Author Topic: Afpakia: Afghanistan-Pakistan  (Read 664634 times)

G M

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Re: A plausible source reports:
« Reply #1800 on: August 23, 2021, 09:31:00 AM »
Americans WILL be left behind.



Obviously this is RumInt:

=================
I just got this from Sam Faddis. (Former CIA)

“Folks, for those of you trying to help get people out of Afghanistan. Here is assessment based on information coming out of policy circles and from sources on the ground. Biden is hard over that we will have the last military personnel out of Kabul airport NLT 31 August. We may be gone before then. Drawdown could begin within next 72 hours.

"This is not conditions based. Biden has already disregarded all sound military advice. We can expect him to continue to do so. Anybody not out by the time the last plane leaves gets cut away.

"On the ground in Kabul all processing of Afghans has effectively stopped. Only AmCits being moved. People are finally realizing on the ground that this administration really will do things that are unthinkable.

"So to translate this into terms we use in teaching how to respond to a terrorist attack. Get off the X.

"Also assessment is that Panjshir Valley will likely be overrun. May hold for a while but not indefinitely. Any Afghan who wants out needs to get across a border.

"So to translate this into terms we use in teaching how to respond to a terrorist attack. Get off the X.

"Also assessment is that Panjshir Valley will likely be overrun. May hold for a while but not indefinitely. Any Afghan who wants out needs to get across a border.

"After we are gone the plan is apparently to take down the internet, expel foreign journalists and begin the Afghan version of the killing fields.”

"Sam is former CIA"

Crafty_Dog

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ya

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Re: Afpakia: Afghanistan-Pakistan
« Reply #1804 on: August 24, 2021, 05:49:28 PM »
News Update: Nice bit of Trolling.
The Taliban appointed Guantanamo detainee Abdul Qayyum Zakir as the acting defense minister of the Islamic Emirate of #Afghanistan.

DougMacG

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Afghanistan, and women's rights worldwide
« Reply #1805 on: August 25, 2021, 05:12:27 AM »
Under Republicans, women won the right to vote for the first time in Afghanistan. Under Democrats, men in Afghanistan won back the right to rape.

Both parties are the same?  Until you look at results.


"During an August 2019 campaign Q&A with the Council on Foreign Relations, Harris promised to “protect the gains that have been made for Afghan women.""
https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2021/08/25/kamala_harris_backed_afghan_exit_despite_intel_warning_taliban_would_abuse_women_again_791529.html

"One Afghan woman who painted her nails had her thumb cut off by the Taliban virtue police, according to a report on human-rights abuses."
« Last Edit: August 25, 2021, 05:22:01 AM by DougMacG »

DougMacG

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Re: Afpakia: Afghanistan-Pakistan
« Reply #1806 on: August 25, 2021, 07:58:56 AM »
The question of the day and the question of our time: How could we get this so wrong?

Two words: Susan Rice.  What's her title, domestic policy advisor? That's who you want designing multilateral, global military operations. Also the entire team that brought us Benghazi. When in doubt, go with experience.

ccp

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Re: Afpakia: Afghanistan-Pakistan
« Reply #1807 on: August 25, 2021, 08:56:30 AM »
"The question of the day and the question of our time: How could we get this so wrong?

Two words: Susan Rice.  What's her title, domestic policy advisor? That's who you want designing multilateral, global military operations. Also the entire team that brought us Benghazi. When in doubt, go with experience."

well susan rice has been there before
I would amend

when it doubt do not go with LOSERS go with people with track record of success
the Obama team has none
other then CRT
But of course Biden brings back all the same american hating racists
that formed obamas team

G M

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Re: Afpakia: Afghanistan-Pakistan
« Reply #1808 on: August 25, 2021, 01:21:21 PM »
Apart from the Talibs now owning a lot of serious weapons with high market value...what about the loss of Intellectual Property ?...am sure the Chinese are paying to get their hands on US weapons.

https://media.gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/082/960/273/original/3106d9a356870c4b.jpg



G M

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Crafty_Dog

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Re: Afpakia: Afghanistan-Pakistan
« Reply #1811 on: August 25, 2021, 07:29:44 PM »
By Sami Sadat

General Sadat is a commander in the Afghan National Army.

For the past three and a half months, I fought day and night, nonstop, in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand Province against an escalating and bloody Taliban offensive. Coming under frequent attack, we held the Taliban back and inflicted heavy casualties. Then I was called to Kabul to command Afghanistan’s special forces. But the Taliban already were entering the city; it was too late.

I am exhausted. I am frustrated. And I am angry.

President Biden said last week that “American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves.”

It’s true that the Afghan Army lost its will to fight. But that’s because of the growing sense of abandonment by our American partners and the disrespect and disloyalty reflected in Mr. Biden’s tone and words over the past few months. The Afghan Army is not without blame. It had its problems — cronyism, bureaucracy — but we ultimately stopped fighting because our partners already had.

It pains me to see Mr. Biden and Western officials are blaming the Afghan Army for collapsing without mentioning the underlying reasons that happened. Political divisions in Kabul and Washington strangled the army and limited our ability to do our jobs. Losing combat logistical support that the United States had provided for years crippled us, as did a lack of clear guidance from U.S. and Afghan leadership.

