Collapse in Afghanistan

[DOR]

I think we all know that we can count on the pseudo-Christian right to warmly welcome refugees into their homes and communities, right?

Right?


Trump allies seek to build public opposition to resettlement in U.S. of Afghan refugees, AP Sept 16, 2021

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/tr...es-01631832437




Trump aides aim to build GOP opposition to Afghan refugees, AP Sept 15, 2021 https://www.ncnewsonline.com/news/na...68995ea7e.html




[Arizona] GOP Senate candidate: US should not accept Afghan refugees, The Independent, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-b1921750.html

[tbm3fan]

I think we all know that we can count on the pseudo-Christian right to warmly welcome refugees into their homes and communities, right?

Right?


Trump allies seek to build public opposition to resettlement in U.S. of Afghan refugees, AP Sept 16, 2021

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/tr...es-01631832437




Trump aides aim to build GOP opposition to Afghan refugees, AP Sept 15, 2021 https://www.ncnewsonline.com/news/na...68995ea7e.html




[Arizona] GOP Senate candidate: US should not accept Afghan refugees, The Independent, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-b1921750.html

Yep, use them and then lose them I always say as we don't owe them no stinkin' security...

DOR, thanks for that second link. Have to tell you that every time I see a picture of Miller the picture of another well known Minister in the past instantly pops into my head. Really scary resemblance.

[Double Edge]

How accurate was that actionable intel?

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/08/29/a...ntl/index.html



Both CNN and NYTimes reporting the same.

Well they're saying they hit civilians, thought the explosion confirmed they hit explosives

06:52 it struck the vehicle vehicle at 4 53 pm which produced an explosive event and follow on flames significantly larger than a hellfire missile would have been expected to produce

Turns out there was a gas cylinder in the truck. They did not get any perps. Just some innocent civvies.

[kato]

The commander of those last returning troops spelled it out as having soldiers returning now who had just been born when the mission started, as well as knowing one soldier among those last 264 who had been deployed with ISAF no less than 14 separate times.

The brigadier general who commanded the German evacuation operation was awarded a Federal Merit Cross yesterday. Wearing a US Combat Infantryman Badge on his uniform at the ceremony.

He claims to first have been in Afghanistan in 2004 - he was G3 of KSK command at that time, hence possibly a tad unlikely to have gotten it then. He was a platoon commander in KSK in 2001 though.

[Parihaka]

Fair points raised and questions asked by the Senator, who happens to be vice chair of the intel senate committee so no way was this an intel failure.

It was more a policy & planning failure. Naturally. The fault begins and ends at Foggy bottom not Langley.

.

Yet we have Milley as one example stating categorically that all intelligence believed a much slower collapse by the Afghan govt.
I believe Rubio, and not Milley, but the disconnect is striking.

[Parihaka]

The people who sanctioned this hit need to go to prison

SpaceBacon26 on Twitter: "Joe Biden ☠ this man and childern Ahmadi was a 14-year employee of a U.S. NGO that fights malnutrition. He helped start up soy factories, repair machinery, transport his colleagues and distribute food from his Corolla to displaced Afghans. https://t.co/AOX2vAqqSw" / Twitter

So it's official now, and at the same time the man who leaked information on just how bad the CIA's assassination programme is, gets 4 years.
Leaker of drone secrets gets 45 months in prison - POLITICO

What he revealed of course is the mass slaughter of civilians in the hope a terrorist may be among them, much like the Kabul strike.

[DOR]

I believe Rubio, and not Milley, but the disconnect is striking.

Case closed.

[Officer of Engineers]

Yet we have Milley as one example stating categorically that all intelligence believed a much slower collapse by the Afghan govt.
I believe Rubio, and not Milley, but the disconnect is striking.

You will always have intel that contradict the main decisions. It's call CYA. As for Rubio's it's called Monday Morning Quarterbacking. What he failed to understand and everybody who touts the Pakistani safe havens also fail to understand is that the Taliban was contained to the Pakistani border areas. They did not march all the way from Pakistan to Kabul. They marched from the Central Asian borders south. That means the Taliban centre of mass and focus was not the Pakistani border. What did I think was going to happen? I didn't think the Taliban would roll over the ANA from Pakistan ... and they didn't.

The failure of intel, as well as my read, is why did the ANA rolled over from Central Asia? I should have. Force on weak. The ANA was weakest there, not the Pakistani border.

[Parihaka]

You will always have intel that contradict the main decisions. It's call CYA. As for Rubio's it's called Monday Morning Quarterbacking. What he failed to understand and everybody who touts the Pakistani safe havens also fail to understand is that the Taliban was contained to the Pakistani border areas. They did not march all the way from Pakistan to Kabul. They marched from the Central Asian borders south. That means the Taliban centre of mass and focus was not the Pakistani border. What did I think was going to happen? I didn't think the Taliban would roll over the ANA from Pakistan ... and they didn't.

The failure of intel, as well as my read, is why did the ANA rolled over from Central Asia? I should have. Force on weak. The ANA was weakest there, not the Pakistani border.

I've gotta say I've missed the hell out of talking to you Sir. This makes more sense than tomes of media and political opinion-ators.
A follow-up question if I may; do you give any credence to the reports the Pakistan armed forces were directly involved in the battles of Panjshir Valley?

