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Post by abbey1227 on Jul 7, 2021 14:01:25 GMT
'General Austin Scott Miller, commander of US and Nato troops in Afghanistan, said he was shocked by how quickly the Afghan National Army had surrendered to the Taliban.' I don't know whether he's a three-star, four-star, 137-star general, but a guy who professes to be shocked by how quickly the Afghan National Army is surrendering to the Taliban has no business being a general at all. I'm not a general, I'm just an effete dilettante foreigner, but here's what I said in my syndicated column a decade ago: 'Six weeks after the last Nato soldier leaves Afghanistan, it will be as if we were never there... We came, we saw, we left no trace. America's longest war will leave nothing behind.' What the hell was I thinking? 'Six weeks after the last Nato soldier leaves'? We haven't left, and they're already surrendering. For twenty years American taxpayers have trained and paid an Afghan National Army that's fallen apart in twenty minutes. Here they are surrendering to the Taliban. Don't all throw down your weapons at once, lads
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Post by Prometheus on Jul 7, 2021 19:05:07 GMT
While I think our foray into Afghanistan was correct in the wake of 9/11, I also think that the death of bin Laden should have been our cue to leave after an ill-fought war. You don't want to know what my idea of a "properly-fought" war would have been. OK. You're going to ask... so... I would have bombed Afghanistan until no building taller than one story was left standing until bin Laden was delivered to our authority. I would have promised the same treatment to any country that harbored him... and followed through. After the bombing, there would be no "nation building" or any other help for that matter: just a reminder to the survivors to not let it happen again ![[giveup]](//storage.proboards.com/7182076/images/FSYefibmKqtatIXMgHZg.gif) |
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Post by ant-mac on Jul 11, 2021 12:44:46 GMT
While I think our foray into Afghanistan was correct in the wake of 9/11, I also think that the death of bin Laden should have been our cue to leave after an ill-fought war. You don't want to know what my idea of a "properly-fought" war would have been. OK. You're going to ask... so... I would have bombed Afghanistan until no building taller than one story was left standing until bin Laden was delivered to our authority. I would have promised the same treatment to any country that harbored him... and followed through. After the bombing, there would be no "nation building" or any other help for that matter: just a reminder to the survivors to not let it happen again I don't necessarily disagree with your approach, but I wouldn't want to punish helpless and innocent civilians for the actions of their leaders and overlords. This is provided that these helpless and innocent civilians do everything they can to remain uninvolved in the ongoing situation. I'd prefer to limit my approach - where feasible and practical - to the members of the government and the military... and to their immediate families. If their families share in the benefits of their actions and influence, then their families deserve to share in the consequences too. I don't mind if people suffer, provided it's the right people who do the suffering. |
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Post by Prometheus on Jul 11, 2021 18:39:43 GMT
While I think our foray into Afghanistan was correct in the wake of 9/11, I also think that the death of bin Laden should have been our cue to leave after an ill-fought war. You don't want to know what my idea of a "properly-fought" war would have been. OK. You're going to ask... so... I would have bombed Afghanistan until no building taller than one story was left standing until bin Laden was delivered to our authority. I would have promised the same treatment to any country that harbored him... and followed through. After the bombing, there would be no "nation building" or any other help for that matter: just a reminder to the survivors to not let it happen again I don't necessarily disagree with your approach, but I wouldn't want to punish helpless and innocent civilians for the actions of their leaders and overlords. This is provided that these helpless and innocent civilians do everything they can to remain uninvolved in the ongoing situation. I'd prefer to limit my approach - where feasible and practical - to the members of the government and the military... and to their immediate families. If their families share in the benefits of their actions and influence, then their families deserve to share in the consequences too. I don't mind if people suffer, provided it's the right people who do the suffering. I might be inclined to drop leaflets explaining what's about to happen and where to go to stay safe... but you better move quick.... |
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Post by ant-mac on Jul 11, 2021 19:09:16 GMT
I don't necessarily disagree with your approach, but I wouldn't want to punish helpless and innocent civilians for the actions of their leaders and overlords. This is provided that these helpless and innocent civilians do everything they can to remain uninvolved in the ongoing situation. I'd prefer to limit my approach - where feasible and practical - to the members of the government and the military... and to their immediate families. If their families share in the benefits of their actions and influence, then their families deserve to share in the consequences too. I don't mind if people suffer, provided it's the right people who do the suffering. I might be inclined to drop leaflets explaining what's about to happen and where to go to stay safe... but you better move quick.... That's mighty white of you.  |
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Post by Prometheus on Jul 12, 2021 4:27:19 GMT
I might be inclined to drop leaflets explaining what's about to happen and where to go to stay safe... but you better move quick.... That's mighty white of you. Ain't no thang |
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Post by Prometheus on Jul 12, 2021 4:55:35 GMT
I might be inclined to drop leaflets explaining what's about to happen and where to go to stay safe... but you better move quick.... That's mighty white of you. After the bombing is done and refugees are sent back to whatever is left of their homes, I'm also willing to give them a bag of seeds and a goat. And they had better not start shit again, because if I have to come back a second time, I'm making glass and shadows. |
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Post by ant-mac on Jul 12, 2021 10:47:48 GMT