I am a three-star general in the Afghan Army. For 11 months, as commander of 215 Maiwand Corps, I led 15,000 men in combat operations against the Taliban in southwestern Afghanistan. I’ve lost hundreds of officers and soldiers. That’s why, as exhausted and frustrated as I am, I wanted to offer a practical perspective and defend the honor of the Afghan Army. I’m not here to absolve the Afghan Army of mistakes. But the fact is, many of us fought valiantly and honorably, only to be let down by American and Afghan leadership.

Two weeks ago, while battling to hold the southern city of Lashkar Gah from the Taliban, President Ashraf Ghani named me commander of Afghanistan’s special forces, the country’s most elite fighters. I reluctantly left my troops and arrived in Kabul on Aug. 15, ready to fight — unaware how bad the situation already was. Then Mr. Ghani handed me the added task of ensuring the security of Kabul. But I never even had a chance: The Taliban were closing in, and Mr. Ghani fled the country.

There is an enormous sense of betrayal here. Mr. Ghani’s hasty escape ended efforts to negotiate an interim agreement for a transition period with the Taliban that would have enabled us to hold the city and help manage evacuations. Instead, chaos ensued — resulting in the desperate scenes witnessed at the Kabul airport.

It was in response to those scenes that Mr. Biden said on Aug. 16 that the Afghan forces collapsed, “sometimes without trying to fight.” But we fought, bravely, until the end. We lost 66,000 troops over the past 20 years; that’s one-fifth of our estimated fighting force.

So why did the Afghan military collapse? The answer is threefold.

First, former President Donald Trump’s February 2020 peace deal with the Taliban in Doha doomed us. It put an expiration date on American interest in the region. Second, we lost contractor logistics and maintenance support critical to our combat operations. Third, the corruption endemic in Mr. Ghani’s government that flowed to senior military leadership and long crippled our forces on the ground irreparably hobbled us.

The Trump-Taliban agreement shaped the circumstances for the current situation by essentially curtailing offensive combat operations for U.S. and allied troops. The U.S. air-support rules of engagement for Afghan security forces effectively changed overnight, and the Taliban were emboldened. They could sense victory and knew it was just a matter of waiting out the Americans. Before that deal, the Taliban had not won any significant battles against the Afghan Army. After the agreement? We were losing dozens of soldiers a day.

Still, we kept fighting. But then Mr. Biden confirmed in April he would stick to Mr. Trump’s plan and set the terms for the U.S. drawdown. That was when everything started to go downhill.

The Afghan forces were trained by the Americans using the U.S. military model based on highly technical special reconnaissance units, helicopters and airstrikes. We lost our superiority to the Taliban when our air support dried up and our ammunition ran out.

Contractors maintained our bombers and our attack and transport aircraft throughout the war. By July, most of the 17,000 support contractors had left. A technical issue now meant that aircraft — a Black Hawk helicopter, a C-130 transport, a surveillance drone — would be grounded.

The contractors also took proprietary software and weapons systems with them. They physically removed our helicopter missile-defense system. Access to the software that we relied on to track our vehicles, weapons and personnel also disappeared. Real-time intelligence on targets went out the window, too.

The Taliban fought with snipers and improvised explosive devices while we lost aerial and laser-guided weapon capacity. And since we could not resupply bases without helicopter support, soldiers often lacked the necessary tools to fight. The Taliban overran many bases; in other places, entire units surrendered.


Mr. Biden’s full and accelerated withdrawal only exacerbated the situation. It ignored conditions on the ground. The Taliban had a firm end date from the Americans and feared no military reprisal for anything they did in the interim, sensing the lack of U.S. will.

And so the Taliban kept ramping up. My soldiers and I endured up to seven Taliban car bombings daily throughout July and the first week of August in Helmand Province. Still, we stood our ground.

I cannot ignore the third factor, though, because there was only so much the Americans could do when it came to the well-documented corruption that rotted our government and military. That really is our national tragedy. So many of our leaders — including in the military — were installed for their personal ties, not for their credentials. These appointments had a devastating impact on the national army because leaders lacked the military experience to be effective or inspire the confidence and trust of the men being asked to risk their lives. Disruptions to food rations and fuel supplies — a result of skimming and corrupt contract allocations — destroyed the morale of my troops.

The final days of fighting were surreal. We engaged in intense firefights on the ground against the Taliban as U.S. fighter jets circled overhead, effectively spectators. Our sense of abandonment and betrayal was equaled only by the frustration U.S. pilots felt and relayed to us — being forced to witness the ground war, apparently unable to help us. Overwhelmed by Taliban fire, my soldiers would hear the planes and ask why they were not providing air support. Morale was devastated. Across Afghanistan, soldiers stopped fighting. We held Lashkar Gah in fierce battles, but as the rest of the country fell, we lacked the support to continue fighting and retreated to base. My corps, which had carried on even after I was called away to Kabul, was one of the last to give up its arms — only after the capital fell.

We were betrayed by politics and presidents.

This was not an Afghan war only; it was an international war, with many militaries involved. It would have been impossible for one army alone, ours, to take up the job and fight. This was a military defeat, but it emanated from political failure.


