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No, the US and its allies fought very hard to establish some sort of victory over the Taliban. In fact, I was drafted in 2002 and I was even asked if I wanted to go there. Many of us did not want to go there because of the imminent danger.
Than there was this completely disorganized retreat. With corrupt Afghan officials leaving the country with helicopters full of cash. Most of the “Afghan” army was completely corrupt. They seemingly had 350,000 soldiers while they only had about 100,000. With all the money coming from the US. When the Taliban arrived, they just left. The US retreat was also similar to Vietnam in 1975. All this chaos. All collaborators simply left behind (or facing the risk of expulsion due to Trump’s policies today). And all those helicopters, airplanes, tanks and hummers simply left behind as if gifted to the Taliban.
Let us not forget that some 2500 US soldiers died to take this country in the first place. So U.S. and European policy makers are known to make this type of poorly informed decisions in many instances. So call me emotional but that’s not how I would do things. I suppose it had a lot to do with the election of Trump after Obama. But I don’t know a lot about that either.
About Missiles:
This argument is also being used against Georgians (who basically don’t want to be a part of your empire either). This isn’t the Cuba missile crisis all over again. Even if NATO was this empire of evil you are talking about, they can simply hit you from Germany or Poland if they wanted to. What makes you think they need Georgia or Ukraine for that?
+ This isn’t east vs. west anymore. Technically, Russia could have become a NATO member itself if it wanted to.
You know I live in a district of Ankara with many foreigners. Yesterday I saw this Russian (….re) with some Wagner symbols on her jackets. And you know, I didn’t say anything. If you want to live in a world full of winged unicorns and fairies you are free to do so.
In the real world: We need to get rid of at least 90% of all nuclear weapons before something happens to someone because of them. So I don’t know what game Putin is playing, but it’s not related in anyway to the concrete reality that we have in our hands.
On Israel:
The situation there is very complex. Arabs are simply very primitive both as nations and individual. They don’t have anything concrete to undertake against the state of Israel. I believe that there are forces who are willingly trying to bring countries like Turkey into that conflict through the rhetoric of the protection of Islam and Muslims around the world. If that happens they will probably eat us for breakfast because that the perfect recipe for pulling us out of Europe and into the quagmire of the middle-east.
So there is some sort of neo-colonialist project going on there. In fact Donald Trump’s “Riviera of the Middle East” could be the best thing that happens there.
So what is needed now is very responsible leadership with people like Ehud Barak and Bill Clinton with a new type of Camp David. We need sustained efforts toward peace with strong Palestinian and Arab states who do not allow organizations like Hezbollah or Hamas to even exist.
So again: it’s a weakness on the side of the politicians. The current Donald Trump Administration does not have the capacity to solve the issue. Nor does a dinosaur like Netanyahu who sits with Jewish fundamentalist. So he just keeps bombing the place. As I said, that’s not how you solve a complex problem like this one
Current situation:
Europe is doubling its efforts for Ukraine. With or without the US, Ukrainians will keep getting the lasts pieces of European Military technology:
The only issue is this: Russians and Chinese may now have a possibility to study the newest NATO military technology and this in turn may put the US is a more difficult situation in the long run.
(April 14, 2025 at 5:59 am)Leonardo17 Wrote: Belaqua on Afghanistan:
No, the US and its allies fought very hard to establish some sort of victory over the Taliban. In fact, I was drafted in 2002 and I was even asked if I wanted to go there. Many of us did not want to go there because of the imminent danger.
Than there was this completely disorganized retreat. With corrupt Afghan officials leaving the country with helicopters full of cash. Most of the “Afghan” army was completely corrupt. They seemingly had 350,000 soldiers while they only had about 100,000. With all the money coming from the US. When the Taliban arrived, they just left. The US retreat was also similar to Vietnam in 1975. All this chaos. All collaborators simply left behind (or facing the risk of expulsion due to Trump’s policies today). And all those helicopters, airplanes, tanks and hummers simply left behind as if gifted to the Taliban.