That's mighty white of you. After the bombing is done and refugees are sent back to whatever is left of their homes, I'm also willing to give them a bag of seeds and a goat. And they had better not start shit again, because if I have to come back a second time, I'm making glass and shadows. That's just it, the "refugees" you're targeting probably had no knowledge of what their leaders were doing... and would've had no ability to do anything about it even if they had. Target the guilty, not the innocent. It'd be like a foreign force targeting you or your family - regardless of who you voted for, or if you even voted at all - because of something Trump had done during his presidency. How often have we heard about innocent civilians being wiped out by a sneak military attack - accidentally or otherwise - while they were attending a social gathering? Now picture such an unprovoked attack taking place at a gathering of your own family members and friends... The chances are these "refugees" have already suffered in countless ways for years, decades or centuries at the hands of their leaders. The last thing they deserve or need is yet more suffering at the hands of some foreign power of which they have little awareness or knowledge. Once again, target the guilty, not the innocent. |
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Post by Prometheus on Jul 12, 2021 15:51:38 GMT
After the bombing is done and refugees are sent back to whatever is left of their homes, I'm also willing to give them a bag of seeds and a goat. And they had better not start shit again, because if I have to come back a second time, I'm making glass and shadows. That's just it, the "refugees" you're targeting probably had no knowledge of what their leaders were doing... and would've had no ability to do anything about it even if they had. Target the guilty, not the innocent. It'd be like a foreign force targeting you or your family - regardless of who you voted for, or if you even voted at all - because of something Trump had done during his presidency. How often have we heard about innocent civilians being wiped out by a sneak military attack - accidentally or otherwise - while they were attending a social gathering? Now picture such an unprovoked attack taking place at a gathering of your own family members and friends... The chances are these "refugees" have already suffered in countless ways for years, decades or centuries at the hands of their leaders. The last thing they deserve or need is yet more suffering at the hands of some foreign power of which they have little awareness or knowledge. Once again, target the guilty, not the innocent. If they show up at the camps before the bombs start dropping, they're innocent and get a bag of seeds and a goat afterwards. Hopefully they build a better government for themselves once the bad guys are gone. |
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Post by ant-mac on Jul 12, 2021 16:19:12 GMT
That's just it, the "refugees" you're targeting probably had no knowledge of what their leaders were doing... and would've had no ability to do anything about it even if they had. Target the guilty, not the innocent. It'd be like a foreign force targeting you or your family - regardless of who you voted for, or if you even voted at all - because of something Trump had done during his presidency. How often have we heard about innocent civilians being wiped out by a sneak military attack - accidentally or otherwise - while they were attending a social gathering? Now picture such an unprovoked attack taking place at a gathering of your own family members and friends... The chances are these "refugees" have already suffered in countless ways for years, decades or centuries at the hands of their leaders. The last thing they deserve or need is yet more suffering at the hands of some foreign power of which they have little awareness or knowledge. Once again, target the guilty, not the innocent. If they show up at the camps before the bombs start dropping, they're innocent and get a bag of seeds and a goat afterwards. Hopefully they build a better government for themselves once the bad guys are gone. If they know that such camps exist. If they know where such camps are located. If they're allowed to make such a journey. If they're capable of making such a journey. If they're capable of making use of a bag of seeds as you assume. If they're capable of making use of a goat as you assume. If they're allowed to contribute to building a better government. If they're capable of contributing to building a better government. If the same bad guys don't just return after the good guys leave. If new bad guys don't just emerge after the good guys leave. But no, I'm sure things will be just fine...  |
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Post by Prometheus on Jul 13, 2021 2:17:23 GMT
If they show up at the camps before the bombs start dropping, they're innocent and get a bag of seeds and a goat afterwards. Hopefully they build a better government for themselves once the bad guys are gone. If they know that such camps exist. If they know where such camps are located. If they're allowed to make such a journey. If they're capable of making such a journey. If they're capable of making use of a bag of seeds as you assume. If they're capable of making use of a goat as you assume. If they're allowed to contribute to building a better government. If they're capable of contributing to building a better government. If the same bad guys don't just return after the good guys leave. If new bad guys don't just emerge after the good guys leave. But no, I'm sure things will be just fine... Oh. You're talking about... life.
Wear a helmet
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Post by ant-mac on Jul 13, 2021 12:14:36 GMT
If they know that such camps exist. If they know where such camps are located. If they're allowed to make such a journey. If they're capable of making such a journey. If they're capable of making use of a bag of seeds as you assume. If they're capable of making use of a goat as you assume. If they're allowed to contribute to building a better government. If they're capable of contributing to building a better government. If the same bad guys don't just return after the good guys leave. If new bad guys don't just emerge after the good guys leave. But no, I'm sure things will be just fine... Oh. You're talking about... life.
Wear a helmet
I don't need one, because I don't own or ride a bicycle... or a motorcycle. |
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Post by Prometheus on Jul 14, 2021 3:44:40 GMT
Oh. You're talking about... life.
Wear a helmet
I don't need one, because I don't own or ride a bicycle... or a motorcycle. But you do live life and life is hard. |
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Post by ant-mac on Jul 14, 2021 12:48:58 GMT
I don't need one, because I don't own or ride a bicycle... or a motorcycle. But you do live life and life is hard. Yeah, but as far as I know, I don't have a foreign military force searching for me so they can commit crimes against humanity or war crimes.  Which is probably just as well, because as I've proven time and time again, I'm perfectly capable of making my own enemies.  |
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