Lt. Gen. Sami Sadat commanded the Afghan National Army’s 215 Maiwand Corps in southwestern Afghanistan. Before that, he served as a senior director in Afghanistan’s national intelligence agency. He is a graduate of the Defense Academy of the U.K. and holds a master's degree from King’s College London.
https://firehydrantoffreedom.com/index.php?action=post;topic=944.1800;last_msg=137553#


G M

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Re: Afpakia: Afghanistan-Pakistan
« Reply #1813 on: August 25, 2021, 09:12:24 PM »
America is a weak enemy and a treacherous friend.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LARx7M9s15w


By Sami Sadat

General Sadat is a commander in the Afghan National Army.

For the past three and a half months, I fought day and night, nonstop, in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand Province against an escalating and bloody Taliban offensive. Coming under frequent attack, we held the Taliban back and inflicted heavy casualties. Then I was called to Kabul to command Afghanistan’s special forces. But the Taliban already were entering the city; it was too late.

I am exhausted. I am frustrated. And I am angry.

President Biden said last week that “American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves.”

It’s true that the Afghan Army lost its will to fight. But that’s because of the growing sense of abandonment by our American partners and the disrespect and disloyalty reflected in Mr. Biden’s tone and words over the past few months. The Afghan Army is not without blame. It had its problems — cronyism, bureaucracy — but we ultimately stopped fighting because our partners already had.

It pains me to see Mr. Biden and Western officials are blaming the Afghan Army for collapsing without mentioning the underlying reasons that happened. Political divisions in Kabul and Washington strangled the army and limited our ability to do our jobs. Losing combat logistical support that the United States had provided for years crippled us, as did a lack of clear guidance from U.S. and Afghan leadership.

I am a three-star general in the Afghan Army. For 11 months, as commander of 215 Maiwand Corps, I led 15,000 men in combat operations against the Taliban in southwestern Afghanistan. I’ve lost hundreds of officers and soldiers. That’s why, as exhausted and frustrated as I am, I wanted to offer a practical perspective and defend the honor of the Afghan Army. I’m not here to absolve the Afghan Army of mistakes. But the fact is, many of us fought valiantly and honorably, only to be let down by American and Afghan leadership.

Two weeks ago, while battling to hold the southern city of Lashkar Gah from the Taliban, President Ashraf Ghani named me commander of Afghanistan’s special forces, the country’s most elite fighters. I reluctantly left my troops and arrived in Kabul on Aug. 15, ready to fight — unaware how bad the situation already was. Then Mr. Ghani handed me the added task of ensuring the security of Kabul. But I never even had a chance: The Taliban were closing in, and Mr. Ghani fled the country.

There is an enormous sense of betrayal here. Mr. Ghani’s hasty escape ended efforts to negotiate an interim agreement for a transition period with the Taliban that would have enabled us to hold the city and help manage evacuations. Instead, chaos ensued — resulting in the desperate scenes witnessed at the Kabul airport.

It was in response to those scenes that Mr. Biden said on Aug. 16 that the Afghan forces collapsed, “sometimes without trying to fight.” But we fought, bravely, until the end. We lost 66,000 troops over the past 20 years; that’s one-fifth of our estimated fighting force.

So why did the Afghan military collapse? The answer is threefold.

First, former President Donald Trump’s February 2020 peace deal with the Taliban in Doha doomed us. It put an expiration date on American interest in the region. Second, we lost contractor logistics and maintenance support critical to our combat operations. Third, the corruption endemic in Mr. Ghani’s government that flowed to senior military leadership and long crippled our forces on the ground irreparably hobbled us.

The Trump-Taliban agreement shaped the circumstances for the current situation by essentially curtailing offensive combat operations for U.S. and allied troops. The U.S. air-support rules of engagement for Afghan security forces effectively changed overnight, and the Taliban were emboldened. They could sense victory and knew it was just a matter of waiting out the Americans. Before that deal, the Taliban had not won any significant battles against the Afghan Army. After the agreement? We were losing dozens of soldiers a day.

Still, we kept fighting. But then Mr. Biden confirmed in April he would stick to Mr. Trump’s plan and set the terms for the U.S. drawdown. That was when everything started to go downhill.

The Afghan forces were trained by the Americans using the U.S. military model based on highly technical special reconnaissance units, helicopters and airstrikes. We lost our superiority to the Taliban when our air support dried up and our ammunition ran out.

Contractors maintained our bombers and our attack and transport aircraft throughout the war. By July, most of the 17,000 support contractors had left. A technical issue now meant that aircraft — a Black Hawk helicopter, a C-130 transport, a surveillance drone — would be grounded.

The contractors also took proprietary software and weapons systems with them. They physically removed our helicopter missile-defense system. Access to the software that we relied on to track our vehicles, weapons and personnel also disappeared. Real-time intelligence on targets went out the window, too.

The Taliban fought with snipers and improvised explosive devices while we lost aerial and laser-guided weapon capacity. And since we could not resupply bases without helicopter support, soldiers often lacked the necessary tools to fight. The Taliban overran many bases; in other places, entire units surrendered.


Mr. Biden’s full and accelerated withdrawal only exacerbated the situation. It ignored conditions on the ground. The Taliban had a firm end date from the Americans and feared no military reprisal for anything they did in the interim, sensing the lack of U.S. will.

And so the Taliban kept ramping up. My soldiers and I endured up to seven Taliban car bombings daily throughout July and the first week of August in Helmand Province. Still, we stood our ground.

