Afghanistan - Taliban Enter Kabul - Will Announce Interim Government
All cities are now in Taliban hands as are all border crossings. President Ashraf Ghani has resigned.

Fixing Failed States: A Framework for Rebuilding a Fractured World Paperback – 6 Oct. 2009
English edition by Ashraf Ghani
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A new interim government will be announced as soon as Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar arrives in Kabul. The U.S. is frantically evacuating its embassy.
Remarks by President Biden on the drawdown of U.S.forces in Afghanistan - July 6, 2021
Q Is a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan now inevitable?THE PRESIDENT: No, it is not.
Q Why?
THE PRESIDENT: Because you — the Afghan troops have 300,000 well-equipped — as well-equipped as any army in the world — and an air force against something like 75,000 Taliban. It is not inevitable.
...
Q Mr. President, will you amplify that question, please? Will you amplify your answer, please — why you don’t trust the Taliban?THE PRESIDENT: It’s a — it’s a silly question. Do I trust the Taliban? No. But I trust the capacity of the Afghan military, who is better trained, better equipped, and more re- — more competent in terms of conducting war.
...
Q Mr. President, some Vietnamese veterans see echoes of their experience in this withdrawal in Afghanistan. Do you see any parallels between this withdrawal and what happened in Vietnam, with some people feeling —THE PRESIDENT: None whatsoever. Zero. What you had is — you had entire brigades breaking through the gates of our embassy — six, if I’m not mistaken.
The Taliban is not the south — the North Vietnamese army. They’re not — they’re not remotely comparable in terms of capability. There’s going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of a embassy in the — of the United States from Afghanistan. It is not at all comparable.
It is not at all comparable. This is a totally different ... type of helicopter.
Taliban enters Kabul, awaits ‘peaceful transfer’ of power - August 15, 2021

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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban fighters entered the outskirts of the Afghan capital on Sunday and said they were awaiting a “peaceful transfer” of the city after promising not to take it by force, but panicked residents raced to the leave, with workers fleeing government offices and helicopters landing at the U.S. Embassy.In a nationwide offensive that has taken just over a week, the Taliban has defeated, co-opted or sent Afghan security forces fleeing from wide swaths of the country, even though they had some air support from the U.S. military.
On Sunday, they reached Kabul.
Gregg Carlstrom @glcarlstrom - 6:22 AM · Aug 15, 2021Boggles the mind that every single person involved in the post-9/11 fiasco has not gone into seclusion, made a public apology, committed seppuku, something, anything. There's more accountability for a McDonald's franchisee than the foreign policy/national security establishment.
Moon of Alabama @MoonofA - 5:37 UTC · Aug 15, 2021What is in the back room deal the U.S. has made with the Taliban?
Posted by b on August 15, 2021 at 10:34 UTC | Permalink
next page »Afghanistan
this is the end...
When the music's over
Turn out the lights
Taliban Says It Will Not Enter Kabul by Force Amid uncertainty in Kabul and fears that the city will collapse, the Taliban in a statement on Sunday said it will not enter the city of Kabul by force.The group said that talks are underway with the other side to negotiate entering Kabul in a way to prevent harm to the people.
The Taliban ordered its members to wait near the Kabul gates and not try to enter the city.
The Taliban said the government will be responsible for the security of Kabul until "the transition process" is done
Taliban said it is not seeking revenge and that all civilian and military officials will remain safe.
Acting Interior Minister Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal said Kabul will not be attacked and that the transition will happen peacefully.
Posted by: Rêver | Aug 15 2021 10:45 utc | 2
Afghanistan
this is the end...
When the music's over
Turn out the lights
Taliban Says It Will Not Enter Kabul by Force Amid uncertainty in Kabul and fears that the city will collapse, the Taliban in a statement on Sunday said it will not enter the city of Kabul by force.The group said that talks are underway with the other side to negotiate entering Kabul in a way to prevent harm to the people.
The Taliban ordered its members to wait near the Kabul gates and not try to enter the city.
The Taliban said the government will be responsible for the security of Kabul until "the transition process" is done
Taliban said it is not seeking revenge and that all civilian and military officials will remain safe.
Acting Interior Minister Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal said Kabul will not be attacked and that the transition will happen peacefully.
Posted by: Rêver | Aug 15 2021 10:46 utc | 3
I don't think there is a back room deal going on. US is nonagreement capable, so any and all earlier deals were broken, Taliban knows it, so it is now going to clean and humiliate US completely out. They probably want 9/11 to be without singe US soldier on Afghan soil.
Real question is, what deals China and Russia (via intermediaries like Iran) have with Taliban.
Posted by: Abe | Aug 15 2021 10:55 utc | 4
How incredibly fast is History written.
As b suggests, perhaps too fast to be true. What’s behind the simplistic tale of the irresistible path of resistance forces? Who’s pulling these strings?
Do we see SCO in action? Tomorrow’s world? Or anorher iteration of USian madness?
Melted feelings, somewhere between rapture and fear.
Posted by: HerrHesser | Aug 15 2021 11:05 utc | 5
Am sorry Biden did not take Erdogan up on his offer to protect Kabul. Perhaps this is wishful thinking, but IMHO the Taliban would have made mincemeat of the Turks- drones or no drones- which might have ended the 'Sultan's' aspirations of a greater Central Asian Turkish empire, weakened him in the eyes of the Turkish people, and maybe sobered up Aliyev.
Posted by: axel | Aug 15 2021 11:21 utc | 7
Three months days!
Intelligence, what's that?
WASHINGTON/KABUL, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Taliban fighters could isolate Afghanistan's capital in 30 days and possibly take it over within 90, a U.S. defence official cited U.S. intelligence as saying, as the resurgent militants made more advances across the country.The official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity on Wednesday, said the new assessment of how long Kabul could stand was a result of the Taliban's rapid gains as U.S.-led foreign forces leave.
"But this is not a foregone conclusion," the official added, saying that the Afghan security forces could reverse the momentum by putting up more resistance.
Posted by: Rêver | Aug 15 2021 11:37 utc | 8
What is in the back room deal the U.S. has made with the Taliban?Thierry Meyssan's opinion is that was dealed as Yalta 2, a few weeks ago in Genf.
Seems not soo wet dreams now
Posted by: Rêver | Aug 15 2021 11:44 utc | 9
Very disappointing to see the Taliban fighters not wearing masks & social distancing.
