[Scape]

ON TARGET: HISTORY WILL BE THE JUDGE OF NATO’S OCCUPATION OF AFGHANISTAN

$1:

By Scott Taylor

The mad scramble has begun in an effort to extricate those Afghans who will be at risk when the Taliban wrest control of Afghanistan from the rapidly collapsing government forces.

Sparked by demands from Canadian veterans of that war, the Liberal government has been hurriedly arranging flights and visas for Afghan civilians who were formerly employed as interpreters by our combat forces.

Canada is also arranging to bring out the extended families of those Afghans who had previously assisted the NATO led effort. It is estimated that the current initiative to save these Afghans from Taliban revenge will result in several thousand refugees arriving in Canada.

In previous efforts, Canada has brought over roughly 800 Afghan interpreters and their families.

Admirably, Canadian veterans under the organizational umbrella of the Conference of Defence Associations (CDA) are volunteering to assist this new wave of Afghan refugees to settle into their new homeland.

The U.S. has initiated a similar program to rescue those Afghans who assisted the American forces during their twenty year occupation of Afghanistan. Other NATO countries are also pitching in to save their former employees, while Turkish troops have been tasked with defending the Kabul airport long enough to get these refugees safely outside the borders of Afghanistan.

The defeat of NATO is as humiliating as it is complete. As we exit the country we are bringing out all those personnel who were ever associated with the foreign occupying forces.

The truly sad part of this enormous waste of lives and money is that none of it was necessary.

How is it possible that our senior leadership learned nothing from the Soviet Union’s disastrous ten-year attempt to militarily subdue Afghanistan between 1979 and 1989?

We condemned the Soviet actions as morally reprehensible. The narrative of the West was that the evil Soviets were trying to forcibly educate the Afghans and thereby destroy their ancient culture and customs.

The best example of this propaganda would have to be the 1988 Hollywood blockbuster action film Rambo III.

The plot line has American super soldier John Rambo entering Afghanistan to rescue his former commanding officer who has been captured by the Soviet evil doers.

The Afghan resistance fighters assist Rambo in his quest and because this is Hollywood, the good guys win. The original dedication of the movie was to “the brave mujahedeen of Afghanistan.”

That sentiment was stood on its head in the wake of the events of 9-11 in 2001.

Islamic extremists – mujahedeen – had been responsible for the terror attacks on the U.S. that day and the Taliban were accused of harbouring Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan.

In advance of justifying the U.S. invasion, western media began demonizing the Taliban for those same cultural practices for which we not only hailed them for defending against Soviet influences, but we actually provided them with the sophisticated weaponry which allowed them to do so.

We lied to ourselves when we proclaimed to have brought democracy to this impoverished war ravaged country. The U.S. hand-picked Hamid Karzai to be the president, and the Afghan electorate had little choice but to cast votes for the warlords and chieftains that already ruled them.

The last two attempts at a presidential election were so farcical that they could not produce a verifiable result. When Abdullah Abdullah refused to accept the fact that Ashraf Ghani had received more votes than him, the Americans simply created a new position called Chief Executive of Afghanistan, with equal powers to the president.

I’m not sure that would be possible in a developed nation with a strong economy and it sure as hell did not work in impoverished Afghanistan.

As we rush to rescue those Afghans who helped facilitate the NATO occupation, one has to also ponder the moral legacy of our military alliance having imprisoned tens of thousands of Afghan fighters whose only crime was resisting our armed presence on their soil.

[Scape]

[JaredMilne]

Thanos Thanos:

I don't know as much about Spanish-American history as I should. I suspect though that if stability in a place like Mexico was ever created by the US it would be because, just like with Germany after WW2, there are too many commonalities in both countries simply from being offshoots of Europe/Britain. For all the fussin', feudin', and fightin' the Europeans (and Americans) have done against each other over the past centuries the fact remains that all these countries & nations have so much in common that it's impossible for us to be aliens to each other. The major recurring differences today seem to be more of status of living/quality of life and not something that's effectively unbridgeable like competing religions, i.e. Christianity vs Islam. That will always be the basic reason why adventures in places like Afghanistan will always fail, the gulf between what the West and Asia see as the "proper" way to live will always be there. If Islam along with multiple thousands of years of central Asian tradition dictate how a region like Afghanistan will be in perpetuity then the Western ideas effectively lose right from the start. It might ancient and no where near as slick & flashy as the West still is but that doesn't mean a thing. That way of living is still very much alive. Comparing it to something as decrepit as the old Spanish empire near it's end, as the British and Americans tore it apart and gobbled up the important bits, is a major analytical mistake to make.