I cannot ignore the third factor, though, because there was only so much the Americans could do when it came to the well-documented corruption that rotted our government and military. That really is our national tragedy. So many of our leaders — including in the military — were installed for their personal ties, not for their credentials. These appointments had a devastating impact on the national army because leaders lacked the military experience to be effective or inspire the confidence and trust of the men being asked to risk their lives. Disruptions to food rations and fuel supplies — a result of skimming and corrupt contract allocations — destroyed the morale of my troops.

The final days of fighting were surreal. We engaged in intense firefights on the ground against the Taliban as U.S. fighter jets circled overhead, effectively spectators. Our sense of abandonment and betrayal was equaled only by the frustration U.S. pilots felt and relayed to us — being forced to witness the ground war, apparently unable to help us. Overwhelmed by Taliban fire, my soldiers would hear the planes and ask why they were not providing air support. Morale was devastated. Across Afghanistan, soldiers stopped fighting. We held Lashkar Gah in fierce battles, but as the rest of the country fell, we lacked the support to continue fighting and retreated to base. My corps, which had carried on even after I was called away to Kabul, was one of the last to give up its arms — only after the capital fell.

We were betrayed by politics and presidents.

This was not an Afghan war only; it was an international war, with many militaries involved. It would have been impossible for one army alone, ours, to take up the job and fight. This was a military defeat, but it emanated from political failure.


Lt. Gen. Sami Sadat commanded the Afghan National Army’s 215 Maiwand Corps in southwestern Afghanistan. Before that, he served as a senior director in Afghanistan’s national intelligence agency. He is a graduate of the Defense Academy of the U.K. and holds a master's degree from King’s College London.
https://firehydrantoffreedom.com/index.php?action=post;topic=944.1800;last_msg=137553#

G M

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Re: Afpakia: Afghanistan-Pakistan
« Reply #1814 on: August 25, 2021, 10:15:06 PM »


G M

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Re: A plausible source reports:
« Reply #1816 on: August 26, 2021, 10:40:20 AM »
http://ace.mu.nu/archives/395360.php



Americans WILL be left behind.



Obviously this is RumInt:

=================
I just got this from Sam Faddis. (Former CIA)

“Folks, for those of you trying to help get people out of Afghanistan. Here is assessment based on information coming out of policy circles and from sources on the ground. Biden is hard over that we will have the last military personnel out of Kabul airport NLT 31 August. We may be gone before then. Drawdown could begin within next 72 hours.

"This is not conditions based. Biden has already disregarded all sound military advice. We can expect him to continue to do so. Anybody not out by the time the last plane leaves gets cut away.

"On the ground in Kabul all processing of Afghans has effectively stopped. Only AmCits being moved. People are finally realizing on the ground that this administration really will do things that are unthinkable.

"So to translate this into terms we use in teaching how to respond to a terrorist attack. Get off the X.

"Also assessment is that Panjshir Valley will likely be overrun. May hold for a while but not indefinitely. Any Afghan who wants out needs to get across a border.

"So to translate this into terms we use in teaching how to respond to a terrorist attack. Get off the X.

"Also assessment is that Panjshir Valley will likely be overrun. May hold for a while but not indefinitely. Any Afghan who wants out needs to get across a border.

"After we are gone the plan is apparently to take down the internet, expel foreign journalists and begin the Afghan version of the killing fields.”

"Sam is former CIA"

Crafty_Dog

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GPF: Turkey and Iran compete over Afghanistan
« Reply #1817 on: August 26, 2021, 02:29:47 PM »
August 26, 2021
View On Website
Open as PDF

    
Turkey and Iran Compete Over Afghanistan
Both countries share historical and cultural ties to Afghanistan.
By: Hilal Khashan

Afghanistan is not a country that lends itself to domination by sheer force. Its rugged, mountainous terrain makes it impossible for a foreign military, no matter how powerful, to conquer and occupy the country. Indeed, after 20 years of war, even the United States was unable to effect much lasting change there. However, smaller states that share historical, cultural and religious values with the Afghans are better positioned to achieve their objectives in the country than culturally distinct nations, regardless of how many resources they expend. Thus, in the United States’ absence, Iran and Turkey will compete for influence over Afghanistan, with which both countries share historical and cultural ties. Afghanistan’s fluid political and security situation following the U.S. pullout will present challenges for Iran and opportunities for Turkey. But stability or even a semblance of peace will remain elusive.

Tehran’s Objectives

Relations between Iran and Afghanistan have ebbed and flowed since 1722, when the Afghans invaded Persia and occupied Isfahan, the capital of the Safavid Empire. Even after the Afghans’ defeat in 1730, water issues marred relations between the two countries, until they finally signed the Treaty of Friendship in 1921. Today, Iran and its new hardline president, Ebrahim Raisi, seem determined to expand Tehran’s regional influence into Afghanistan as well as Central Asia, the Caucasus, the eastern Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf.

Tehran is angling to become Afghanistan’s main economic benefactor, hoping to form a relationship with the Taliban similar to Turkey’s relationship with Northern Cyprus. But incompatible religious ideology and Iran’s cooperation in America's 2001 invasion are significant obstacles.

Iran allowed the Taliban to open offices in several Iranian cities and provided living quarters for the families of many Taliban leaders. Afghans, however, view Iran’s behavior with suspicion. A few years ago, Iran tried to pit the Shiite Hazaras against the Taliban to justify the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ intervention in Afghanistan. IRGC forces masqueraded as members of an Afghan Shiite militia called the Fatemiyoun Division to try to coerce the militants to establish a Shiite state in Afghanistan – which ultimately failed.