[Officer of Engineers]

I've gotta say I've missed the hell out of talking to you Sir. This makes more sense than tomes of media and political opinion-ators.
A follow-up question if I may; do you give any credence to the reports the Pakistan armed forces were directly involved in the battles of Panjshir Valley?

I believe it. Before this, the Taliban managed under 1000 men operations (anymore than that, they get collobered from the skies) and now, you tell me that they're doing 5000 men operations just like that? At the very least, it was Pakistani officered, maybe Pakistani mercs, but still not Taliban.

[Firestorm]

Well they're saying they hit civilians, thought the explosion confirmed they hit explosives

Turns out there was a gas cylinder in the truck. They did not get any perps. Just some innocent civvies.

Well the Pentagon has come clear on this now. No ISIS members killed. Only civilians.

Pentagon Reverses Itself And Now Says A Deadly Kabul Drone Strike Was An Error

But on Friday, officials said an internal review revealed that no Islamic State members had been killed in the attack, only civilians.

"The strike was a tragic mistake," Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, told a Pentagon news conference.

"I am now convinced that as many as 10 civilians, including up to seven children, were tragically killed in that strike," McKenzie added. "Moreover, we now assess that it is unlikely that the vehicle and those who died were associated with ISIS-K, or a direct threat to U.S. forces."

The cynic in me can't help but think that more caution might have been exercised had the need for good optics post the Kabul attack for the GOTUS already facing a backlash during the pullout, had not been so desperate.

[Firestorm]

I believe it. Before this, the Taliban managed under 1000 men operations (anymore than that, they get collobered from the skies) and now, you tell me that they're doing 5000 men operations just like that? At the very least, it was Pakistani officered, maybe Pakistani mercs, but still not Taliban.

I always marvel at how meekly the US accepts Pakistan's barefaced defiance of the US when it comes to Afghanistan despite the huge power differential. There isn't even the excuse of supply routes left now since all US troops are out. Yet I'm not holding my breath for Blinken to openly call out Pakistani perfidy in AFG or revoke their ally status. The US went from "We'll bomb you to the stone age" to "Go ahead. Kill all our allies in AFG. We'll let ourselves out."

[Albany Rifles]

I always marvel at how meekly the US accepts Pakistan's barefaced defiance of the US when it comes to Afghanistan despite the huge power differential. There isn't even the excuse of supply routes left now since all US troops are out. Yet I'm not holding my breath for Blinken to openly call out Pakistani perfidy in AFG or revoke their ally status. The US went from "We'll bomb you to the stone age" to "Go ahead. Kill all our allies in AFG. We'll let ourselves out."

Well always having a Big Stick and using it all the time is not a great solution either. And at the time we had much of the world behind us.

But after March 2003 we lost a lot of the slack we had with the world.

And perhaps what has been said to Pakistan may be behind the scenes. Keep in mind we are looking to continue to get folks out. Having a cooperative Pakistan will help those endeavors. Also our Over The Horizon response capabilities work better from Pakistan.

[Firestorm]

Well always having a Big Stick and using it all the time is not a great solution either. And at the time we had much of the world behind us.

But after March 2003 we lost a lot of the slack we had with the world.

And perhaps what has been said to Pakistan may be behind the scenes. Keep in mind we are looking to continue to get folks out. Having a cooperative Pakistan will help those endeavors. Also our Over The Horizon response capabilities work better from Pakistan.

When it comes to Pakistan you did not actually need to use the stick (in terms of military action) to force them to behave in Afghanistan. Their economy has been dependent on foreign aid and the IMF for nearly the entire duration of the Afghan war. Squeezing them would be child's play. I mean the US has shown it can do that when it wants to. You guys brought Iran to its knees using sanctions alone and they were much better off economically than Pakistan prior to that.

I don't know how you can talk about a cooperative Pakistan when it is clear they were actively conspiring against the US backed regime in AF the whole time (not to mention storing OBL for several years). Talking to them behind the scenes has clearly not worked looking at the results. Check the Colonel's post on Pakistani involvement in the final Taliban assaults.

[Double Edge]

The cynic in me can't help but think that more caution might have been exercised had the need for good optics post the Kabul attack for the GOTUS already facing a backlash during the pullout, had not been so desperate.

It was pre-emptive. They believed another attack was possible.

What i'm wondering is where they got this intel from ? from the air. No one on the ground to coordinate with.

They spent 8h watching that truck go about its business but still concluded it was a possible threat.

I always marvel at how meekly the US accepts Pakistan's barefaced defiance of the US when it comes to Afghanistan despite the huge power differential. There isn't even the excuse of supply routes left now since all US troops are out. Yet I'm not holding my breath for Blinken to openly call out Pakistani perfidy in AFG or revoke their ally status. The US went from "We'll bomb you to the stone age" to "Go ahead. Kill all our allies in AFG. We'll let ourselves out."

US does not want to burn bridges.

They expect in the future they might need to go in from time to time. How to do it ?

Overflght over Pakistan is the only route in. US lost Russian overflight after Ukraine and with that the Northern network supply route was no longer an option.

As it is they could not isolate the battlefield. Add to that their ingress routes were seriously limited.

Talk about fighting with both your hands tied behind your back.