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We spent more time talking about Afghanistan, and the consequences of a non-humanitarian pullout, and a non balanced power transfer over to the Taliban in the l

We spent more time talking about Afghanistan, and the consequences of a non-humanitarian pullout, and a non balanced power transfer over to the Taliban in the last three days than we have as a nation for the last ten years. That’s why we’re not serious. Did we discuss the possibility of a Taliban government coexisting with stipulations of certain human rights protections (women’s right to work, education) as a concession for American dollars? That’s the tough discussion. The easy discussion is ‘leave; this was a mistake’, and now ‘who fucked up the exit strategy?’. It’s not easy to maturely discuss this because ‘uh, Taliban bad’. Well Taliban is all there is now because we didn’t take the time to think seriously.

dragontamer 5y ago
> We spent more time talking about Afghanistan, and the consequences of a non-humanitarian pullout, and a non balanced power transfer over to the Taliban in the last three days than we have as a nation for the last ten years. Bullshit. This discussion started last year when Donald Trump began negotiating with the Taliban for a withdrawal. The writing has been on the wall for over a year. (The wakeup call was when the USA + Taliban were having negotiations _WITHOUT_ Afghani government at the table. If you missed that detail last year then you deserve to be surprised by the situation this year) There was discussions over whether Biden would change the plans (and that was absolutely discussed during the election). Both Trump and Biden agreed: we're pulling out, one way or the other. That's both presidential candidates from both major political parties agreeing on this issue. That we'd leave Afghanistan this year was inevitable from an American political perspective. --------- Biden's plans changed slightly from Trump's. Indeed, Trump's plans changed (Trump originally wanted to leave in January, but the generals asked for more time, and ultimately Trump left the job to Biden. Biden then gave our generals until Sept. 11, 2021, and we still have ~6000ish troops in Kabul securing the withdrawal). So now I ask: how would you have withdrawn differently? And remember, Trump negotiated the withdrawal with the Taliban last year. I don't know the full details off the top of my head, but... the Taliban have not moved into the airport (as of yet). I can only assume the peaceful withdrawal of US troops was part of that negotiation. The Taliban's actions so far have focused on Afgan government, and not as many attacks on US-held areas. Clearly, its diplomacy in action. We're well past due on Trump's original May-withdrawal timeline, but perhaps Biden has decided that the keeping our troops beyond Trump's original pullout negotiation date is well worth the hassle (and given the results this past week, I'm happy that our troops are providing security there right now. We need those troops to buy more time for everybody) ----- > That’s why we’re not serious. Did we discuss the possibility of a Taliban government coexisting with stipulations of certain human rights protections (women’s right to work, education) as a concession for American dollars? They don't want our dollars. They want us to leave. EDIT: They also wanted 400 of their leaders released from Prison, which Donald Trump gave them back in August 2020. And we're leaving. And so far, they're not attacking us as we leave. (I know its a volatile situation and this could change any moment. But as of right now, we're getting what we want, and they're getting what they want). They've taken over the Kabul Green Zone. Its 100% within the Taliban's power to attack the airport if they so desired. -------------- Back to "seriousness": > “My office has heard from over 100 Americans who need help getting out of Afghanistan,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) told me. “We can’t fly planes or open gates, but we can at least give people information. The Biden administration needs a plan to get our fellow Americans out.” Bam. We're serious. Senator Cotton has a list and is publicly shaming Biden into making a plan to get these 100 Americans safely back home. In just two or three sentences, our leaders are proving themselves more "serious" than any armchair blogger sitting at home. There's work to be done and the appropriate discussions seem to be happening. Blogposts like this one are just a distraction from what matters.

dragontamer 5y ago

> We spent more time talking about Afghanistan, and the consequences of a non-humanitarian pullout, and a non balanced power transfer over to the Taliban in the last three days than we have as a nation for the last ten years. Bullshit. This discussion started last year when Donald Trump began negotiating with the Taliban for a withdrawal. The writing has been on the wall for over a year. (The wakeup call was when the USA + Taliban were having negotiations _WITHOUT_ Afghani government at the table. If you missed that detail last year then you deserve to be surprised by the situation this year) There was discussions over whether Biden would change the plans (and that was absolutely discussed during the election). Both Trump and Biden agreed: we're pulling out, one way or the other. That's both presidential candidates from both major political parties agreeing on this issue. That we'd leave Afghanistan this year was inevitable from an American political perspective. --------- Biden's plans changed slightly from Trump's. Indeed, Trump's plans changed (Trump originally wanted to leave in January, but the generals asked for more time, and ultimately Trump left the job to Biden. Biden then gave our generals until Sept. 11, 2021, and we still have ~6000ish troops in Kabul securing the withdrawal). So now I ask: how would you have withdrawn differently? And remember, Trump negotiated the withdrawal with the Taliban last year. I don't know the full details off the top of my head, but... the Taliban have not moved into the airport (as of yet). I can only assume the peaceful withdrawal of US troops was part of that negotiation. The Taliban's actions so far have focused on Afgan government, and not as many attacks on US-held areas. Clearly, its diplomacy in action. We're well past due on Trump's original May-withdrawal timeline, but perhaps Biden has decided that the keeping our troops beyond Trump's original pullout negotiation date is well worth the hassle (and given the results this past week, I'm happy that our troops are providing security there right now. We need those troops to buy more time for everybody) ----- > That’s why we’re not serious. Did we discuss the possibility of a Taliban government coexisting with stipulations of certain human rights protections (women’s right to work, education) as a concession for American dollars? They don't want our dollars. They want us to leave. EDIT: They also wanted 400 of their leaders released from Prison, which Donald Trump gave them back in August 2020. And we're leaving. And so far, they're not attacking us as we leave. (I know its a volatile situation and this could change any moment. But as of right now, we're getting what we want, and they're getting what they want). They've taken over the Kabul Green Zone. Its 100% within the Taliban's power to attack the airport if they so desired. -------------- Back to "seriousness": > “My office has heard from over 100 Americans who need help getting out of Afghanistan,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) told me. “We can’t fly planes or open gates, but we can at least give people information. The Biden administration needs a plan to get our fellow Americans out.” Bam. We're serious. Senator Cotton has a list and is publicly shaming Biden into making a plan to get these 100 Americans safely back home. In just two or three sentences, our leaders are proving themselves more "serious" than any armchair blogger sitting at home. There's work to be done and the appropriate discussions seem to be happening. Blogposts like this one are just a distraction from what matters.