Afghanistan withdrawal.

Same argument that Vietnam brought.

 

Here we go

 

2: That's not whataboutism, that's what makes Afghanistan special? If we have the right/need/obligation to address what's happening in Afghanistan then we should apply the same standards to other states.
4. My view re liberal Afghans is the same as my view re those of us in the UK that didn't vote for Brexit or the current shower, we get it anyway. Sorry. Now I take your point that nobody is going to kill me for voting remain or Labour, but thems the breaks.

 

Education, especially of the women, would be the only hope for any progressive future of the varied peoples that inhabit that harsh terrain (with that very terrain perpetuating the feudal/tribal society, and the reason of many failed foreign attempts at domination). But the various "Talibans" have long figured that out, so I'm not holding out much hope at all. My family roots are originally from Bangladesh which is also largely Sunni Muslim, and we have a trust for the education of aspiring but economically disadvantaged kids from my grandfather's district. We give out hundreds of valuable secondary/college sponsorships a year. The one sponsorship ceremony that I attended was around 90% female pupils (of around 200+). It also helps that the last two PMs have been women (although neither have been great*). Education and especially that of the aspirational female population is why I hold out hope for Bangladesh's future (pop growth and climate change notwithstanding). Unfortunately I cannot see this ever happening in the Afghan territories.

* actually compared to this current Johnson-led government I am re-evaluating this!

 

I heard this on the radio news earlier - I had hopes they'd managed to ditch the 'falling plates' reputation.

 

Obhama was president for eight of those twenty years so I presume you think he was for milking the cash cow too and if so can you tell us his connections to the US military/industrial complex?

 

Every president is de-facto connected to the defense industry, because they are Commander-in-Chief as well as a final signature on the defense budget. There may not be a personal profit at all, it's just how the system is designed.... pretty much everywhere.

 

Whether we withdraw tomorrow or twenty years from now, the result will be the same. We're just prolonging the inevitable.

 

Look at the policies he implemented and look at the people he put in key positions. He was a neoliberal.

 

They need to get it done now because they won't be fighting in the north come winter.

 

The Middle East might have progressed if not for western Imperialism (including creating countries with straight-line borders and imposing rulers) ever since the Ottoman hegemony collapsed.

 

Progressed in what direction, given that the parting shot of the Ottoman Empire was the Armenian genocide, in which up to 1.5 million people were systematically starved to death, or simply massacred. ?

Whilst acknowledging the slow-burn disaster of Sykes-Picot etc, your post does smack slightly of Asian Imperialism = good; Western Imperialism = bad, according to the formula that decrees that all of Western Imperialism = bad.

Sorry, I wanted to, but couldn't let that go unremarked.

 

Damn and I thought Charlie Wilson's War was all true.

 

At least he wasn't McCain, or Romney.

 

in 6 months time the taliban will control all of afghanistan at the rate they are going . i dont know what the answer is to this situation

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-57773120

 

Unfortunately no one has the answer, Russians, yanks, British empire, etc

 

Key word here is “might”.

I stick to my theory that any country touched by the Ottoman Empire was/is doomed for at least the next 7 centuries (7 is a useful number for these sorts of predictions). Just look at the Balkans.

The countries that have it really hard are the ones that have benefitted from the tender attentions of the Russian, Western, Ottoman, Persian, Russian and Mongol empires. Which, thinking about it, might include Afghanistan.

 

I think the Chinese might have an answer.

 

I'm reminded of the Serenity Prayer

"grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference."

Using military might to drag Afghanistan into the 21st century is a hiding to nothing. Bill Gates has the right idea - we will relieve much more human suffering through control of malaria, diarrhoea etc. Unfortunately that doesn't funnel money to military contractors, and so we end up with disastrous wars like Afghanistan and Iraq.

 

We could occupy them for another twenty years, and the same thing would happen as soon as we leave.

The Afghans have a difficult time ahead of them.