Don't they know about the extra deadly highly contagious delta aka
Indian variant?
Posted by: Bolsover | Aug 15 2021 11:46 utc | 10
Arch Bungle #1
Thank you and my shout too. I am so disgusted at the two decades of wasted lives wasted effort and dashed expectations that so many Afghans had for a western alliance and it all turned to crap. This is truly a disgrace beyond description.
So many Afghan people invested their future in the quisling governments and the lures of prosperity and advancement and now have to set out on a very different road. Today there is no knowing the nature of this new Taliban patriotic government but it will reveal its spots in the next week or two. I simply trust that it holds the betterment of all Afghanis as its primary achievement.
It seems like the transfer is calm enough to ensure continued food and services supply.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Aug 15 2021 11:48 utc | 11
It took some 20 years, but once again, my foresight is vindicated.
Back before the invasion of Afghanistan, during it, and right after (when the Brits and US were cheering on about what a great "victory" they had achieved) I said, repeatedly, something to the effect of:
"The Taliban are the only people who can rule Afghanistan. They were the rulers who fought the US, and they will be the forces that defeat the US to be the rulers of Afghanistan once again."
I got kicked out of quite a few online forae, "news" outlets, and comment threads for that.
I'm interested in how long it's going to take the historians to recognize that the protesters against the war were all precisely correct in their criticisms and warnings--and how they were sidelined by what can only be described as fascist oligarchs and their corporate tools.
Posted by: Pacifica Advocate | Aug 15 2021 11:48 utc | 12
Taliban enters Afghanistan's Kabul; Prez Ghani not resigning, spokesperson tells WION WION Web Team Kabul, AfghanistanBut who cares?
In a recorded video, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani has urged government troops to maintain and follow Kabul law."It is our responsibility and we will do it in the best possible manner. Anyone who thinks about chaos, plunder or looting will be tackled with force," he said.
While Eurasia history on the move
Aug 15, 2021, 04:58 PM [Afghanistan time]
"We will respect rights of women...our policy is that women will have access to education and work, to wear the hijab," Taliban Spokesman Suhail Shaheen said on live BBC report.He also urged locals to stay in the country, rather than fleeing to different parts of the world. "No one should leave the country...we need all the talents and capacity, we need all of us to stay in the country and participate."
Posted by: Rêver | Aug 15 2021 11:56 utc | 13
Pacifica Advocate #12
YES to that. The fascist monkeys in the wests invasion of Afghanistan silenced all the naysayers and the wisdom of peace. There is no moment of glory for the West here just war crimes, crimes against humanity, emptied treasuries, lies and deception and a totally exposed lying media.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Aug 15 2021 11:57 utc | 14
are there any livestreams from kabul airport?
is someone twitting pics? it would be nice to see how busy are the us-troops....
Posted by: prneost | Aug 15 2021 11:59 utc | 15
All Biden and company need to do now is bring Baghdad Bob out of retirement. He can make all the official US Government statements regarding the Afghan forces destroying the Taliban.
Posted by: Russian Asset | Aug 15 2021 12:03 utc | 16
It means we took them up on their offer. Stop the bombing and shutup and leave, and we won't take you all as hostages in Kabul. Smart move, finally.
Posted by: Bemildred | Aug 15 2021 12:11 utc | 17
When I walked along the shores of Manila Bay and observed the US embassy and the Manilla Yacht Club, I couldn't help noticing the dedications to Admr. Samuel Morisin, esteemed US military historian and grandfather of JIM:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17mrIFZM3UU
Other attractions of Manila are the upmarket area of the financial district of of Makati, including 'Rockwell', named after the US admiral ancestor of USN, Commander George Lincoln Rockwell Rockwell, assassinated American Nazi leader.
Isn't life strange?
Enjoy the JIM audio.
Posted by: Paul | Aug 15 2021 12:15 utc | 18
It always rains in the wet season, particularly around 3PM.
Posted by: Paul | Aug 15 2021 12:45 utc | 20
From my U.S. citizen perspective, the main significance of the Afghanistan (writ small) and Empire (macro) devolution is to put in graphic, readily-observable form the erosion of the strategy of predation.
The predation of "elites" upon the general welfare of everyone else. The world is hip to the moves, and we're seeing an example of yet another society escaping from the clutches of one set of "elites". What the next Afghan or Iranian or Russian or Chinese "elite" does is very interesting. And we'll all watch closely.
What I, as a U.S. citizen find most immediately interesting is to watch and participate in the evolution of my own culture's identity, values, culture, and capacity.
How do we react to the obvious, continuing, costly failures of our society's current political policy? That policy is one of elites feeding upon the momentary weakness of others. How do we evolve beyond that timeless, boundary-less ethic?
The first step in that evolutionary process is to develop a more-perfect situational awareness. That's why I come to sites like MOA - to get different information, so I can re-shape my world-view. I know that the info I get from the channels controlled by my local elite is compromised, so I go elsewhere.
There's a contingent of people here in the U.S. that know all this, that read history, that understand that our role and identity are misguided. Many of the most vehement critics of U.S. policy on MOA are U.S. citizens, and as some posters have pointed out, that criticism carries some risks.
So for the U.S. citizens who are reading MOA, I salute you. For those of you that defend what's good about the U.S., I encourage you.
As we watch this drama of unshackling happen, let's ask ourselves what we can learn from it. How will we develop accurate, well-grounded world-views? How do we formulate a new philosophy that will provide a strong, constructive and durable policy for how our society relates to the world going forward?
There are some posters on this board that do a great job of appealing to the slumbering "best angels" of the U.S. citizenry. Max comes to mind; I don't agree with some aspects of Max's delivery, but the sentiment of re-awakening of the great ethos that we U.S. citizens occasionally exhibited is laudable. Keep it up, Maxes of the U.S. Your courage and intelligence and good-will are noted and much appreciated.
I call on U.S. people to draw inspiration and renewed hope from the courage and determination and endurance of the Afghan people as we contemplate our own struggle to become a better-adapted, more emotionally evolved society. Our main adversaries aren't "elites". The "adversary" - if you want to use polarizing language - is "human nature"
That gets fixed one decision, one value-judgement, one new realization at a time.
Thanks, b, for MOA. It's a great forum, and it's moving the needle.
Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Aug 15 2021 12:55 utc | 21
Well, from 1 year to 6 months to 90 days to 30 days to 72 hours to 72 minutes, it has been quite a journey. And it inky took 2 weeks!