Ethnic Groups in Afghanistan
(click to enlarge)

The Iranians are deeply concerned about the Taliban’s resurgence, despite publicly claiming to be happy about the U.S. departure. Iran wants to see a fragile Afghanistan controlled by the Taliban to obstruct Turkish intervention plans and secure more water supplies from the Helmand River for its water-scarce border areas. A stable Afghanistan would enable the country to protect its own supplies from Iranian interference. Iran does not believe the Taliban will maintain a firm hold over the country and is devising a plan to create a militia loyal to Tehran similar to the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq.

Iran has avoided publicly criticizing the Taliban, hoping to play a peacekeeper role in Afghanistan. Tehran has even encouraged local media to praise the group for driving U.S. forces out of the country. It presents itself as a partner of Afghanistan, providing much-needed energy supplies to help ease its economic collapse. There’s at least one opponent of Tehran’s official stance on the Taliban, however. Last month, former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the Iranian people did not support Tehran’s Afghanistan policy, believing that their country’s meager resources should instead be used for economic development.

Ankara’s Hopes

Unlike Iran, which shares a 900-kilometer (560-mile) border with Afghanistan, Turkey is geographically distant from the war-torn country. Still, it sees an opportunity to influence the outcome there. Despite the Taliban’s warning against Turkey keeping its 500-strong military contingent in Kabul beyond the end of August, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan thinks he can strike a deal with the group through Qatar, which has close ties with the Taliban. And indeed, the Taliban have promised to maintain cordial relations with their near and distant neighbors – except for India because of its human rights record relating to its Muslim minority. On India, Turkey and the Taliban share a common approach. The Taliban support the Islamist insurgency in Indian-controlled Kashmir, and Turkey has strong relations with the Popular Front of India, a militant Islamist movement, and the insurrectionist Jamaat-e-Islami in Kashmir.

Turkey’s involvement in Afghanistan is also part of Ankara’s strategy to repair its strained relations with Washington. It participated in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan since its establishment in 2001. It could also help mediate between the Taliban and Washington as the crisis unfolds. Last week, the Biden administration froze the Afghan central bank’s reserves in the U.S. totaling $10 billion. It also convinced the International Monetary Fund to suspend Kabul’s access to $440 million in funds until the country could meet certain conditions. Given the Taliban’s urgent need for cash, they will likely be open to dialogue with a mediator like Ankara.

For the U.S. and its Western allies, one of their key objectives is containing Russian and Chinese influence in Afghanistan. Washington is keen on slowing down China’s economic progress and preventing Russia from restoring its lost influence in Central Asia. The U.S. considers Russo-Chinese activity in South and Central Asia the most significant threat to its national security. As the rivalry between these major powers accelerates, Afghanistan’s importance as a critical juncture linking China, Russia, India, Pakistan and Iran will increase.

In 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Islamabad and launched the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, part of Beijing’s massive Belt and Road Initiative, which drew mixed reactions in Pakistan. Given Pakistanis’ skepticism about BRI, Turkey can use its friendship with Pakistan to temper its relations with the United States. The U.S. sees an opportunity in the CPEC controversy to derail Chinese influence in the region and bring Pakistan back into the U.S. fold, using Turkey as an intermediary.

For Moscow, the primary concern in Afghanistan is the potential for the instability there to spill over into Russia – namely Chechnya, Dagestan and Tatarstan – and its neighbors in Central Asia, specifically Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The prospect of establishing Islamic emirates in these countries and regions, similar to the Taliban’s self-proclaimed Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is not far-fetched. Iran has similar fears in its restive Sunni-populated Baluchistan region.

Turkey wants to increase pressure on countries competing for influence in the Middle East and Central Asia – Russia, China, Iran and Saudi Arabia – by influencing the Taliban’s foreign policy, hoping that this will give Ankara an edge. Maintaining a degree of soft power in Afghanistan would increase its prestige in NATO and open a new chapter in relations with the United States. Erdogan has tried to make the case that his country is well positioned to mediate with the Taliban, recently saying that Turkey is “the only reliable country left” that could help stabilize Afghanistan.

Turkey’s involvement in the conflicts of the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia has alarmed many Turks, who argue that the country’s resources are being spread too thin. In addition to deploying troops in Libya, Syria and Iraq, Turkey established military bases in Qatar and Somalia and played a game-changing role in last year’s conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The opposition Republican People’s Party has criticized Erdogan’s Afghanistan policy and called for an immediate withdrawal of Turkish troops from the country. Erdogan’s opponents believe he wants to drag Turkey into the Afghan quagmire and replace the United States as the major power in the country. Erdogan seems undeterred, however.

It’s likely that anarchy and civil war will return to Afghanistan. For most Afghans, the idea of the state is nebulous. The fragmentation of the population into tribal ethnicities and sectarian identities makes it difficult to create a unified collective consciousness. What seems to matter most right now is foreign rivalry while the Taliban attempt to construct a pristine Islamic emirate.



