Afghanistan 2021 Onwards
Looks like the ripple effects are being felt in Turkey.
Turkey building a 295 km long wall along Iran border to stop refugee influx from Afghanistan:
For EasyStreet
Meanwhile if (as the commentary goes) allies and partners around the world are genuinely concerned that US security assurances have been undermined by Biden's approach, then we'll see urgent strategic reviews and increases in defence spending all over the West to compensate. Spoiler: ain't gonna happen.
In 1843 shortly after his return from the battlefields of the First Anglo-Afghan War, the Army chaplain in Jalalabad, Rev. G.H. Gleig, wrote a memoir about the disastrous expedition of which he was one of the few survivors. It was, he wrote,
Still seems to have resonance.
a war begun for no wise purpose, carried on with a strange mixture of rashness and timidity, brought to a close after suffering and disaster, without much glory attached either to the government which directed, or the great body of troops which waged it. Not one benefit, political or military, has been acquired with this war. Our eventual evacuation of the country resembled the retreat of an army defeated
Both impeachment and removal under Article 25 of the Constitution are being talked about now.
Look back at history
The reason LBJ et al did not leave Viet Nam was for fear of the political consequences and thousands died because of the delay. Biden took the courageous but unpopular choice of putting an end to the needless and fruitless loss of American and allied lives. How many more years would you wait? And what would the outcome of a future departure be? Not much different. And for what purpose?
Theres no bodies nor blood on this, just simply the ones sitting on the C17 MLG nacelle on take off. They are waving enthusiastically to others,
Oh the ignorance. A few can be seen coming to their senses and hopping off.
There is another video circling with these same guys on the other end of the runway after take off. I will not link it.
Oh the ignorance. A few can be seen coming to their senses and hopping off.
There is another video circling with these same guys on the other end of the runway after take off. I will not link it.
From the same source as above - return of the Taliban leaders from Qatar yesterday in a C-17. Presumably under some safe-passage deal with the U.S.?
Hopefully enables this to conclude without further loss of life...
Hopefully enables this to conclude without further loss of life...
What ever happened to “Plan for the worst, hope for the best”.
There should have been a “Rapid Taliban Victory” case scenario evacuation plan with assets in place.
Perhaps they should have evacuated some folks even before the departure of the troops.
Of course I am using 20/20 hindsight but I thought “This won’t go well.” when they first announced the departure. I thought the Afgan troops would be quickly overwhelmed.
I sincerely hope they don’t lose a heavily laden aircraft in this operation.
There should have been a “Rapid Taliban Victory” case scenario evacuation plan with assets in place.
Perhaps they should have evacuated some folks even before the departure of the troops.
Of course I am using 20/20 hindsight but I thought “This won’t go well.” when they first announced the departure. I thought the Afgan troops would be quickly overwhelmed.
I sincerely hope they don’t lose a heavily laden aircraft in this operation.
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Thread Starter
As a previous post makes clear it was a Qatari C-17, not US.
Nothing outrageous about their presence i4 the flight. The Taliban have had an office in Qatar since 2013 where talks between them, the Afghan leadership and all other interested parties including the USA took place on neutral territory.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taliba..._Doha_Dialogue
Nothing outrageous about their presence i4 the flight. The Taliban have had an office in Qatar since 2013 where talks between them, the Afghan leadership and all other interested parties including the USA took place on neutral territory.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taliba..._Doha_Dialogue
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Thread Starter
Leader of the Opposition, Keir Starmer, has stated in the HoC that an RAF evacuation flight has left Afghanistan mostly empty and asked that this “allegation” be investigated.
Not sure he realised that like, trains, such aircraft can’t just sit waiting in the ground until the ground staff fill it up.
Ignoring the doubtless limited pan space being booked for use by incoming US, German, Spanish etc aircraft, the crew of the aircraft in question will be watching the clock on their own crew duty day time - and the arrival airfield will have a slot time for their arrival with another relief crew waiting, probably to bring it back again for yet another cycle., along wit( whatever supplies those on the ground need to continue operations.
If the hard stretched troops on the ground haven’t either had enough people reach the airport to put in board, or time to clear those who have recently arrived - then it departs with those few who have.
Not sure he realised that like, trains, such aircraft can’t just sit waiting in the ground until the ground staff fill it up.
Ignoring the doubtless limited pan space being booked for use by incoming US, German, Spanish etc aircraft, the crew of the aircraft in question will be watching the clock on their own crew duty day time - and the arrival airfield will have a slot time for their arrival with another relief crew waiting, probably to bring it back again for yet another cycle., along wit( whatever supplies those on the ground need to continue operations.
If the hard stretched troops on the ground haven’t either had enough people reach the airport to put in board, or time to clear those who have recently arrived - then it departs with those few who have.
My apologies - C-17+deal with Taliban to leave the airport clear until September 10th = the wrong Air Force.
There still appears to have been a deal done if foreign troops can stay until September 10th.
and a strange coincidence that the C-17 seen taxying followed by huge numbers of people had the reg/code 1109 on the nose.
There still appears to have been a deal done if foreign troops can stay until September 10th.
and a strange coincidence that the C-17 seen taxying followed by huge numbers of people had the reg/code 1109 on the nose.
Listening to the debate in Parliament I wondered which planet some folk [May, Starmer et al] were from.
