Religion and Ethics Forum

General Category => Politics & Current Affairs => Topic started by: Nearly Sane on August 12, 2021, 12:57:01 PM

Title: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Nearly Sane on August 12, 2021, 12:57:01 PM
The song remains the same


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-58184202
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Nearly Sane on August 15, 2021, 02:21:57 PM

And as Kabul falls



https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58219114

Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Aruntraveller on August 16, 2021, 03:35:34 PM
Some quotes just don't age well:

Quote
"We must ensure that we leave a legacy in the education of women and the security of the people of Afghanistan that is lasting and that endures" - Boris Johnson, March 16 2021.
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Nearly Sane on August 16, 2021, 04:23:06 PM
Some quotes just don't age well:
Agreed, I think this was one of Johnson saying something too postive about something that was not really under his control. It's the actions of Trump and Biden that led to where we are in a relatively short term view

Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Nearly Sane on August 16, 2021, 07:47:09 PM
Not sure I have ever seen anything quite like this from a govt minister. I feel for him but again it's making promisrex you cannot keep.
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Aruntraveller on August 16, 2021, 07:53:25 PM
Not sure I have ever seen anything quite like this from a govt minister. I feel for him but again it's making promisrex you cannot keep.

I'm thinking you are talking about Ben Wallace? It is quite extraordinary when you see it.
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Nearly Sane on August 17, 2021, 01:55:45 AM
I'm thinking you are talking about Ben Wallace? It is quite extraordinary when you see it.
Yes, apologies for  missing the link


https://youtu.be/Gv9l7OtVkEo
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Nearly Sane on August 17, 2021, 09:53:35 AM

Suzanne Moore on the women of Afghanistan



https://archive.is/T3uRG
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Aruntraveller on August 17, 2021, 10:15:05 AM
Suzanne Moore on the women of Afghanistan



https://archive.is/T3uRG

It is devastating. I haven't felt so depressed by a foreign policy failure in a long, long time. It is a complete abandonment of our principles.

Biden, I know, has long been opposed to keeping troops in Afghanistan but his haste in pulling the plug (even if the stopper had been eased more than half way out by Trump) is shocking and a part of me wonders if it isn't partly driven by domestic politics. A hell of a way to appeal to Trump supporters. Maybe I'm being too cynical.

Lots of talk about it being different with the Taliban this time, that they will honour the various measures they have entered into via the Doha agreement.

Pissing in the wind.
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Aruntraveller on August 17, 2021, 10:18:45 AM
And of course not only women at much greater risk:

https://www.attitude.co.uk/article/gay-men-in-taliban-controlled-afghanistan-will-be-crushed-to-death-by-10ft-wall-says-judge/25373/?
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Nearly Sane on August 17, 2021, 10:52:29 AM
And of course not only women at much greater risk:

https://www.attitude.co.uk/article/gay-men-in-taliban-controlled-afghanistan-will-be-crushed-to-death-by-10ft-wall-says-judge/25373/?
As you said, it's a profoundly depressing policy failure. It looked as if it was going to be a slow car crash, and I wonder if that was the expectation in Washington, and that therefore it wouldn't look as bad. It has, however, been incredibly fast.
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Roses on August 17, 2021, 11:27:29 AM
What did all those poor UK and US soldiers die for?  Afghanistan has been handed back to the evil Taliban regime, thanks to Trump who started the process beginning to withdraw the US troops. >:( Biden has made a very BIG MISTAKE by going along with it. :o

Under Taliban rule the way women are treated is worse than evil. >:(
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: ad_orientem on August 17, 2021, 11:42:16 AM
What did all those poor UK and US soldiers die for?  Afghanistan has been handed back to the evil Taliban regime, thanks to Trump who started the process beginning to withdraw the US troops. >:( Biden has made a very BIG MISTAKE by going along with it. :o

Under Taliban rule the way women are treated is worse than evil. >:(

I kind of agree with Biden. Why would any country put their troops at risk anymore fighting the Taliban when the Afgans themselves can hardly seem bothered to. Of course, the Taliban is a monster the US helped create and so you could argue that they should see it through; but maybe it's just better to say, we're not to going to meddle in the affairs of other countries again.
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Steve H on August 17, 2021, 12:40:30 PM

Under Taliban rule the way women are treated is worse than evil. >:(
What is worse than evil? Reminds me of that tiresome modern expression "beyond", as in "I'm beyond excited".
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Nearly Sane on August 17, 2021, 12:41:01 PM
I kind of agree with Biden. Why would any country put their troops at risk anymore fighting the Taliban when the Afgans themselves can hardly seem bothered to. Of course, the Taliban is a monster the US helped create and so you could argue that they should see it through; but maybe it's just better to say, we're not to going to meddle in the affairs of other countries again.
I think the issue with this is the method and the outcome. It looks like s high level of incompetence to have not understood that the Taliban would take over, though it's arguable that Trump's actions ensured that, thereby putting in danger women, children, gay people. And also not understanding that it would happen so fast that it would put in danger US and UK citizens, and all the people we might have offered refuge to like those who worked as interpreters.
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Aruntraveller on August 17, 2021, 12:51:28 PM
What is worse than evil? Reminds me of that tiresome modern expression "beyond", as in "I'm beyond excited".

I knew a pedant would be along, as I had to restrain myself from making a similar comment  :P

I always thought ecstatic was beyond excited.