G M

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« Last Edit: August 26, 2021, 07:51:03 PM by Crafty_Dog »

ya

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Re: Don't let them forget this: General Milley on Bagram
« Reply #1820 on: August 27, 2021, 03:58:42 AM »
https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1431026724465258500

But Sir, just watch Gen.Milley's medals. He must be a brave man, medals up his sleeve and entire chest. Much better than these guys

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DougMacG

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When 'Build Back Better' became 'Leave Lots'a Loot'
« Reply #1822 on: August 27, 2021, 07:15:54 AM »
https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2021/08/27/resign-n2594830
From the link:


Also THIS from the Kurt Schlichter link:

You know what the Sergeant Major of the Army tweeted today, just before about a dozen of our troops were blown apart in exactly the way anyone not rocking in his chair, gulping mush, and staring at his stories on the tee-vee saw coming?

“Diversity is a number - do you have people that don’t look or think like you in the room? Inclusion is listening and valuing those people. #WomensEqualityDay reminds us we’re smarter and more lethal when we come together as an inclusive, cohesive team. Our values demand it.”

https://twitter.com/16thSMA/status/1430875976142106624

[Doug] Inclusiveness was on his mind while enemy set up to attack?  Our values demand that our military win our wars, or we have no values.
« Last Edit: August 27, 2021, 08:06:54 AM by DougMacG »

DougMacG

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Re: Don't let them forget this: General Milley on Bagram
« Reply #1823 on: August 27, 2021, 07:40:25 AM »
But Sir, just watch Gen.Milley's medals. He must be a brave man, medals up his sleeve and entire chest. Much better than these guys

I don't have 10 minutes of military strategy training but would like to know how come we knew and they didn't that stupidity and incompetence would lead to failure, disaster and carnage?

We've gone from can't design a fight to win strategy to can't execute a surrender successfully.

Maybe we should cut these leaders a break.  When they were coming up through the ranks, the pre-woke American military probably didn't teach advanced techniques of surrender.

We haven't had this level of casualties in Afghanistan since, um, since Obama was President.

Trapped, bombed, and killed in mass murder fashion, but thankfully "not stranded".

All the same be said about their handling of the economy.  The failure is in Washington, not Kabul.

DougMacG

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Talibanomics
« Reply #1824 on: August 27, 2021, 08:33:51 AM »
The greed and corruption of previous Afghan governments set up the rise of the Taliban.

https://www.aier.org/article/economics-explains-the-talibans-rapid-advances/

From the article:
"Previously, different tribal organizations would take sections of this highway, stop all transit, and tax the commercial merchants. With so many taxing organizations taking money from truckers every few miles, it became too expensive for anybody to run their goods along this road. Commerce ground to a halt. Taxes couldn’t be collected. The country’s infrastructure crumbled.

The Taliban, however, could station their militants at key locations on the highway and tax merchants only once while protecting truckers from other bandits along the route. Since devout members of the Taliban proved their loyalty via adherence to strict religious codes, they were unlikely to plunder the trucking caravans in an opportunistic fashion.

Commerce returned, the Taliban collected revenue with a tolerable level of guaranteed taxation, and they used these funds for other infrastructure projects in the country. Not surprisingly, this made the Taliban reasonably popular relative to the chaotic anarchy that had previously reigned. People may not have liked their intense religious views, but at least the roads were operable and the electricity came back.

Additionally, the Taliban proved themselves to be reasonably fair arbitrators of a civil justice system and religious leaders (imams) often heard cases between individual disputants arguing over various contract violations (see Berman book linked above). Ruling on contract disputes (e.g., who owns some goat pasture land) may sound mundane, but such a system is vital for economic activity to occur. If people trust that contracts and property rights can be fairly enforced, they are more likely to make longer-term investments that promote economic growth. Indeed, the Taliban leadership are so trusted among the population to resolve such disputes that they continued to function as a shadow civil judiciary over the past twenty years."


-------------------------------------

Here is your previous Afghan "leader":
"Mr Ghani fled Afghanistan with four cars and a helicopter all stuffed full of cash."
https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/afghanistan-president-ashraf-ghani-flees-101300495.html
« Last Edit: August 27, 2021, 08:37:50 AM by DougMacG »

ccp

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of course ; no accountability
« Reply #1825 on: August 27, 2021, 04:15:06 PM »
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/08/27/white-house-biden-not-firing-any-generals-has-full-confidence-in-blinken/

as long as they all talk the woke talk
no one is accountable

buck stops with biden who isn't going anywhere except to California to stump for newsom

and blame trump with the media lackeys following the journolister DNC script:

don't worry  a. yr from now we will be thanking the great courageous pres

DougMacG

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Re: of course ; no accountability
« Reply #1826 on: August 27, 2021, 05:15:31 PM »
It looks like he doesn't know something went wrong, but he really is waiting, hoping for the next shiny object to take this off the front page.  Failure was the plan.  Hard to be shocked when it happens.  After the slaughters, he won't be [make that shouldn't be] quite as boastful at his September 11 20 year commemoration.  "I ended the war by surrendering after none of my predecessors had the courage to surrender."

Speaking of shiny objects, Calif recall finish date is Sept 14.  If Newsom loses, Biden looks very bad whether he goes there and takes the mask off or not.  Democrats will be in panic mode if they lose that. 