(Ergo, time travel is real.)
Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Aug 15 2021 13:01 utc | 22
To quote a source who I can't remember (think it was from an MoA post, thanks):
"When they are shooting at you as you leave, you lost."
Posted by: Perimetr | Aug 15 2021 13:05 utc | 23
Well, so much for 'intel'? Too busy cooking up Navalny and Russiagate schemes to notice the real world?
And what about the media 'analysts'? Who predicted this, even two weeks ago?
Is Martin Jay on twitter, anyone? Yesterday his article in Strategic Culture called begged for US bombing...or Kabul could fall in 90 days! 🤡
Posted by: Gordog | Aug 15 2021 13:07 utc | 24
Btw, the Afghan army 'can still win,' says Biden!
And in other news...Trump to be reinstated as president, says Q. 😹
Posted by: Gordog | Aug 15 2021 13:13 utc | 25
Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Aug 15 2021 12:55 utc | 21
As an outside observer, keep on your path.
Good on you for looking for a better way, we are better than the alternative.
Posted by: Paul | Aug 15 2021 13:14 utc | 26
Serious question: when the US State Department invites tenders for the design and construction of US Embassies do they include a line-item that says that it is a requirement that the roof be capable of supporting the weight of a Chinook helicopter?
You know, just in case.....
Posted by: Yeah, Right | Aug 15 2021 13:16 utc | 27
Well it took 20 years but the Taliban has successfully driven out the US and the Collective West has nothing to show for it's 20 year occupation over than billions of dollars in Opium they are feeding to their own citizens and Trillions of dollars in unpayable debt. Still waiting for the "Saigon Moment" that will symbolize the complete failure of the US Empire's Afghanistan adventure, right now I think the image of dust covered, ragged Taliban soldiers holding a tea party (complete with solid Gold Tea set) in the luxurious mansion of General Dostum in one of the world's poorest countries perfectly sums up the outrageous level of corruption the US occupation brought to Afghanistan. But let's see if something even more evocative of US failure appears.
P.S. I've noticed that google has been scrubbing images and stories about General Dostum Gold Tea set, thank god for RT carrying the images and videos! link to RT story
Posted by: Kadath | Aug 15 2021 13:21 utc | 28
Yeah Right, NO!
This is nothing like Saigon! The 25-acre Kabul embassy has a perfectly good helipad!
Posted by: Gordog | Aug 15 2021 13:22 utc | 29
Erdo’s offer to protect the Kabul airport was a total BS no one too serious, it was Erdo’s attempt to make himself relevant on every regional affair. Erdo and his Americano puppet masters know if Taliban captured or killed a few Turk soldiers in the airport Turkey
and his scraping NATO allies can’t help or do anything unless Erdo is going to fight Taliban in war of words from a good distance. Turkey has no capacity to fight non bordering countries.
western audience has got lazily comfortable with hearing propaganda of any sort as long as they don’t need to use their brain to analyze.
Posted by: Kooshy | Aug 15 2021 13:28 utc | 30
For the record The Hill has a fig leaf main headline on their front page. https://thehill.com/
Big picture of Biden with the words
Senate backlog of Biden nominees frustrates White House
splashed over his picture.
In other words "look here", oh, headline-readers, "don't look at that little box below".
Below is a much, much smaller picture of tiny helicopter in the skies over some buildings (presumably Kabul)
with the words below it, "Taliban enter Kabul as US embassy staff evacuates".
Weak attempt to distract the headline-readers from a big story with a non-story.
---------
Now we can see why congress critters and past presidents didn't want to end that futile war.
It was all about the headlines, the political blow back. It was all about the politicians careers.
That was the purpose of all those futile years and years and years.
Sleepy Joe (his keepers, actually) timed this as far away from the 2024 Presidential election as possible. I expect he expected the "Afghan army" to
hold on until after the November 2021 minor midterm elections.
Posted by: librul | Aug 15 2021 13:28 utc | 31
On the very day that the Northern Alliance took Kabul on 2001 I predicted the inevitable return of the Taliban. In 2013 on my comic strip I had a character - an American soldier - say "ten minutes after we leave the Taliban will be back in power."
I was wrong, the Taliban were back in power before they left. Excuse me.
Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Aug 15 2021 13:31 utc | 32
Let's recap recent talking points:
Thousands of PMCs...hybrid warfare...drone bases in Uzbekistan...Turk soldiers guarding airport...B52 carpet bombing?
What happened to all of those soap bubbles?
Posted by: Gordog | Aug 15 2021 13:34 utc | 33
I suspect that whoever gave the command for that Chinook to land on the roof must have done it deliberately, knowing the PR disaster that’s sure to follow. His way of gaining a little revenge for all of his fallen comrades during this utterly idiotic war?
Posted by: Andrew Ho | Aug 15 2021 13:48 utc | 34
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Aug 15 2021 11:48 utc | 11
Today there is no knowing the nature of this new Taliban patriotic government but it will reveal its spots in the next week or two.
I believe that Afghanistan under the Taliban will follow the same evolutionary cycle that almost every state in the world must follow to reach modernity and some semblance of utopia:
There will be many atrocities, barbarities, injustices and tragedies during the next few years, perhaps decades under the Taliban, just like there always is when new states are formed.
However, as long as the West (and everyone else too!) stays the hell out of that region the Afghan state will eventually modernise, along with the corresponding improvements in human rights and quality of life.
The only thing that can stop this evolutionary path towards a modern, self sufficient government of and for the Afghan people is interference from foreign powers. The kind of interference that would boot them straight back down the evolutionary cycle every time they appear to be making some progress.
The US too, emerged from "Rule By Taliban":
Picture the stoning/burning/branding of adulterers and 'immoral' women, the Salem witch trials, slavery and the lynching of blacks and others and you'll realise that even "The Greatest Country on Earth" began as something resembling a medieval theocracy.
The same with Great Britain and most European countries ... for some reason this is forgotten when it comes to Islamic countries, we in the West demand that they become immediately what we want them to become, on a schedule suitable to us while forgetting that we had thousands of years to learn from similar mistakes and the good fortune to not have our cultural evolutionary cycle interrupted too many times.
Given a few decades of peace, barring any further foreign interference, I predict Afghanistan will become a force to be admired.
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Aug 15 2021 13:48 utc | 35
Well, so much for 'intel'? Too busy cooking up Navalny and Russiagate schemes to notice the real world?
