Anybody wanting to know what kind of economic situation the Taliban are facing and the main reason they're being so considerate with the west in Kabul right now:
https://fullstackeconomics.com/afgha...shock-taliban/
There's at least one honest/undeluded senior military guy:
https://twitter.com/mviser/status/1429453432134508547
by comparison:
https://twitter.com/JustinTLogan/sta...03463572135937
The question that subsequent investigations should be asking but wont:
https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/sta...76135767793664
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
I served in Afghanistan as a US Marine, twice. Here’s the truth in two sentences
What we are seeing in Afghanistan right now shouldn’t shock you. It only seems that way because our institutions are steeped in systematic dishonesty. It doesn’t require a dissertation to explain what you’re seeing. Just two sentences.
One: For 20 years, politicians, elites and D.C. military leaders lied to us about Afghanistan.
Two: What happened last week was inevitable, and anyone saying differently is still lying to you.
I know because I was there. Twice. On special operations task forces. I learned Pashto as a U.S. Marine captain and spoke to everyone I could there: everyday people, elites, allies and yes, even the Taliban.
The truth is that the Afghan National Security Forces was a jobs program for Afghans, propped up by U.S. taxpayer dollars — a military jobs program populated by nonmilitary people or “paper” forces (that didn’t really exist) and a bevy of elites grabbing what they could when they could.
You probably didn’t know that. That’s the point.
And it wasn’t just in Afghanistan. They also lied about Iraq.
I led a team of Marines training Iraqi security forces to defend their country. When I arrived I received a “stoplight” chart on their supposed capabilities in dozens of missions and responsibilities. Green meant they were good. Yellow was needed improvement; red said they couldn’t do it at all.
I was delighted to see how far along they were on paper — until I actually began working with them. I attempted to adjust the charts to reflect reality and was quickly shut down. The ratings could not go down. That was the deal. It was the kind of lie that kept the war going.
So when people ask me if we made the right call getting out of Afghanistan in 2021, I answer truthfully: Absolutely not. The right call was getting out in 2002. 2003. Every year we didn’t get out was another year the Taliban used to refine their skills and tactics against us — the best fighting force in the world. After two decades, $2 trillion and nearly 2,500 American lives lost, 2021 was way too late to make the right call......
https://news.yahoo.com/served-afghan...l?guccounter=2
Better planning would've saved some lives, many of whom might still be in danger because of the poor planning. The Afghan army collapse was inevitable given the U.S. exit. It was gonna happen anyway. Better planning and communication wouldn't have prevented the Afghan army collapse. But it would've saved some lives and done a better job at preserving public opinion on the administration's handling of the matter.
The U.S. had been in Afghanistan for two decades. What was the rush that poor planning had to cause the chaos and PR disaster it did? The decision had been made. But planning and execution was piss poor. You see... that's the problem with politics. It takes away the objectivity to admit your guy f*cked up when he actually did.
Don't argue with me. Argue with them.
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/08/23/p...den/index.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/afghani...-opinion-poll/
Before Tim Russert of Meet the Press passed he interviewed Biden asking him what would he propose. Joe replied he had 2 answers.
1. if we pull out now, we will look bad.
2. Wait to pull out and see it get worse.
In that regard I concur with Biden- but the Democratic Party weren't listening. it was about Hillary or Barrack...
All's lost! Everything's going to shit!
Starting to evacuate people at an earlier date would have precipitated an even faster collapse. It may have ended up killing more people than will end up being killed in the current situation. There's no way of knowing what would have been the best way to do this even with the benefit of hindsight. Just like Britney Spears this was not the way they planned it, they would have been aware of the possibility of the Afghan army collapsing overnight but the various other factors in play made them decide to do what they're doing.
There was no great option here. It was just a case of picking the least worst option. We'll never know if they managed to do that or not.
And asking the American people anything, come on. Ninety odd percent of them couldn't find Afghanistan on a map or answer a couple of simple questions about the place. There have been polls showing majorities in favour of staying and majorities in favour of leaving. All of these people have watched tv showing chaos and it certainly looks like it could have been planned better so that's the answer they're going to give but in truth we'll never know whether the US did in fact manage to pursue the least worst option.
You went "earlier" again. I didn't say "earlier." I said better planning. In fact, it could've been done later, if that's what it would take to make sure the planning was as good as it could be. The U.S. had been there for two decades. A few more weeks wouldn't have mattered much in the grand scheme of things.
BTW... public opinion may be flawed due to lack of knowledge of some people... but it remains a measuring stick against which all Presidents have and will continue to be measured. If the public at least had the perception that a withdrawal was being meticulously and carefully planned... even the inevitable messes would be more excused.
Biden's not Trump. For that we're both glad. But I'm not gonna defend every single decision Biden makes... just like I never condemned every single move Trump made. I like to think that makes me objective.
I don't know you could plan it any better. If you mean by better planning that everybody gets out without a scratch then that would be great but that's not real life. Deciding what to do in the various possible scenarios is probabilistic. Any option you pick has a chance of going wrong in different ways to the option you eventually pick.
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