interest of the United States."
and were told that there were several options and they would all end in
some sort of disaster, and they all decided to leave the problem for
someone else to deal with.
As much as I dislike Trump, I will give him credit for looking at the bad options and deciding to pull out anyway. Because we can have a disaster
now, or a disaster later, and it's better to have it now and get it over with.
And I will also give Biden some credit for sticking with the plan, even though he knew and his advisors all knew that it would end badly.
Invading Afghanistan was a terrible mistake, and after watching the
Russians do it and the English do it and then the Russians do it a
second time and disaster occuring every time, I was kind of surprised
we'd try it.
And I will also give Biden some credit for sticking with the plan,
even though he knew and his advisors all knew that it would end badly.
Scott Dorsey <kludge@panix.com> wrote:
And I will also give Biden some credit for sticking with the plan,
even though he knew and his advisors all knew that it would end badly.
Biden said:
The Taliban is not the North Vietnamese army. They're not remotely
comparable in terms of capability. There's going to be no circumstance
where you see people being lifted off the roof of a embassy of the
United States from Afghanistan. It is not at all comparable
He said that on July 8th. Of this year. And yet that is exactly what
ended up happening the following month. Only worse.
In Saigon, nobody
tried to ride on the outside of an airplane, or in its wheel wells.
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