There is an estimated 3 trillion dollars worth of mineral wealth buried in Afghanistan. I kinda think we actually gave it shot to install and support a stable regime which would allow us to extract it and bring Afghanistan a little closer to the 21st century. It could possibly have been a win win for everyone. Unfortunately nobody in Afghanistan seemed interested or assisted in those goals and having already spent two trillion dollars trying, we just cut our loses.

That’s my take on it. Now it’s a matter of funding the terrorists err I mean the freedom fighters and go after Pakistan and China BRI.

It was a poorly executed plan which had no exit strategy to begin with. Pulling the plug was always going to result in the only end game left. If only there was a lesson from history that Rummy and Cheney would have had at their disposal .... oh wait ... :shucks:

Maybe Iran and Pakistan will be compelled to step up to protect their borders now. They have only one other major choice outside of pleading for help. Am I wrong?

We'll make another movie about this, starring Tom Hanks; and call it Charlie Rockstar's War:O:

Unconfirmed reports are trickling in that the Northern Alliance has started a counter offensive against the Taliban and have already recaptured areas north of Kabul. :hmmm:

"Taliban vow to respect women, despite history of oppression"
https://apnews.com/article/afghanist...dc94f965ff23c7


"The Taliban knocked on her door 3 times. The fourth time, they killed her"
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/08/17/a...dst/index.html


https://i.imgur.com/HyTWxtol.jpg


Imagine standing in this room and having a few grenades at your belt.

Good, balanced comment by the BBC. Packs it all together in a compact format.


https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-58252174

'Northern Alliance' flag hoisted in Panjshir in first resistance against Taliban
https://www.hindustantimes.com/world...215342032.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEz48C6sSek

Use autotranslate, maybe.

The stupid babbling of the current political personnel is an affront to the thinking mind.

Schmidt being the exception.

Flag-waving protesters defy the Taliban, prompting shots in the city of Jalalabad where one person was killed.

President Ashraf Ghani - who fled as the Taliban were approaching - is now in the United Arab Emirates.

Taliban leaders are expected in Kabul after they arrived in Kandahar from exile on Tuesday.

The leader of the Taliban-linked Haqqani Network meets former President Hamid Karzai.

Western countries continue evacuating nations and Afghans who worked for them.

But reports say Afghans have been beaten by Taliban guards on their way to the airport.

The UK parliament holds an emergency debate on Afghanistan.

Militants are out in force manning checkpoints across the city.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-a...-idAFKBN2FJ1LA

Earlier today the Swedish minister for Foreign Affairs demanded that the Taliban continued the democracy process and give the girls and women freedom to chose their own path.

They are Taliban and they rule by Sharia.

Markus

Yeah, I'm certain the Taleban just waited for some European garden gnomes directing demands at them so that they know what to do and where to go. Sure. :D Maybe we should send them the EU's holy Rumpoy, although that might be against the Geneva convention: there is a risk that the Taleban laugh themselves to death on his arrival.

It will be a terror regime that's for sure.

Derailing the thread a little

Last time the Taliban was in charge the percentage of narko export fell from hundrede of thousands kilo per year down to around 1-2 %
After the invasion the export exploded, never had so many tons narko left Afghanistan during this 20 years occupation.

Now when the Taliban is back how much will this type of export go down.

Markus