Maybe we can help them figure out what went wrong.

ya

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Re: Afpakia: Afghanistan-Pakistan
« Reply #1827 on: August 28, 2021, 04:48:29 AM »

ya

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Re: Afpakia: Afghanistan-Pakistan
« Reply #1828 on: August 28, 2021, 06:03:08 AM »
I find this painting quite apt, note the colors of the moon.


Crafty_Dog

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Re: Afpakia: Afghanistan-Pakistan
« Reply #1829 on: August 28, 2021, 08:23:20 AM »
Not in accord with his description of Trump's manuevers, but overall pretty good

https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/08/still-spinning-the-mission-after-all-these-years/


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ya

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Re: Afpakia: Afghanistan-Pakistan
« Reply #1832 on: August 29, 2021, 08:04:34 AM »
From the GAO


DougMacG

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Afghanistan- American equipment left behind. Outrageous.
« Reply #1833 on: August 29, 2021, 11:56:14 AM »
From the GAO



Beyond words.  How do you lose this amount of equipment.  I thought the surrender was OUR idea, not like we were backed into a corner.  No one should pay one more cent of tax payment to this government until there is explanation and consequence for what happened.

What about THIS:

Taliban is using US equipment and data to hunt down its enemy Afghans.

powerlineblog.com/archives/2021/08/under-the-horizon.php
https://www.zenger.news/2021/08/28/taliban-team-is-using-us-made-biometric-database-and-scanners-to-hunt-american-and-afghan-enemies/

The Taliban has mobilized a special unit, called Al Isha, to hunt down Afghans who helped U.S. and allied forces — and it’s using U.S. equipment and data to do it.

Nawazuddin Haqqani, one of the brigade commanders over the Al Isha unit, bragged in an interview with Zenger News, that his unit is using U.S.-made hand-held scanners to tap into a massive U.S.-built biometric database and positively identify any person who helped the NATO allies or worked with Indian intelligence. Afghans who try to deny or minimize their role will find themselves contradicted by the detailed computer records that the U.S. left behind in its frenzied withdrawal.

The existence of the Al Isha unit has not been previously confirmed by the Taliban; until now the Haqqani Network, a terror group aligned with the Taliban, has not admitted its role in targeting Afghans or its use of America’s vast biometric database. The Haqqani Network is “the most lethal and sophisticated insurgent group targeting U.S., Coalition, and Afghan forces,” according to the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center.

The power and reach of the U.S. biometric database are breathtaking. Virtually everyone who worked with the Afghan government or the U.S. military, including interpreters, drivers, nurses, and secretaries, was fingerprinted and scanned for the biometric database over the past 12 years.

U.S. officials have not confirmed how many of the 7,000 hand-held scanners were left behind or whether the biometric database could be remotely deleted.
« Last Edit: August 29, 2021, 01:54:54 PM by DougMacG »

Crafty_Dog

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Outmanned by the French
« Reply #1835 on: August 30, 2021, 10:01:42 AM »
By: Geopolitical Futures

Macron said Paris and London would bring forward a U.N. resolution to create a “safe zone” at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan. On Friday, France’s EU commissioner said the crisis in Afghanistan highlights the need for a European military force.


ya

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Re: Afpakia: Afghanistan-Pakistan
« Reply #1836 on: August 31, 2021, 04:16:23 AM »
This will bring down the govt. Americans take pride in leaving no man behind. Remember the 52 US hostages in Iran, brought down Carter I believe.

Crafty_Dog

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ya

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Re: Afpakia: Afghanistan-Pakistan
« Reply #1838 on: August 31, 2021, 04:30:49 AM »
https://twitter.com/i/status/1432639981374386181

Biden admin is done for..here he says he will get everyone out.

ya

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Re: Afpakia: Afghanistan-Pakistan
« Reply #1839 on: August 31, 2021, 04:39:41 AM »


G M

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Re: A plausible source reports: Americans left behind
« Reply #1841 on: September 01, 2021, 10:14:18 AM »
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/we-are-fking-abandoning-american-citizens-says-livid-army-colonel-leaked-afghanistan

http://ace.mu.nu/archives/395360.php



Americans WILL be left behind.



Obviously this is RumInt:

=================
I just got this from Sam Faddis. (Former CIA)

“Folks, for those of you trying to help get people out of Afghanistan. Here is assessment based on information coming out of policy circles and from sources on the ground. Biden is hard over that we will have the last military personnel out of Kabul airport NLT 31 August. We may be gone before then. Drawdown could begin within next 72 hours.

"This is not conditions based. Biden has already disregarded all sound military advice. We can expect him to continue to do so. Anybody not out by the time the last plane leaves gets cut away.

"On the ground in Kabul all processing of Afghans has effectively stopped. Only AmCits being moved. People are finally realizing on the ground that this administration really will do things that are unthinkable.

"So to translate this into terms we use in teaching how to respond to a terrorist attack. Get off the X.

"Also assessment is that Panjshir Valley will likely be overrun. May hold for a while but not indefinitely. Any Afghan who wants out needs to get across a border.

"So to translate this into terms we use in teaching how to respond to a terrorist attack. Get off the X.

"Also assessment is that Panjshir Valley will likely be overrun. May hold for a while but not indefinitely. Any Afghan who wants out needs to get across a border.

"After we are gone the plan is apparently to take down the internet, expel foreign journalists and begin the Afghan version of the killing fields.”