Seriously though, Roses was just trying to emphasise how very bad it is going to be for women in this situation.
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Udayana on August 17, 2021, 01:18:25 PM
What did all those poor UK and US soldiers die for?  Afghanistan has been handed back to the evil Taliban regime, thanks to Trump who started the process beginning to withdraw the US troops. >:( Biden has made a very BIG MISTAKE by going along with it. :o

Under Taliban rule the way women are treated is worse than evil. >:(

The numbers of dead UK and US soldiers seems almost insignificant compared to the number of Afghani soldiers killed fighting the Taliban, estimated at over 65,000.

According to this op from the Guardian the problem was that Ghani wanted to fight on, with US backing, rather than come to terms with the Taliban and form an interim joint government. That everything would crumble days after the Americans announced they were leaving reflects a major misjudgement by Biden.
     
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/16/taliban-afghanistan-rule-hardline-coalition-powers
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Nearly Sane on August 17, 2021, 02:08:02 PM
Incredibly brave


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-asia-58230070
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Nearly Sane on August 17, 2021, 02:25:55 PM
Suzie Dent on Twitter with one of her customary brutal take downs merely by choosing a word and its definition



https://twitter.com/susie_dent/status/1427539019580297217?s=19
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Nearly Sane on August 17, 2021, 03:43:55 PM

Where was Dominic?


https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/17/dominic-raab-news-foreign-secretary-taliban-kabul
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Aruntraveller on August 17, 2021, 03:49:19 PM
Crete. On a beach, apparently.
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Nearly Sane on August 17, 2021, 04:08:55 PM
Crete. On a beach, apparently.
The idea that this was a complete unknown possibility is baffling. The car had been accerelarating for a couple of months.
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Nearly Sane on August 18, 2021, 12:29:12 PM
Stonking speech from Tom Tugendhat



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niR_9VacIEE


Idiotic comment from Desmond Swayne


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT47maiEd6I
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Aruntraveller on August 18, 2021, 01:28:30 PM
Desmond Swayne is a twat.

If I were a gay man in Afghanistan and I had the resources I would be out of their now. I would be running for my life. A shame most of them haven't got the resources.

https://inews.co.uk/opinion/when-we-know-lgbt-people-are-about-to-be-slaughtered-in-afghanistan-our-government-must-act-1155516

Prediction: Our government will, of course, make all the right noises about getting people out to safety and then proceed to put up as many barriers to getting them out as it can.

Gay people won't get out because how do you prove you are gay if you've been hiding it for fear of being found out anyway. I believe this may be a Catch 22 situation.
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Nearly Sane on August 19, 2021, 05:36:17 PM
I've done daily calls and worked on holiday when I was working on minor IT implementations. But Dom R, not so much


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/19/utterly-shameful-labour-asks-if-dominic-raab-should-stay-after-afghanistan-delays
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Aruntraveller on August 22, 2021, 09:03:28 AM
Interesting poll on the view of the situation in the UK:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/21/half-of-britons-think-us-troop-withdrawal-from-afghanistan-was-wrong?

Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Udayana on August 22, 2021, 11:40:29 AM
Interesting poll on the view of the situation in the UK:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/21/half-of-britons-think-us-troop-withdrawal-from-afghanistan-was-wrong?

Bidens created a disastrous shambles. Even aside from the wrong headed political and strategic aspects, the implementation is incompetent and careless.

At least, with Trump, there was push back against his most stupid ideas. It was awful seeing Harris and Blinken standing, immobile and/or unmoved, behind Biden at the last press conf.     

Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Spud on August 23, 2021, 06:15:11 PM
Apparently the Western military left behind some guns, which the hairy nutters have got hold of. Isis having done the same thing in Iraq, we should have foreseen that happening. Big lesson to learn.
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Aruntraveller on August 23, 2021, 07:12:47 PM
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/jesus-christ-portrait-heinrich-hofmann.html

They get everywhere don't they?
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Nearly Sane on August 25, 2021, 03:19:37 PM
Dominic Raab and The Closed Sea



https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/breaking-raab-insists-didnt-go-24832477
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Nearly Sane on August 26, 2021, 11:30:52 AM

Want to escape the Taliban? Call the washing machine repair hotline


https://www.thenational.scot/news/19535969.home-office-responds-complaints-emergency-afghanistan-helpline/
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Roses on August 26, 2021, 03:56:17 PM
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-58279900

Explosions and gun fire outside Kabul airport, people have been killed and injured! :o
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: SweetPea on August 27, 2021, 03:05:16 PM
Thursday’s twin attacks were claimed by the Islamic State Khorasan Province, or IS-K.

While there is a peripheral connection between Islamic State (IS) militants and the Taliban, there are also major differences and IS will present a major security challenge for the incoming Afghan government.

IS accuses the Taliban of abandoning Jihad, and disillusioned members of the Afghan Taliban have defected to the extremist group.

                                                                                  from BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner

In another report (sorry, cannot remember where) it commentated that IS-K was considered a bigger threat than the Taliban.

Very, very worrying....
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Nearly Sane on August 28, 2021, 12:58:58 PM
Raab and Johnson would appear not to he human.



https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/boris-johnson-dominic-raab-blasted-24858600
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Udayana on August 28, 2021, 04:35:47 PM
Raab and Johnson would appear not to he human.



https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/boris-johnson-dominic-raab-blasted-24858600

Ah ... these must be the robots designed to be moronic so they don't cause the masses to panic?
Title: Re: Afghanistan: Taliban take 10th provincial capital as Ghazni falls
Post by: Udayana on August 28, 2021, 04:38:50 PM
No more worries ... Biden has blown up some foreigners near Pakistan, so back to situation normal.