Afghanistan 2021 Onwards
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Why break the habit of centuries? We (both UK Govt and East India Company) were poking into ‘Stan since 1800 … initially to keep Napoleon and Imperial Russia away from India. I guess it’s routine by now.
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Trenchant review of The Afghanistan Papers (Craig Whitlock) by Max Hastings in today's Sunday Times : "As for the generals, I have come to believe that the 'can-do' ethos, which the British Army promotes as enthusiastically as its US counterpart, has been a disaster thus far in the 21st century because it instutionalises falsehood.."
Worth reading.
Worth reading.
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That’s half the problem, Governments continually chopping the military, but believing we still have the capability of the WW1 military and the military seniority not telling them how it is.
Bangladesh has a bigger military than us.
Bangladesh has a bigger military than us.
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Well the defence budget is a farce, the upgrade to the warrior giving it a true update in capability was cancelled after a 450 mil spend to buy the new Ajax which has doubled in weight and is inoperable due to noise and crew comfort.
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/warr...ng-in-service/
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/ajax...-halted-again/
We seem to have one of the biggest budgets for the smallest military which wastes money like this hand over foot. 450 million might be small fry in the overall scheme, but they call add up, and then when you do put forward purchases such as the fleet aux’s ships you put them overseas thus crippling the future of the U.K. infrastructure. Heck the Ajax for all the whitewashed in the Union Jack isn’t British.
I just wonder how much US equipment is now in Russia, China and Iran being examined.
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/warr...ng-in-service/
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/ajax...-halted-again/
We seem to have one of the biggest budgets for the smallest military which wastes money like this hand over foot. 450 million might be small fry in the overall scheme, but they call add up, and then when you do put forward purchases such as the fleet aux’s ships you put them overseas thus crippling the future of the U.K. infrastructure. Heck the Ajax for all the whitewashed in the Union Jack isn’t British.
I just wonder how much US equipment is now in Russia, China and Iran being examined.
Last edited by NutLoose; 5th Sep 2021 at 23:00.
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Well the defence budget is a farce, the upgrade to the warrior giving it a true update in capability was cancelled after a 450 mil spend to buy the new Ajax which has doubled in weight and is inoperable due to noise and crew comfort.
We seem to have one of the biggest budgets for the smallest military which wastes money like this hand over foot. 450 million might be small fry in the overall scheme, but they call add up, and then when you do put forward purchases such as the fleet aux’s ships you put them overseas thus crippling the future of the U.K. infrastructure. Heck the Ajax for all the whitewashed in the Union Jack isn’t British.
We seem to have one of the biggest budgets for the smallest military which wastes money like this hand over foot. 450 million might be small fry in the overall scheme, but they call add up, and then when you do put forward purchases such as the fleet aux’s ships you put them overseas thus crippling the future of the U.K. infrastructure. Heck the Ajax for all the whitewashed in the Union Jack isn’t British.
It is not anywhere in the USA. No license plates on the ear of the semi-trailers, no DOT details on the side of the truck cabs, and the trucks are Iranian manufactured Chapars.
https://irannewsdaily.com/2020/01/ir...cturing-plant/
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Thread Starter
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/sta...ts-afghanistan
State Dept blocking private rescue flights from leaving Afghanistan
State Dept blocking private rescue flights from leaving Afghanistan
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/sta...ts-afghanistan
State Dept blocking private rescue flights from leaving Afghanistan
State Dept blocking private rescue flights from leaving Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan — At least four planes chartered to evacuate several hundred people seeking to escape the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan have been unable to leave the country for days, officials said Sunday, with conflicting accounts emerging about why the flights weren’t able to take off as pressure ramps up on the United States to help those left behind to flee.
An Afghan official at the airport in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif said that the would-be passengers were Afghans, many of whom did not have passports or visas, and thus were unable to leave the country. He said they had left the airport while the situation was sorted out.
An Afghan official at the airport in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif said that the would-be passengers were Afghans, many of whom did not have passports or visas, and thus were unable to leave the country. He said they had left the airport while the situation was sorted out.
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Thread Starter
Those who have organised the flights, and are on the ground in Kabul, seem to disagree. From today’s Grauniad.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...nistan-blocked
Biden under pressure as NGO says flights from Afghanistan blocked
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...nistan-blocked
Biden under pressure as NGO says flights from Afghanistan blocked
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Thread Starter
ANKARA, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Turkey is working with Qatar and the United States about operating Kabul airport and is in talks with the Taliban, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday, adding security at the airport was the main issue.
Cavusoglu told broadcaster NTV that 19 Turkish technicians were in Kabul, holding talks with Qataris about the airport.
Turkey has told the Taliban that it would not take part in the airport mission unless its units are involved in security.
Cavusoglu said the Taliban could ensure security outside the airport, but they would need a more reliable mechanism inside.
A private security company could be used for the mission if the Taliban insisted on having no foreign powers in Afghanistan, Cavusoglu said.
Cavusoglu told broadcaster NTV that 19 Turkish technicians were in Kabul, holding talks with Qataris about the airport.
Turkey has told the Taliban that it would not take part in the airport mission unless its units are involved in security.
Cavusoglu said the Taliban could ensure security outside the airport, but they would need a more reliable mechanism inside.
A private security company could be used for the mission if the Taliban insisted on having no foreign powers in Afghanistan, Cavusoglu said.
I'm not sure how the US is responsible for this:
However:
And just what is the State Department supposed to say to the Taliban in that phone call? Looks like a hostage situation to me.
“It’s been seven days and nothing’s moving,” LeGree told AFP, adding that six chartered planes were waiting at the airport to evacuate what some officials are calling “the NGO group”. “The Taliban are simply not letting anything move.”
A state department spokesperson said on Monday that while the US is committed to helping Americans and at-risk Afghans leave, its resources in Afghanistan are seriously limited.“We do not have personnel on the ground, we do not have air assets in the country, we do not control the airspace – whether over Afghanistan or elsewhere in the region,” the spokesperson told AFP.
“Given these constraints, we also do not have a reliable means to confirm the basic details of charter flights, including who may be organising them, the number of US citizens and other priority groups onboard, the accuracy of the rest of the manifest, and where they plan to land.
“We will hold the Taliban to its pledge to let people freely depart Afghanistan.”
“Given these constraints, we also do not have a reliable means to confirm the basic details of charter flights, including who may be organising them, the number of US citizens and other priority groups onboard, the accuracy of the rest of the manifest, and where they plan to land.
“We will hold the Taliban to its pledge to let people freely depart Afghanistan.”
Eric Montalvo, a former US Marine Corps officer and a lawyer working with groups that chartered two of the six planes, said: “The Taliban is not holding these planes hostage. The problem is the US government. All the state department has to do is make a phone call and these people will be able to leave immediately.”
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https://www.theguardian.com/global-d...un-out-says-un
Afghanistan services collapsing and aid about to run out, says UN
Unicef says hundreds of children have been separated from their families in chaos of Kabul evacuationEcce Homo! Loquitur...
Thread Starter
Not sure about Kabul, but certainly true elsewhere. The Taliban are very factionalised and the writ of the Doha group doesn’t run far outside the capital.
https://www.registercitizen.com/news...n-16439533.php
The Latest: Taliban block hundreds from leaving Afghanistan
https://www.registercitizen.com/news...n-16439533.php
The Latest: Taliban block hundreds from leaving Afghanistan
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Senator Lindsey Graham believes the US will need to go back into Afghanistan, (click on the free link)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...k-afghanistan/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...k-afghanistan/