Posted on 08/13/2021 3:56:38 PM PDT by elpadre
August 12, 2021. History will register it as the day the Taliban, nearly 20 years after 9/11 and the subsequent toppling of their 1996-2001 reign by American bombing, struck the decisive blow against the central government in Kabul.
In a coordinated blitzkrieg, the Taliban all but captured three crucial hubs: Ghazni and Kandahar in the center, and Herat in the west. They had already captured most of the north. As it stands, the Taliban control 14 (italics mine) provincial capitals and counting.
First thing in the morning, they took Ghazni, which is situated around 140 kilometers from Kabul. The repaved highway is in good condition. Not only are the Taliban moving closer and closer to Kabul: for all practical purposes they now control the nation’s top artery, Highway 1 from Kabul to Kandahar via Ghazni.
That in itself is a strategic game-changer. It will allow the Taliban to encircle and besiege Kabul simultaneously from north and south, in a pincer movement.
Kandahar fell by nightfall after the Taliban managed to breach the security belt around the city, attacking from several directions.
In Ghazni, provincial governor Daoud Laghmani cut a deal, fled and then was arrested. In Kandahar, provincial governor Rohullah Khanzada – who belongs to the powerful Popolzai tribe – left with only a few bodyguards.
He opted to engage in an elaborate deal, convincing the Taliban to allow the remaining military to retreat to Kandahar airport and be evacuated by helicopter. All their equipment, heavy weapons and ammunition should be transferred to the Taliban. (continued at link)
(Excerpt) Read more at asiatimes.com ...
“If you were an ally, would you trust the United States?”
If you are a citizen, do you trust the United States government?
None of this would be happening if we had employed my emBASEeee strategy. From my home page
I have been advocating for several years a policy I call ‘embaseees’. Embassy + AirBase —> EmBASEeees. We go into a terrorist country, clear out their taliban equivalent, then withdraw to very large Embassies, perhaps 3 of them. Have them big enough to encompass a military airbase where we can use it for decades on end to conduct anti-terrorism operations. As long as the ‘host’ country aint killing Americans then we let them have self-sovereignty. Kind of like how we operated in the Phillipines for decades. We could even have an intermediate zone that we patrol but it would be autonomous. Let them have their taste of freedom. A referendum every 10 years to see how large the boundaries of the intermediate autonomous zone should be.
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What was that?
Oh, now I remember!
It was President GW Bush standing on an Aircraft Carrier Deck proclaiming ...
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!
I float back 50 or so years ago to Lyndon Baines Johnson speaking about Viet Name.
"...the view of the administration that the security of the United States and the entire free world is at stake in Southeast Asia, and that the U.S. will not abandon the commitments it has made in the region."
I grew up learning "history repeats itself". Never did I think back then that I would live long enough to see it happen again and again and again.
So much death, blood, lives ruined for ...
"WAR - What is it good for? ...Absolutely Nothing" Say it again.
Just wait when the Taliban burn down the US Embassy in Kabul on September 11, 2021.
O’Biden leading from behind and getting our behinds kicked in the process.
Ooooooo, that had to leave some skid marks in the shorts. Nicely put.
America has gone full circle and twenty years later is worse off. The USA was already a wreck from the Patriot act and other eroded liberties for “security” due to 9/11. Losing the fake war in Afghanistan is actually devastating in the global sense. America has lost credibility and standing. Liberals,globalists and Islam stand tall right now.
"We go into a terrorist country ...
Who are the "We"?
We kicked al Qaida & the Taliban’s asses. Took over the country in weeks.
Our mistake was “nation building”, a kindler & gentler way of wasting time, money and American lives.
Afghanistan had free elections and a 300 thousand manned Army with good equipment…who all folded like a cheap suit against 10th Century Islamists.
The only thing we should learn is to go Old Testament on their asses and leave, with the promise of more if they make another peep.
æIf you are a citizen, do you trust the United States government?”
The most important question of our day.
As a terrorist attack, 9/11 was successful beyond imagination.
Educated Afghans are pleasant people who look vaguely Hispanic. Usually dark straight hair, brown eyes and skin that looks tanned. I assume those are the sorts that we dealt with and will be bringing to the US to escape death at the hands of the Taliban.
I would assume most, since they speak English and are educated will assimilate reasonably quickly as opposed to say the 100,000s of peasants coming up from Central and South America every month.
There will never be a camera insight just because it’s a cheating Beijing Biden administration. God forbid if it would’ve been Trump they would’ve crucified, boiled him and nail him to the wall etc. you name it!
USA.
Why are you lookin’ for ways to disregard the obvious? And even without commenting on the gist of the post.
chicoms will move in to secure the rare earth metals.
Oh sir, I knew the answer. Not going to cross sabres with you on the subject. I have always loved it when the Neocons say “We” are gonna kick some a@@.
To be honest, I really can’t remember being shoulder to shoulder with a Neocon in the jungle.
But it is OK as there were plenty of “us” who willingly were their “we”.
“They” abused “us” for so many times that some day “they” will call for us to go kick some terrorist a@@ and “we” will simply say, No Thank You!
I am sure you will have something pithy to retort with. So go ahead and have the “last word” PERIOD!
It’s kind of interesting how you try to argue against me as if I’m a neocon, but I’m NOT a neocon I’m far more of a paleocon. And you still never addressed the gist of my post.
Oh sir, I knew the answer.
***Then why post the question? You were looking for a fight.
Not going to cross sabres with you on the subject.
***Instead you tried to snipe and run away.
I have always loved it when the Neocons
***I aint a neocon, I’m much more of a paleocon and you seem to be arguing against neocons.
say “We” are gonna kick some a@@.
***I usually find it sad even when I agree with it. War suqs even when you’re gonna win handily.
To be honest, I really can’t remember being shoulder to shoulder with a Neocon in the jungle.
***Again you’re arguing against neocons of which I am not one of them, simply a straw argument. My guess is you’ve been side-to-side with plenty of paleocons in the jungle.
But it is OK as there were plenty of “us”
***Now you’re playing stupid word games. You originally asked who ‘we’ was when you KNEW what it was, and now you use “us” in a way that asks “who is ‘us’”?
who willingly were their “we”.
***Again more obfuscation word games. Humpty Dumpty would be proud.
“They” abused “us”
***You never established who ‘they’ is nor ‘us’. It would appear so far that ‘they’=neocons and ‘us’=grunts.
for so many times that some day “they” will call for us
***Notice here you’re no longer using the quotes around ‘us’ which makes your entire point sloppy as hell. Take a writing class.
to go kick some terrorist a@@ and “we” will simply say, No Thank You!
***Good for you. Now take that writing class.
I am sure you will have something pithy to retort with.
***You give me credit, so I thank you.
So go ahead and have the “last word” PERIOD!
***What is with using “quotes” so many times? It muddies the meaning of your writing.
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