The naked truth is surely that if the US leaves, we must leave. These clever politicians have run down our armed forces to the extent that I doubt we could find enough to do the job without resorting to extremes of violence that our public could not tolerate. If the Russians could not, and the USA could not/ would not, and 300,000 Afghans did not, there is no realistic chance of Team GB hacking it............ two shiny aircraft carriers and a few Lightnings are an irrelevance. I think the British public would oppose any further intervention..
Then there is "why"? I haven't a clue as to why, except to double down on failure, like a desperate gambler.
Where BoJo's critics would do well to concentrate might be the planning and execution of withdrawal, but even there we are very dependent on Uncle Sam, and indeed seem to be making a better fist of it.
Sh1t happens, and this is a big SH1T, but it was an inevitable scenario, the only questions being when and how..
But then I am only a civilian, and a long-retired one: handed in all my stuff at Waddington in 1997..
The naked truth is surely that if the US leaves, we must leave. These clever politicians have run down our armed forces to the extent that I doubt we could find enough to do the job without resorting to extremes of violence that our public could not tolerate. If the Russians could not, and the USA could not/ would not, and 300,000 Afghans did not, there is no realistic chance of Team GB hacking it............ two shiny aircraft carriers and a few Lightnings are an irrelevance. I think the British public would oppose any further intervention..
Then there is "why"? I haven't a clue as to why, except to double down on failure, like a desperate gambler.
Where BoJo's critics would do well to concentrate might be the planning and execution of withdrawal, but even there we are very dependent on Uncle Sam, and indeed seem to be making a better fist of it.
Sh1t happens, and this is a big SH1T, but it was an inevitable scenario, the only questions being when and how..
But then I am only a civilian, and a long-retired one: handed in all my stuff at Waddington in 1997..
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Leader of the Opposition, Keir Starmer, has stated in the HoC that an RAF evacuation flight has left Afghanistan mostly empty and asked that this “allegation” be investigated.
Not sure he realised that like, trains, such aircraft can’t just sit waiting in the ground until the ground staff fill it up.
Ignoring the doubtless limited pan space being booked for use by incoming US, German, Spanish etc aircraft, the crew of the aircraft in question will be watching the clock on their own crew duty day time - and the arrival airfield will have a slot time for their arrival with another relief crew waiting, probably to bring it back again for yet another cycle., along wit( whatever supplies those on the ground need to continue operations.
If the hard stretched troops on the ground haven’t either had enough people reach the airport to put in board, or time to clear those who have recently arrived - then it departs with those few who have.
Not sure he realised that like, trains, such aircraft can’t just sit waiting in the ground until the ground staff fill it up.
Ignoring the doubtless limited pan space being booked for use by incoming US, German, Spanish etc aircraft, the crew of the aircraft in question will be watching the clock on their own crew duty day time - and the arrival airfield will have a slot time for their arrival with another relief crew waiting, probably to bring it back again for yet another cycle., along wit( whatever supplies those on the ground need to continue operations.
If the hard stretched troops on the ground haven’t either had enough people reach the airport to put in board, or time to clear those who have recently arrived - then it departs with those few who have.
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My apologies - C-17+deal with Taliban to leave the airport clear until September 10th = the wrong Air Force.
There still appears to have been a deal done if foreign troops can stay until September 10th.
and a strange coincidence that the C-17 seen taxying followed by huge numbers of people had the reg/code 1109 on the nose.
There still appears to have been a deal done if foreign troops can stay until September 10th.
and a strange coincidence that the C-17 seen taxying followed by huge numbers of people had the reg/code 1109 on the nose.
Take his remark at face value ORAC. Did he seek to lay any blame on the military? If the ac left nearly empty then the reason does need to be investigated as it means our forces are potentially putting themselves in harm's way for no good reason. That does not mean the reason/fault lies with the military, far from it. If people are not arriving the airport in time to be processed, which is the most likely reason, then the cause needs to be identified. It could be any number or reasons. Taliban interference, poor comms, not being called forward in time, heavy traffic, you name it.
Been Here Before?
The combination of events in Kabul reminds of Tehran, but on steroids as to the number of US Citizens and allied folks at risk. Weak US leadership, minimalistic approach to planning ( or none at all in some areas in this instance ) led to long standing consequences and a one term President in the previous instance.Nothing in public media to make one think a different outcome is on the horizon now.
Another aspect that has my attention is obtained by the painful watching of Rear Admiral Kirby trying to explain the in-explainable. Were we in ages past, the Sr staff would have resigned ( according to the usually well informed General Keane, they advised against this action ), but they did not. Wonder if any of them are having second thoughts?
Another aspect that has my attention is obtained by the painful watching of Rear Admiral Kirby trying to explain the in-explainable. Were we in ages past, the Sr staff would have resigned ( according to the usually well informed General Keane, they advised against this action ), but they did not. Wonder if any of them are having second thoughts?
Meanwhile, the US leaders still don't have a plan on how US personnel are supposed to get to the airport - literally telling them 'they are on their own'. Pathetic.
It's not the leaving - it's how it's being done that has most Americans outraged (not to mention much of the rest of the world).
It's not the leaving - it's how it's being done that has most Americans outraged (not to mention much of the rest of the world).