I'm not so sure that Islam would necessarily be the problem given the scientific advancements the Islamic world made during its Golden Age in the medieval period. Just looking at Afghanistan's Wikipedia history illustrates just how much turmoil has happened there for centuries, and that was before British colonization.

As for Mexico, what I was getting at is there was a local regime with a lot of popular backing, namely President Juarez and his republican government. The U.S. supplied Juarez and his forces with weapons and supplies, and American military threats were one of the reasons the French were "persuaded" to leave, but once Juarez was back in charge the U.S. mostly just let the Mexicans handle their own internal issues. Ditto with places like the Barbary Coast-the U.S. attacked places like Algiers in response to the Barbary Pirates' attacks, and warned the pirates to stop fucking with U.S. shipping, but once the Barbary Coast provinces got the message the Americans left them alone and went home.

[DrCaleb]

Taliban calls for global recognition as credible reports of executions emerge

[herbie]

do dee doo doo do dee doo doo...
Imagine a country that won't even let you leave.
Imagine another where they're protesting in the streets over having to wear a mask because of a pandemic.

[DrCaleb]

herbie herbie:

Imagine another where they're protesting in the streets over having to wear a mask because of a pandemic.

[Scape]

Canada was AFK for the last 7 years in Afghanistan. Biden's withdrawal was both clumsy and inept but we can't unbreak an egg. I hold the Liberal government responsible for the foot dragging and lackluster response. Trudeau and Sajan are directly responsible for this catastrophe.

[Scape]

Canada to stop Kabul rescue flights ahead of U.S. Aug. 31 deadline as special forces appear to ignore Afghans with exit documents

$1:

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan says Canada will have to withdraw its special forces soldiers and halt rescue flights at the Kabul airport within days as the August 31 deadline for the pullout of American soldiers is rapidly approaching.

Mr. Sajjan told a media briefing Wednesday that U.S. Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin has made it clear to Canada and other allies involved in the evacuation mission in Afghanistan that they will have to leave Hamid Karzai International Airport before U.S. forces depart at the end of the month.

“Drawing down takes considerable time. It is not done overnight and comes with significant risk. As the Americans finalize their drawdown to meet their deadline, partners nations including Canada must draw down our troops, assets and aircraft ahead of the Americans,” Mr. Sajjan said. “These moves are necessary for the US to safely maintain control of the airport until their depart.”

[Scape]

Federal minister Monsef says her mention of Taliban as 'our brothers' is a 'cultural reference'

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Taliban as “our brothers” during a press conference Wednesday is a “cultural reference,” after receiving criticism for her choice of language.

Maryam Monsef – who was born in Iran and raised in Afghanistan – had a direct message for the terrorist group, which has swiftly taken control of most of Afghanistan since the U.S. began withdrawing its troops following a 20-year mission.

“I want to take this opportunity to speak with our brothers, the Taliban. We call on you to ensure the safe and secure passage of any individual in Afghanistan out of the country. We call on you to immediately stop the violence, the genocide, the femicide, the destruction of infrastructure, including heritage buildings,” she said, speaking alongside colleagues while providing an update about Canada’s efforts to evacuate Afghans from the country.

[llama66]

Scape Scape:

Federal minister Monsef says her mention of Taliban as 'our brothers' is a 'cultural reference'

$1:

Taliban as “our brothers” during a press conference Wednesday is a “cultural reference,” after receiving criticism for her choice of language.

Maryam Monsef – who was born in Iran and raised in Afghanistan – had a direct message for the terrorist group, which has swiftly taken control of most of Afghanistan since the U.S. began withdrawing its troops following a 20-year mission.

“I want to take this opportunity to speak with our brothers, the Taliban. We call on you to ensure the safe and secure passage of any individual in Afghanistan out of the country. We call on you to immediately stop the violence, the genocide, the femicide, the destruction of infrastructure, including heritage buildings,” she said, speaking alongside colleagues while providing an update about Canada’s efforts to evacuate Afghans from the country.

How to lose votes in easy step

[DrCaleb]

Canada's airlift mission from Kabul ends, leaving those in Afghanistan behind

[llama66]

How can you leave citizens behind?

[DrCaleb]

llama66 llama66:

How can you leave citizens behind?

Why ISIS-K poses a significant security threat in Afghanistan as civilians, troops attempt to flee

Blast outside Kabul airport, no word on casualties

I too question the order to withdraw because 'Americans', when the US is saying they will stay till the job is done.

[llama66]

I always thought we had a consular duty to protect our citizens, meh, guess not. Ken Taylor must be rolling in his grave.

[DrCaleb]

I think we do have that responsibility, unless it's in a country with a 'do not travel to' advisory.

But we all know, Canada will abandon us when convenient, regardless.