...
Posted by: Gordog | Aug 15 2021 13:07 utc | 24
Nailed it!
The essence of Mock Democracy.
We're busy doin' nothin'
Workin' the whole day through
Tryin' to find lots of bullshit to brew
We're busy goin' nowhere
Isn't it just a crime
We'd like to be unhappy, but
We never do have the time
I have to watch the river
To see that it doesn't stop
And stick around the rosebuds
So they'll know when to pop
And keep the crickets cheerful
They're really a solemn bunch
Hustle, bustle
And only an hour for lunch
I have to wake the Sun up
He's liable to sleep all day
And then inspect the rainbows
So they'll be bright and gay
I must rehearse the songbirds
To see that they sing in key
Hustle, bustle
And never a moment free.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Aug 15 2021 13:48 utc | 36
# 33 Gordog
No more useful Carpet Bombing
Flying Carpet urgently needed
Posted by: Rêver | Aug 15 2021 13:49 utc | 37
THE only reason ALL US/Western’s policies in west Asia region have failed in this past forty years (regardless of fall of USSR and US’ self declared sole superpower) is her animosity toward Iranian revolution and not accepting Iran as an independent regional power. incoming years US and her western allies will have even more difficulty in western
and central Asia if they continue their current behavior toward Iran, Geography can’t be changed it’s all on the map Iran is THE key central country for security peace and commerce in western Asia. Unfortunately this western animosity toward Iran and her culture has existed for over 25 centuries and wouldn’t change soon.
Posted by: Kooshy | Aug 15 2021 13:50 utc | 38
Thank you, b, fantastic work!
The helicopter pun is priceless. At least this time, they made sure to re-enforce the roof, right, so heavier helicopters can land there. If that ain't progress...
@ Rêver | 3
"When the music's over
Turn out the lights"
Epic song, thanx for bringing it up. I had some of the lines come to my mind a couple of days ago, I don't know why. "Cancel my subscription to the resurrection... Send my credentials to the house of detention..." Guess I've always liked these, especially.
Posted by: Scotch Bingeington | Aug 15 2021 13:57 utc | 40
I like that picture of the helicopter over the US Embassy in Kabul
.....fumes from that Chinook smell of victory....
adios all US plans to dominate (or have any influence in) Central Asia and to try to f*ck over Russia, China and Iran and their cooperation etc etc.
Posted by: michaelj72 | Aug 15 2021 14:00 utc | 41
What's next after this embarrassment?
Will the Pentagon be under pressure to show a victory someplace else in the world? It wont be Russia, China or Iran. Those are too risky. Even Venezuela and Cuba will run the risk of a long drawn out war. The target will be someplace much smaller. On the scale of Grenada maybe.
Posted by: Littlereddot | Aug 15 2021 14:03 utc | 43
The helicopter pun is priceless. At least this time, they made sure to re-enforce the roof, right, so heavier helicopters can land there. If that ain't progress...Now if only there were a safe place to land those helicopters . . .
Posted by: corvo | Aug 15 2021 14:03 utc | 44
"What is in the back room deal the U.S. has made with the Taliban?
Thierry Meyssan's opinion is that was dealed as Yalta 2, a few weeks ago in Genf.
Seems not soo wet dreams now
: Rêver | Aug 15 2021 11:44 utc | 9
What OTHER deals were made in Geneva during that meeting between Putin and Biden?
Posted by: Stonebird | Aug 15 2021 14:04 utc | 45
The US embassy, btw., has been upgraded by Obama in 2009, for stunning 775 billion US Dollar. Oops.
Posted by: aquadraht | Aug 15 2021 14:07 utc | 46
@Posted by: Arch Bungle | Aug 15 2021 13:48 utc | 35
Sorry, but you need to actually study the history of the Middle East. In the post-WW2 period many of these nations were well on their way to modernity, including Afghanistan (the socialist regime that was overthrown by the US-backed warlords), as well as Iran, Iraq, and Syria. The West destroyed these and also directly fostered the religious fanatics (as with the Mujahideen in Afghanistan). The Saudi Arabian theocratic monarchy was put in place by the Brits and the US, and they have been the biggest funders of the Wahhabi head-choppers.
The Othering of the whole Muslim world is disgusting propaganda. Go visit Malaysia, a Moslem nation or even Iran. You will be surprised by the "modernity" there. The European nations and US only became "civilized" at home, their crimes abroad include concentration camps, Agent Orange, and the bombing of civilian targets to drive countries "back to the Stone Age" (a war crime); something now giving way as seen in France where hand grenades are used to blow off demonstrators hands and rubber bullets to blind them and a US where death by cop is a definite risk and mass shootings happen on a regular basis.
Posted by: Roger | Aug 15 2021 14:12 utc | 47
Bye-bye empire!
History made right before our eyes. After the failures in Venezuela, Peru, Cuba, Yemen, Ukraine, Myanmar, and the stumbling about in Syria & Iraq comes this complete and utter humiliation. This is the end of empire, no it’s not a matter of time, it’s now.
The parallel with Saigon is very funny, but in reality, this is very different. Viet Nam was a war reluctantly inherited from the French, with no clear objectives. This was a war of choice, with a clear geopolitical agenda.
The USA that lost in 1975 was a declining power in economic terms (GDP/world), but a superpower in technology and industrial production. That is no longer the case. The only thing making the US ‘the indispensable nation’ was the mirage of a military might matched by no one. That image has now been shattered by a poorly armed guerilla movement in one of the poorest countries of the world that kept its resistance up for 20 years.
As a revolutionary Marxist a am no friend of the Taliban, and mourn the quarter of a million dead, but tonight I celebrate.
Posted by: Jörgen Hassler | Aug 15 2021 14:13 utc | 48
Gordog | Aug 15 2021 13:34 utc | 33
Original Bubbles by Vera Lynn. (WWII)
Sound only; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ97jkVnX0A
Or the version by Dean Martin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfvegiuYHB4
End-of-war-song.
Posted by: Stonebird | Aug 15 2021 14:13 utc | 49
Ouuu...that is a keeper for sure!
@Posted by: Scotch Bingeington | Aug 15 2021 13:57 utc | 40
At least this time, they made sure to re-enforce the roof, right, so heavier helicopters can land there. If that ain't progress...
Wow! Keeeeper!
The past decades have seen US progress in embassy roofs better able to handle more and heavier evacuation helicopters.