Let us not forget that some 2500 US soldiers died to take this country in the first place. So U.S. and European policy makers are known to make this type of poorly informed decisions in many instances. So call me emotional but that’s not how I would do things. I suppose it had a lot to do with the election of Trump after Obama. But I don’t know a lot about that either.
About Missiles:
This argument is also being used against Georgians (who basically don’t want to be a part of your empire either). This isn’t the Cuba missile crisis all over again. Even if NATO was this empire of evil you are talking about, they can simply hit you from Germany or Poland if they wanted to. What makes you think they need Georgia or Ukraine for that?
+ This isn’t east vs. west anymore. Technically, Russia could have become a NATO member itself if it wanted to.
You know I live in a district of Ankara with many foreigners. Yesterday I saw this Russian (….re) with some Wagner symbols on her jackets. And you know, I didn’t say anything. If you want to live in a world full of winged unicorns and fairies you are free to do so.
In the real world: We need to get rid of at least 90% of all nuclear weapons before something happens to someone because of them. So I don’t know what game Putin is playing, but it’s not related in anyway to the concrete reality that we have in our hands.
On Israel:
The situation there is very complex. Arabs are simply very primitive both as nations and individual. They don’t have anything concrete to undertake against the state of Israel. I believe that there are forces who are willingly trying to bring countries like Turkey into that conflict through the rhetoric of the protection of Islam and Muslims around the world. If that happens they will probably eat us for breakfast because that the perfect recipe for pulling us out of Europe and into the quagmire of the middle-east.
So there is some sort of neo-colonialist project going on there. In fact Donald Trump’s “Riviera of the Middle East” could be the best thing that happens there.
So what is needed now is very responsible leadership with people like Ehud Barak and Bill Clinton with a new type of Camp David. We need sustained efforts toward peace with strong Palestinian and Arab states who do not allow organizations like Hezbollah or Hamas to even exist.
So again: it’s a weakness on the side of the politicians. The current Donald Trump Administration does not have the capacity to solve the issue. Nor does a dinosaur like Netanyahu who sits with Jewish fundamentalist. So he just keeps bombing the place. As I said, that’s not how you solve a complex problem like this one
Current situation:
Europe is doubling its efforts for Ukraine. With or without the US, Ukrainians will keep getting the lasts pieces of European Military technology:
The only issue is this: Russians and Chinese may now have a possibility to study the newest NATO military technology and this in turn may put the US is a more difficult situation in the long run.
I hadn't heard before that you were drafted! I'm glad to hear that you made it home alive. Not too damaged, I hope.
You begin your reply with "No," but I think we agree on all the Afghanistan stuff. The US made an effort, a lot of people got killed on both sides, and then the retreat was a mess. If the enemy is in charge of the country two weeks later, you've lost.
The leaders make poorly informed decisions, if the goal is to win, obviously. If the goal is to enrich well-connected contractors, then every war is a great success. It's pretty clear that whenever they walk away from one, there's always another one lined up and ready to go.
Quote:So there is some sort of neo-colonialist project going on there. In fact Donald Trump’s “Riviera of the Middle East” could be the best thing that happens there.
As for Israel, it's certainly a colonialist project. I don't think you even need the "neo." It's settler colonialism. White people are pushing out the brown people, from where the brown people have always lived.
Even if you believe that God promised the land to Abraham's descendants (which I don't), DNA tests show that the Palestinians are far more closely related to the ancient Israelites than modern Ashkenazi Jews. Benjamin Mileikowsky is from Poland, but changed his name to Netanyahu to sound more local, though Ashkenazis in general are descended from Eastern Europe.
A "Riviera of the Middle East" will be the best thing that could happen to a select handfull of Trump's supporters. As always, that's who he's working for. The two million or so Palestinians who live there will not benefit, however.
@Thumpalumpacus
They go home, do whatever horrific crime landed them in ukraine in the first place..get picked up and, hey presto, back into the meat battalions! It's a very efficient system.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
(April 16, 2025 at 12:09 am)The Grand Nudger Wrote: @Thumpalumpacus
They go home, do whatever horrific crime landed them in ukraine in the first place..get picked up and, hey presto, back into the meat battalions! It's a very efficient system.
