Don’t worry, Biden is about to announce a new tax to help the people of Afghanistan. The Taliban will administrate it for us.
It was a good article. I seem to remember a few flag officers be moved on in the Navy after a couple of collisions . One who resigned was a 3 star I believe.
If you had to pick the Air Force would appear to be the one to chose as a flag rank. Politician says bomb this, pick up the phone and tell subordinates to bomb this. Job done.
Admirals can be onboard in the way of nasty ordinance along with everyone else. Generals are generally back behind the shooting.
As someone once said “ The army sends the boys to fight, the airforce, the officers, the navy sends everyone, bugger that”.
2 Likes
Army Maj. Gen. Christopher T. Donahue, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, prepares to leave Kabul on Aug. 30. (U.S. Army/Reuters)
1 Like
The Americans leave $85 billion worth of military equipment in the hands of the Taliban. That couldn’t have been the intention. President Joe Biden as commander-in-chief has committed an unprecedentedly costly military blunder that could turn out to be far more costly.
The haste in the departure of the Americans has provided the Taliban with impressive military equipment. This makes the new rulers in Kabul one of the best-armed regimes in the region in one swoop. The list of high-quality equipment is long and hurts every soldier, veteran, president and taxpayer.
A small grasp. It concerns more than two hundred aircraft and helicopters, 75,000 (armored) vehicles, 169 tanks, 162,000 radios, 176 artillery pieces, 600,000 machine guns and pistols and 16,000 night vision goggles.
And to top it all off, the Taliban now owns the biometric devices that hold fingerprints, eye scans and other personal data of Afghans who have assisted coalition forces for the past 20 years. This means that every Afghan who has helped the Americans in their fight against the Taliban can now be found. We need not have any illusions about the fate of these people.
Not all equipment will be immediately usable by the Taliban troops. For example, piloting the 33 Black Hawk helicopters requires thorough American training. That applies to more equipment. But with the 22,000 Humvee armored vehicles, the hundreds of thousands of machine guns, the trucks and all the ammunition, the Taliban will be able to get away immediately.
It is conceivable that neighboring Pakistan will lend a hand with technical assistance to get the high-quality equipment operational. Or that Russia and China offer the Taliban to better understand American weaponry, while also satisfying their own curiosity. At least if the equipment remains in the hands of the Taliban.
That is the question, because the arms stock can also serve the terrorist ambitions of IS. It is not inconceivable that the American weapons are used by IS for terrorist actions in Europe and the United States itself.
In short, just as the chaotic evacuation of the past two weeks could never have been intended, this $85 billion farewell gift to the Taliban could not have been part of an American exit plan. The big question is still: was there a plan?
Actually most of the equipment belonged to the Afghan army, they abandoned it. The US arms contractors long since cashed that check, so no harm no foul. The helicopters are scrap metal. If the Taliban and Isis want to use the rest of the stuff killing each other let them have at it.
Most Americans couldn’t find Afghanistan on a map and are tired of pouring money down that rat hole.
3 Likes
Rightly so! Spending that kind of money domestically would have been a blessing. Now it went to the war mongers and their shareholders in the society. It’s a shame.
The US military says many abandoned weapons are of little use to the Taliban because the equipment was disabled before their departure.
1 Like
I guess it who’s numbers you want to believe. Looking at the ratings, WAPO, CNN and the rest of the left-wing media are struggling to increase their water carrying capacity for Biden…
2 Likes
Do you have some links to some media critics showing the media coverage was favorable to Biden?
That was the rational for kicking the can down the road, to avoid the political fallout from ending the war.
Here is some reporting on the coverage.
This is a bracingly self-serving and sloppy logic. One of the worst offenders on this front, ABC’s Martha Raddatz, was forced to move the goalposts yet again yesterday: now judging the evacuation a “success,”
“Biden does not deserve the cheap shots that critics have taken at him when they postulate that his administration screwed up what would otherwise have been an orderly withdrawal,” writes Daniel McCarthy, a vociferous Biden critic and a conservative, in The Spectator World. “Even if the withdrawal had been much better executed, as indeed it should have been, it would still have been a disgusting spectacle, a ripe occasion for media posturing and partisan sniping.”
Shouldn’t keep bumping this one to the top but here’s another - specially about CNN and from Fox News.
1 Like
The Taliban did NOT “seize” any American equipment, it was left behind by the Afghan Army and Police when they disintegrated, or in some cases, joined the Taliban and took their weapons with them.
Some Afghan soldiers and pilots run away to Iran, Pakistan and other neighbouring countries with their vehicles, helicopters and planes.
It is not as if this is the first time US equipment has been left behind. There are still some in Vietnam. Now in museums though:
This one on the roof of the former US Embassy:
The Vietnamese may have forgiven, but they will never forget, especially the Agent Orange:
PS> These pictures are from 2013
Biden suffers the fate of all people who actually act. They risk failure- and never ending critical comparisons to imaginary what would have beens, from those who did nothing. the critics have the advantage of a past and future of their making. the doer is left with reality
7 Likes
Holy ^+{* you’re pulling out the “man in the arena” rhetoric to try to mitigate this massive and historic disaster. Dark days for us, Jesus.
2 Likes
Agent Orange is perfectly safe with no unknown long term side effects. All of the experts say so.
2 Likes
“No UNKNOWN long term effects” is probably correct. There are plenty of known ones though. (except to the “experts” on Fox News maybe) :
BBC has done some fact checking:
Note: without any political bias
1 Like
No, all of the nation’s top experts have assured President Kennedy that Agent Orange breaks down in a couple of hours and that there are no long term health effects to be concerned about.
Are you a Scientist or a Doctor? Why are you arguing with the nation’s top medical professionals?
You sound like a conspiracy theorist.
2 Likes
No I’m a realist and a believer in the truth, facts and reality.
I don’t find ANYTHING FUNNY with the suffering of millions of people. 
Well, the reality is that all the top medical advisers have assured the President that there are no long term health effects to be feared from Agent Orange. I think you should stick to maritime matters and let the medical experts decide these things.
1 Like