----
Schools are scraping math as a subject, next we need to figure out how to design roofs without math.
Make that a major in colleges: embassy roof construction. Or can we import those from China?
Posted by: librul | Aug 15 2021 14:21 utc | 50
@Perimetr | Aug 15 2021 13:05 utc | 23
I stole that from someone else and posted it here some time ago :-)
But I don't think they shot at the US this time, but still they lost.
Posted by: Norwegian | Aug 15 2021 14:25 utc | 51
Stonebird, THANKS!
Vera Lynn...man oh man. Yeah, that was music! 👍
Of course today we have Cardi B, lol!
Posted by: Gordog | Aug 15 2021 14:26 utc | 52
President Ashraf Ghani has resigned.
Ghani has reportedly fled to Tajikistan, possibly on a US plane. No doubt he will end up in Washington.
This still seems to be somewhat swirling in rumours, clarity has not fully descended yet, as far as I can see. Maybe they are still arguing over a few details. The Taliban say they expect an "unconditional surrender", but if there are still negotiations that doesn't seem very unconditional.
Posted by: BM | Aug 15 2021 14:30 utc | 53
@Posted by: uncle tungsten | Aug 15 2021 11:48 utc | 11
"So many Afghan people invested their future in the quisling governments and the lures of prosperity and advancement and now have to set out on a very different road.."
Worst, IMO, have it some Westyern citizens who invested theur future for generations and more decades in the Western project, finding themselves outlawed for just nmot being willing to be innoculated with experimental drugs already causing remarkable damage plus no offering such protection as claimed, and now have to set out in a very different road, including exile ( to where? )
"It seems like the transfer is calm enough to ensure continued food and services supply."
Which is more than we Westerners can say, as the current supply crisis unleashes, especially provoked by retention of shipments at US ports and the galloping prices in basics like electricity provoked by oligopolies´especulation under the laissez faire of Western governments...
Posted by: Asha K. | Aug 15 2021 14:32 utc | 54
People at geopolitical sites stating the image is not only not comparable, but worst than the Saigon moment...
Posted by: Asha K. | Aug 15 2021 14:33 utc | 55
The US embassy, btw., has been upgraded by Obama in 2009, for stunning 775 billion US Dollar. Oops.
Posted by: aquadraht | Aug 15 2021 14:07 utc | 46
Even for an insane military bidget as the US likely have, this seem a bit much...
Posted by: radiator | Aug 15 2021 14:34 utc | 56
Thank you, Tom, for your excellent posting #Tom Pfotzer | Aug 15 2021 12:55 utc | 21
N
This is probably the right time for American citizens, but also for all citizens of the Western Empire, to question OUR WAY OF LIFE.
I have little hope of success, however, as the defeat is not painful enough.
The entry point of a new philosophy should be the construction of a real anti-war movement. Not because the war is dirty and causes casualties among our children, but on the only two issues that matter.
*What are the trillions spent for and what are they building for the future of mankind?
* To whom do these trillions spent serve and how does the concentration of wealth serve mankind ?
Max is right, the monetary issue is central.
Marx is right, the exploitation of man by man is central.
But any urgent solution, BLM, Feminismus, Green new deal, socialism now or LGBTQ**, is manipulative.
It’s not yet a question of deciding where to go, but of knowing where you don’t want to be led anymore [by Pinocchio’s nose].
MoA is really indispensable for this reflection, especially since Bernhard lets the Covid-19 narrative be criticized.
Human societies can no longer coexist if 80% of the wealth produced is sucked up by 20% of humanity [and it is us, we profit from it, to argue about it is to collaborate with those who command us]. Even less if 1% of the richest people concentrate 99% of the wealth, technology and power on humans.
It is not a question of compensating, restoring or rebalancing.
Advanced societies must devote all resources to the development of others by providing them with access to education, training, food and industrial self-sufficiency, infrastructure, water and sanitation... In short, everything that has been built in OUR environment on the colonial, imperial and racist plundering of THEIR environment.
The search for happiness has no place for us if they don’t have access to it.
Posted by: Rêver | Aug 15 2021 14:34 utc | 57
Thanks b. It's hilarious watching the “Americans” puddle themselves with excuses, lies and finger pointing. But, never, never, never any accountability. Cheney, Bush et all should be put up against walls and shot. Obama for his continued war crimes should spend his life in The Hague. Trump for all his blather is just another cold blooded killer And Biden? Doing the right thing for the wrong reasons is not a 'win.' All US Presidents in the modern era are war criminals. The US War Economy run by the military-industrial-congressional-media complex is a betrayal of humanity. The entire Establishment needs to be dumped into the waste bin of history.
Posted by: gottlieb | Aug 15 2021 14:45 utc | 58
@21 Tom
Hear! Hear!
A great post.
A thought that comes to mind is that there are two types of Americans. For one, America's ongoing collapse is the stuff of nightmares. The more pronounced our disorder appears, the more accute the pain in acknowledgement that world spirit is falling away from the U.S.
For myself and others, the realization that we have been in fact living in the belly of a nightmare all along had been arrived at long ago. Neoliberalism, globalism, military-adventurism: one can not adequately put into words the damage that these forces have wrought upon the American psyche.
All I can say is that The U.S. is now most clearly exiting stage left from the highest seat of power and relinquishing their hold on world spirit (geist) which they have vainly tried to subjugate and lock away. All empires attemp this at their power's height. Fukuyama's "End of History" has happened many times before where an empire will declare victory over Geist. But the reward of this type of hubris is utter failure, collapse, and bankruptcy.
Therefore, I rejoice today like the philosopher in Plato's Allegory of the Cave, knowing there is a stinging pain from emerging from the cave followed by a desire to seat oneself back within it. But that will not be an option as U.S. Leadership continues to reveal itself as feckless and as a paper tiger.
We are ever gradually awakening from this nightmare. My only deep concern is whether or not the architects of this globalist paradigm who used Uncle Sambo as their Golem to subdue world spirit will go quietly.
My terrible hunch is that the turning-over of the poker table looms where the angry players have concluded the house is no longer enabling their cheating-ways.
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Aug 15 2021 14:48 utc | 59
Lying is an important tool for the Leader of any group, tribe, or Country, for at least two distinct reasons:
1) Leaders must negotiate with Leaders of other groups, and in that capacity, unlimited honesty is a disadvantage.