"Sam is former CIA"

G M

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Re: Afpakia: Afghanistan-Pakistan
« Reply #1842 on: September 01, 2021, 01:44:35 PM »
The Free Sh*t Army (Dem base voters) give zero fcuks about this. It's all good as long as they get their stimmies from Uncle Sugar!



This will bring down the govt. Americans take pride in leaving no man behind. Remember the 52 US hostages in Iran, brought down Carter I believe.


G M

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Re: Afghanistan- American equipment left behind. Outrageous.
« Reply #1843 on: September 01, 2021, 03:37:07 PM »
http://ace.mu.nu/archives/395443.php

So, will talking about all the weapons and equipment left in A-stan get us on no-fly lists?


From the GAO



Beyond words.  How do you lose this amount of equipment.  I thought the surrender was OUR idea, not like we were backed into a corner.  No one should pay one more cent of tax payment to this government until there is explanation and consequence for what happened.

What about THIS:

Taliban is using US equipment and data to hunt down its enemy Afghans.

powerlineblog.com/archives/2021/08/under-the-horizon.php
https://www.zenger.news/2021/08/28/taliban-team-is-using-us-made-biometric-database-and-scanners-to-hunt-american-and-afghan-enemies/

The Taliban has mobilized a special unit, called Al Isha, to hunt down Afghans who helped U.S. and allied forces — and it’s using U.S. equipment and data to do it.

Nawazuddin Haqqani, one of the brigade commanders over the Al Isha unit, bragged in an interview with Zenger News, that his unit is using U.S.-made hand-held scanners to tap into a massive U.S.-built biometric database and positively identify any person who helped the NATO allies or worked with Indian intelligence. Afghans who try to deny or minimize their role will find themselves contradicted by the detailed computer records that the U.S. left behind in its frenzied withdrawal.

The existence of the Al Isha unit has not been previously confirmed by the Taliban; until now the Haqqani Network, a terror group aligned with the Taliban, has not admitted its role in targeting Afghans or its use of America’s vast biometric database. The Haqqani Network is “the most lethal and sophisticated insurgent group targeting U.S., Coalition, and Afghan forces,” according to the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center.

The power and reach of the U.S. biometric database are breathtaking. Virtually everyone who worked with the Afghan government or the U.S. military, including interpreters, drivers, nurses, and secretaries, was fingerprinted and scanned for the biometric database over the past 12 years.

U.S. officials have not confirmed how many of the 7,000 hand-held scanners were left behind or whether the biometric database could be remotely deleted.

ya

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Re: Afpakia: Afghanistan-Pakistan
« Reply #1844 on: September 01, 2021, 07:55:01 PM »
Good job...Biden.


ya

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Crafty_Dog

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1997 with the Taliban
« Reply #1846 on: September 02, 2021, 01:14:54 AM »

ya

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Re: Afpakia: Afghanistan-Pakistan
« Reply #1847 on: September 02, 2021, 05:10:38 AM »
Enjoy the Taliban parade. ..with Suicide bombers, American weapons.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1433375517588303873

G M

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Re: Afghanistan- American equipment left behind. Outrageous.
« Reply #1848 on: September 02, 2021, 06:05:50 PM »
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vo7rgEHOouc/YTDGioOxIQI/AAAAAAACDfc/58pffN9TlW4QRQo2DV9rP4Ukb41PGh1GgCLcBGAsYHQ/w663-h526/joe-tzu-biden-meme-brick-suit-.jpg



http://ace.mu.nu/archives/395443.php

So, will talking about all the weapons and equipment left in A-stan get us on no-fly lists?


From the GAO



Beyond words.  How do you lose this amount of equipment.  I thought the surrender was OUR idea, not like we were backed into a corner.  No one should pay one more cent of tax payment to this government until there is explanation and consequence for what happened.

What about THIS:

Taliban is using US equipment and data to hunt down its enemy Afghans.

powerlineblog.com/archives/2021/08/under-the-horizon.php
https://www.zenger.news/2021/08/28/taliban-team-is-using-us-made-biometric-database-and-scanners-to-hunt-american-and-afghan-enemies/

The Taliban has mobilized a special unit, called Al Isha, to hunt down Afghans who helped U.S. and allied forces — and it’s using U.S. equipment and data to do it.

Nawazuddin Haqqani, one of the brigade commanders over the Al Isha unit, bragged in an interview with Zenger News, that his unit is using U.S.-made hand-held scanners to tap into a massive U.S.-built biometric database and positively identify any person who helped the NATO allies or worked with Indian intelligence. Afghans who try to deny or minimize their role will find themselves contradicted by the detailed computer records that the U.S. left behind in its frenzied withdrawal.

The existence of the Al Isha unit has not been previously confirmed by the Taliban; until now the Haqqani Network, a terror group aligned with the Taliban, has not admitted its role in targeting Afghans or its use of America’s vast biometric database. The Haqqani Network is “the most lethal and sophisticated insurgent group targeting U.S., Coalition, and Afghan forces,” according to the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center.

The power and reach of the U.S. biometric database are breathtaking. Virtually everyone who worked with the Afghan government or the U.S. military, including interpreters, drivers, nurses, and secretaries, was fingerprinted and scanned for the biometric database over the past 12 years.

U.S. officials have not confirmed how many of the 7,000 hand-held scanners were left behind or whether the biometric database could be remotely deleted.