Until you're forced to rent some North Koreans to defend your own country, it's a well-oiled machine.
(April 16, 2025 at 12:09 am)The Grand Nudger Wrote: @Thumpalumpacus
They go home, do whatever horrific crime landed them in ukraine in the first place..get picked up and, hey presto, back into the meat battalions! It's a very efficient system.
Until you're forced to rent some North Koreans to defend your own country, it's a well-oiled machine.
Ukraine allegedly captured a couple of Chinese soldiers recently.
(April 16, 2025 at 9:43 am)Angrboda Wrote: Ukraine allegedly captured a couple of Chinese soldiers recently.
My understanding is that they were there of their own accord, not as an intergovernmental deal.
As far as we know but honestly with China who knows
"Change was inevitable"
Nemo sicut deus debet esse!
“No matter what men think, abortion is a fact of life. Women have always had them; they always have and they always will. Are they going to have good ones or bad ones? Will the good ones be reserved for the rich, while the poor women go to quacks?” –SHIRLEY CHISHOLM
(April 16, 2025 at 10:47 am)The Architect Of Fate Wrote:
(April 16, 2025 at 10:38 am)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: My understanding is that they were there of their own accord, not as an intergovernmental deal.
As far as we know but honestly with China who knows
Sure. But I very much doubt that they're there in brigade strength like the North Koreans. Secrecy or no, you can't hide that sort of deployment from satellites.
(April 16, 2025 at 10:47 am)The Architect Of Fate Wrote: As far as we know but honestly with China who knows
Sure. But I very much doubt that they're there in brigade strength like the North Koreans. Secrecy or no, you can't hide that sort of deployment from satellites.
Oh if they were sanctioned I'm sure they are just a token group I doubt China would give Putin a even a brigade knowing NATO will be watching
"Change was inevitable"
Nemo sicut deus debet esse!
“No matter what men think, abortion is a fact of life. Women have always had them; they always have and they always will. Are they going to have good ones or bad ones? Will the good ones be reserved for the rich, while the poor women go to quacks?” –SHIRLEY CHISHOLM
I mean I was doing my military service at the time. I had friends who joined the UN mission in Kosovo. For several reasons, many wanted to go there even if it was a challenging place in many ways. I had friends who wanted to go to dangerous zones in the Eastern parts of Turkey (because the army pays good wages to soldiers in “complicated” areas). But no one wanted to go to Afghanistan. I am talking about 2002 / 2003.
That’s why I am very critical of the US simply withdrawing from this area. And I think this was Donald Trump’s mistake. He did that during his first term and then he put all the responsibility on Joe Biden.
When there is a country like Imperial Japan after WWII, you need to be smarter than that. Afghanistan had to be treated like defeated Imperial Japan until the locals start accepting and promoting the values of the civilized world.
But I must also add that Pakistanis and Russians did everything to ruin this project, even if it existed on some level in those days.
Personally, I am very confused on this issue. I wouldn’t even be able to tell you why the US went there in the first place
On Israel:
I am not an expert on Jewish history. Things happened in the first half of the 20th century. People hated Jews everywhere in the world and not simply in Nazi Germany. So I understand the ideas behind the need for a Jewish nation at some place at some point in History.
Yet, the injection of this population into an area that is known as Palestine since 2000 years, because the Roman Emperor Titus even renamed Judea after destroying the second temple of Solomon and starting what is known as the exodus is a very colonialist / imperialist project.
And on a spiritual level: I have a very individualist approach to these issues. I believe that religions are there to serve us individually by helping us study some deeper truths that are present in each and every one of us. So I don’t believe in Messianic Judaism or Christianity more than in the position of Salafist Islam (that aims to impose “the truth” on every one of us by using brutal force, terrorism and everything else if they have to).
So we are back to square one. We have a situation at hand right here right now in Israel / Palestine. So how are we going to solve it?
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