2) Leaders often have to choose between options where there is some evil in any choice. We The People - most of us, at least - don't want responsibility for that blood on our hands. We want our Leaders to lie to us, and tell us that We Are Good People, and to brush the dirt under the rug.
When Biden lied about expecting our Afghan puppets withstanding the Taliban, he was just doing his job.
Posted by: elkern | Aug 15 2021 14:57 utc | 60
Posted by: Roger | Aug 15 2021 14:12 utc | 47
Sorry, but you need to actually study the history of the Middle East. In the post-WW2 period many of these nations were well on their way to modernity, including Afghanistan (the socialist regime that was overthrown by the US-backed warlords), as well as Iran, Iraq, and Syria. The West destroyed these and also directly fostered the religious fanatics (as with the Mujahideen in Afghanistan). The Saudi Arabian theocratic monarchy was put in place by the Brits and the US, and they have been the biggest funders of the Wahhabi head-choppers.
Nothing I said excludes or contradicts what you're saying above, in fact it is premised upon this understanding ... Not sure how you got the opposite idea?
The Othering of the whole Muslim world is disgusting propaganda.
An opinion and view I hold myself. Yet, "Othering" is a real phenomenon and a factor in the dynamics between "The West" and the "Islamic world".
Go visit Malaysia, a Moslem nation or even Iran. You will be surprised by the "modernity" there.The European nations and US only became "civilized" at home, their crimes abroad include concentration camps, Agent Orange, and the bombing of civilian targets to drive countries "back to the Stone Age" (a war crime); something now giving way as seen in France where hand grenades are used to blow off demonstrators hands and rubber bullets to blind them and a US where death by cop is a definite risk and mass shootings happen on a regular basis.
While I am in agreement with these points, none of it is I was referring to.
I'm speaking particularly about the rights and treatment of women and children, religious rights and the fairness of the legal system - those indexes the Islamic world lags behind the West in.
"Civilised at home" is exactly what the West has and what the Islamic world needs more of. That fact cannot be denied regardless of how barbaric western countries are outside their own borders..
None of this is to ascribe any level of superiority to the West, as you well point out, the West falls severely short in certain areas of human rights.
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Aug 15 2021 14:59 utc | 61
What news of the tens of thousands of US military contractors theoretically still in the country who were supposed to be the guarantors of order (shit stirrers) for the coming years?
Posted by: Paul Damascene | Aug 15 2021 15:02 utc | 62
Posted by: elkern | Aug 15 2021 14:57 utc | 60
The power of someone's lies is only just as strong as his credibility he built up in telling the truth.
Read listen to the boy who cried wolf.
Posted by: Lucci | Aug 15 2021 15:05 utc | 63
You all taught me a lot about poetry. Something important.
But I have a riddle for you.
The left is on the right and the right is on the left.
What am I?
Also, will the Taliban do an about face on tolerance within one month?
I can't tell. This above I expected but my opinion carries little weight.
Thanks for the memories, y'all made me return to the Killing Fields. This prompted my question.
Why did Vietnam save them? The Cambodians?
Posted by: David G Horsman | Aug 15 2021 15:10 utc | 64
@Gordog | Aug 15 2021 13:52 utc | 39
Thanks for that. Things are moving so fast, my head is spinning.
When Afghanistan announces it is seeking to join the SCO too, that will be a scream.
Posted by: Littlereddot | Aug 15 2021 15:15 utc | 65
Tom Pfotzer @ 21
How do we formulate a new philosophy that will provide a strong, constructive and durable policy for how our society relates to the world going forward?
Government proposes policy, the masses vote on the proposed policy:
approve/disapprove <=would be a good policy.
Policy and bureaucracy have replaced the constitution and even replaced the political power of elected political representatives to oversee the policy.
Posted by: snake | Aug 15 2021 15:16 utc | 66
I have a recurring thought.
We are clearly a demographic.
We are a we.
Posted by: David G Horsman | Aug 15 2021 15:19 utc | 67
@David G Horsman | Aug 15 2021 15:10 utc | 64
Why did Vietnam save them? The Cambodians?
The Khmer Rouge were mortal enemies of Vietnam. Vietnam installed a government (Hun Sen) friendly to them.
Posted by: Norwegian | Aug 15 2021 15:19 utc | 68
Iran will become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation shortly, now that Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have agreed to the admission.
Posted by: BM | Aug 15 2021 15:22 utc | 69
Elvis has left the [country... most likely, from the roof of a] building
https://www.rt.com/news/532104-ghani-left-afghanistan/
Posted by: Et Tu | Aug 15 2021 15:23 utc | 70
WATCH US helicopters evacuate Kabul embassy as Blinken defiantly rejects Vietnam pullout comparisons
"American military helicopters have been filmed evacuating US embassy staff in Kabul, with multiple aircraft shuttling to and from the compound. The footage invoked striking similarities with the 1975 retreat from Vietnam’s Saigon."
Posted by: Norwegian | Aug 15 2021 15:26 utc | 71
@MoA " This is a totally different ... type of helicopter."
Well, not even, Chinooks were used both in Saigon and Kabul LOL
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E80XQfRVUAMH1cF?format=png&name=900x900
Posted by: Et Tu | Aug 15 2021 15:27 utc | 72
@David G Horsman | Aug 15 2021 15:10 utc | 64Why did Vietnam save them? The Cambodians?
The Khmer Rouge were mortal enemies of Vietnam. Vietnam installed a government (Hun Sen) friendly to them.Posted by: Norwegian | Aug 15 2021 15:19 utc | 68
It should also not be forgotten that American sore-loserdom was so acute that it lent diplomatic support to the Khmer Rouge against the Vietnam-backed government.
Posted by: corvo | Aug 15 2021 15:28 utc | 73
The US Govt's desperate attempts to save face are by far the funniest part of this whole ordeal. I hate the Taliban, but i must admit this is all pretty cathartic
Posted by: Midville | Aug 15 2021 15:32 utc | 74
Holy crap, they have surpassed the Viet Cong in speed.
Respect.
Posted by: Smith | Aug 15 2021 15:33 utc | 75
@corvo | Aug 15 2021 15:28 utc | 73
It should also not be forgotten that American sore-loserdom was so acute that it lent diplomatic support to the Khmer Rouge against the Vietnam-backed government.Interestingly, both China and the US supported the Khmer Rouge. I was in Cambodia two years ago and learned a bit...
Relevant for today:
Time Magazine December 17 2001 The Last Days of the Taliban
Posted by: Norwegian | Aug 15 2021 15:36 utc | 76
Ghani has already resigned "“The former Afghan president has left the nation,” Abdullah, the head of the High Council for National Reconciliation, said in a video on his Facebook page."
Abdullah is a chief negociator.. he should be well-informed when he says "former".
The Talibans have their own blitzway of negociating. After saying they won't enter the city, they now explain they must by fear of the looting that may occur (!!)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/15/taliban-continues-advances-captures-key-city-of-jalalabad
Posted by: Mina | Aug 15 2021 15:36 utc | 77
Tom Pfotzer @ 21, thank you for your post! I am only a US citizen by choice and not by birth, though my children are, and their children as well. I only have a distant memory of our greatest president in this era to look back on -- and he was afflicted greatly by polio which took him from us too soon. But his legacy lives on, even though as documented here by many, the powers awaiting his death were quick to snatch defeat from the moral victory his presidency strove towards.
The world has much to be grateful for, that happened because of his policies and did spread to make this day possible - that an invading army comes in peace. Afghanistan can go down in history as the first nation to be reborn in this manner. They can hold up their heads in great pride, surrounded as they are by other lands whose task will now be to follow their lead. What a mighty accomplishment!
Bravo to the leadership in place. Bravo to the incoming new hope. And if the UN is ever to move from its current abode, let it move to Afghanistan. For its principles of world peace are being demonstrated in that most unlikely of places as we watch.
Bravo, bravo, Afghanistan.
Posted by: juliania | Aug 15 2021 15:42 utc | 78
@ Norwegian
That's one of the darkest times in chinese history, joining hands in hands with the US to destabilize SEA and Afghanistan.
Just be glad that Xi Jinping is in power now, and not the kind like Deng.
I still hope one day the chinese can know real history about late Mao and Deng, and their betrayal to the 2nd world just because of believing the US gonna give them Taiwan.
Posted by: Smith | Aug 15 2021 15:43 utc | 79
Norwegian:
Hardly surprising that both the USA and China supported the Khmer Rouge over the Vietnam-backed government. China and Vietnam have centuries of animosity between them (remember it was Russia, not China, that lent serious support to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front), and the USA was obviously not fond of Vietnam.
The question arises as to whether this was a case of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," or whether China and the USA actively colluded in the matter. We'll probably never know for sure, although I suspect the latter.
Posted by: corvo | Aug 15 2021 15:48 utc | 80
@ corvo
They actually colluded. In the UN, US and China both championed King Sihanouk and his deposed government as the real Cambodia and sanctioned the new socialist government led by Hun Sen. This is not to mention, food aid, weaponry and training.
For 10 years, the CIA and chinese supported Pol Pot in Thailand's borders just to annoy the Viet army and the new cambodian government. Cambodia and Vietnam meanwhile have to rely on aids from Soviet and eastern Europe, which played a big part in bankrupting the USSR.
Posted by: Smith | Aug 15 2021 15:52 utc | 81
Littlereddot @ 65:
Afghanistan already has observer status in SCO.
Possibly full membership will follow after new Taliban-led government is in place and stabilized.
I have commented here that SCO fingerprints are all over what we have seen unfold in Af! This is a well-oiled machine that is much more than just the Taliban.
It is a very big joint operation with all the regional players: Russia, China, Pakistan---all SCO full members [also all the 'stans].
We have no idea how long this operation has been in the works. But that incredible story will emerge little by little in due time.
Af is a multiethnic country. Everyone was saying 'civil war.' The opposite happened.
How did Pashtun Taliban coopt ethnic Tajiks and Uzbeks...without any diplomatic [and intel] help from Russia?
Notice that Russia is NOT going to evac embassy. Only US and Nato countries.
In fact Russian defense minister Shoigu just spoke publicly in support of Taliban control of Tajik and Uzbek border areas. Big clue!
Iran coming into SCO at this precise moment in time is also a very big signal!
The writing is on the wall. Russia and China are consolidating Eurasia. And this is now becoming a no-go zone for the west!
Big changes are happening very fast!
Posted by: Gordog | Aug 15 2021 15:52 utc | 82
Acc. to Biden: The Taliban are not remotely comparable as the North Vietnamese........
This shows how weak the USA really is. They can not even win from folks fighting with knives and axes!
Posted by: Dutch | Aug 15 2021 15:54 utc | 83
@ elkern60
Total honesty is demonstrably the stronger option in today's world. Both Hezbollah and the Iranian Republic never engage in lies because that would badly damage their credibility that is based on their claims to Truth. Of course that doesn't mean these people blab about stuff. Sometimes Sheikh Nasrallah smirks a little bit and does a fan dance around some operation. Valuable facts are not disclosed, but he hints at stuff. The Iran news agencies say much less, but I've never seen any black propaganda there. So the take-home lesson from the guys with turbans (a lesson I already knew), is that the truth is the most valuable thing you can give people. And the most valuable thing you can demand from others ... is the truth.
Posted by: JessDTruth | Aug 15 2021 15:56 utc | 84
@ Dutch
The Taliban and NVA share many similarities, being super motivated infantries, who don't rely much on oil and machinery/mechanized warfare. Also superb in intelligence gathering, reconaissance and diplomacy.
Posted by: Smith | Aug 15 2021 15:56 utc | 85
@Gordog | Aug 15 2021 15:52 utc | 82
It has to be like you say. The Taliban meetings in China and Russia were more than polite hand shakes. The world island is being secured.
Posted by: Norwegian | Aug 15 2021 15:57 utc | 86
Smith says:
Just be glad that Xi Jinping is in power now, and not the kind like Deng.
Exactly! Night and day!
Posted by: Gordog | Aug 15 2021 16:08 utc | 87
Bye-bye Empire! [Redacted and expanded]
History made before our eyes. After the failures in Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba, Yemen, Ukraine, and Myanmar, the stumbling about in Syria & Iraq, and the stark diplomatic reprimands from China & Russia last spring, the US tops it all off with complete and utter humiliation. This is the end of empire, no it’s not a matter of time, it’s NOW.
The parallel with Saigon is very amusing, but in reality, what just happened is quite different. Viet Nam was a war reluctantly inherited from the French, with no clear objectives. Afghanistan has been a war of choice, with a clear geopolitical agenda.
The USA that lost in 1975 was a declining power in economic terms (GDP/world), but a superpower in technology and industrial production. That is no longer the case. The USA of 1975 was backed by a loyal cold war alliance, the USA of today is back by an everchanging and evermore reluctant ‘alliance of the willing’. The USA of 1975 could bank on the cultural leadership of Hollywood and their music industry, today no one looks to the country for leadership, and few labels its no-stop production of commercial mass sewage ‘culture’.
The only thing still making the US ‘the indispensable nation’ was the mirage of a military might matched by no one. That image has today been shattered by a meagerly armed guerilla movement in one of the poorest countries of the world that kept its resistance up for 20 years.
What we have just seen is not a gamechanger – it’s a changer of the very rules of the game. It is the end of a 20-year long nightmare, triggered by the events of 9/11. As a revolutionary Marxist I am no friend of the Taliban, and as a human being I mourn the quarter of a million killed by this colonial war, but I will leave that for tomorrow. Tonight, I celebrate!
Posted by: Jörgen Hassler | Aug 15 2021 16:08 utc | 88
thanks b... good question at the end... i would be curious about that as well..
Posted by: james | Aug 15 2021 16:11 utc | 89
The deeper meaning behind this loss is that USA is concentrating their force against China.
Now they need a Gulf War to revitalize their morale, this is actually the time when US is the most dangerous because they desperately want a military victory.
This is why China right now should not catch any bait, especially regarding Taiwan.
Posted by: Smith | Aug 15 2021 16:12 utc | 90
I don't think there's any back room deal. The Taliban is just covering all the bases in order to rule out any realistic possibility of a volte face under some 11th hour false flag operation by some rogue American agent (e.g. the assassination of some American embassy employee).
The Taliban spokesman has already publicly stated in a live interview with RT that it is going to behave like a normal nation when it takes power in Afghanistan. It is already negotiating with China on a de facto diplomatic level. Any more time in war is time lost for the Taliban, so they just want to end this quickly and start rebuilding Afghanistan.
On its part, China has already stated it is talking with the Taliban. Today, it already hinted that's what's going to happen, through its extra-official newspaper, The Global Times:
China could participate in post-war reconstruction in Afghanistan: experts by Yang Sheng
At the end of the day, Ghani don't even resigned.
Just fled. Bagram's moment.
It's not Saïgon
https://www.rt.com/news/532100-kabul-embassy-biden-saigon-moment/
Really worse. 2nd time a deadly farce
Posted by: Rêver | Aug 15 2021 16:20 utc | 92
@ Rever
Yeah, Duong Van Minh at least had the honor to tell his troops to stand down and prevent further bloodshed.
That's why he was allowed leniency.
Al Ghani is just a loudmouth coward.
Posted by: Smith | Aug 15 2021 16:23 utc | 93
Smith @90:
Come on! You don't ‘concentrate your forces’ by losing the longest war your nation ever fought. What do you think this will do to the morale of the US soldiers in Iraq and Syria? What do you think it will do to the morale of the resistance fighters? And how do you think the US capabilities will be assessed by their proxies in those countries? Or by their ‘allies’ around the world?
Posted by: Jörgen Hassler | Aug 15 2021 16:26 utc | 94
Not sure whether they are on Sputnik or Sinovac but it works "just as well as a Kalashnikov (c)"
https://twitter.com/rezahakbari/status/1425853792269094920
Posted by: Mina | Aug 15 2021 16:27 utc | 95
Jorgen Hassler
Exactly, this is gonna ruin the US troop's morale. Hence they need a Gulf War to revitalize it, just like after they lost Vietnam, they need a punching bag.
The war in Afghanistan has been lost a long time ago, just like the war in Viet Nam, Biden is just cutting lost because he wants to concentrate force on China. A smart move I'd say, I expect Trump to do that, but Biden did it.
Posted by: Smith | Aug 15 2021 16:30 utc | 96
RT is reporting the US Embassy in Kabul warning US citizens to take shelter as they state the Kabul airport in ow under fire....
Is this Kabul´s Maidan snippers moment?
Why the Taliban would want this outcome when they have seized power so easily and agreed the orderly withdrawal with the US officials?
Some Afgahn militias related to the CIA, like the one in Khost, had already stated they will not surrender to the Taliban...
Are these rogue elements not following US DoS line, or are the Taliban stepping up into a trap in Kabul starting this night when curfew had been decreed by them and following usual confussion in these cases?
Posted by: Asha K. | Aug 15 2021 16:40 utc | 97
Afghanistan soon to be liberated by Bernard-Henri Lévy :
Afghanistan: "Don't abandon us", begs the son of commander Massoud to France
The son of the former leader of the Afghan resistance against the Taliban has sent a letter to his friend Bernard-Henri Lévy to the Journal du dimanche, begging France to support the Afghan army
Waoting for the warmonger to got his gun.
Posted by: Leuk | Aug 15 2021 16:40 utc | 98
And the denial of reality in the Western public continues. Instead of rejoicing that the seemingly inevitable civil war phase is now as good as over and that Afghanistan can be expected to be under unified control for the first time in over 40 years, the state of war over - provided no one interferes again - the end of the world is now being conjured up, so to speak. Individual politicians are crying out for further military action. But average citizens are also reacting as if the Taliban and IS were the same thing.
It remains to be seen how the Taliban will cope with the many difficulties that await them - such as the demobilisation of a considerable part of their own people - and whether they will be able to lead the country without despotism and with as little corruption as possible. How they will cope with the serious drug problem. There is still a lot that can go wrong. One can only hope that the pragmatists will prevail. But the prerequisite for the future to get off the ground at all was precisely the withdrawal of foreign military forces and the removal of the puppet government they had installed. This now seems to have been achieved without any significant loss of blood or destruction. That is much more than one could have hoped for a short time ago.
Posted by: pnyx | Aug 15 2021 16:41 utc | 99
Tom Pfotzer @21: The "adversary" - if you want to use polarizing language - is "human nature"
Actually, more like the neurotypical H.s.s. nature, their in-group vs out-group organized violence tendencies. What we need is exactly the opposite of what Joseph Robinette Metformin Bidet claims, we need more Neanderthal thinking. The Neanderthal theory of autism, Asperger and ADHD http://www.rdos.net/eng/asperger.htm
Posted by: William Haught | Aug 15 2021 16:45 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
bang! @uncle tungsten, I'll have that virtual beer now :-) And a round for everyone!
Here's to better reading of goat entrails.
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Aug 15 2021 10:42 utc | 1