Now is the Time

[bigpaul]

(16 August 2021, 15:38)Mortblanc Wrote: Paul, where have you been for the past 20 years?

The Taliban is the multi-national military wing of a radicalized Islamic sect. They have no national affiliation. They operate wherever they can form a base to use as a training center and go out from there to do their work. Afghanistan has been a long term favorite since they have access to large scale opium farms to support their need for arms.

They are the group that has been cutting off heads, blowing up car-bombs and staging knife attacks all over the world, including GB.

This success will embolden them to new feats in the west.

That is obviously an American perspective, I'm not so sure, car bombs, beheadings , machette attacks in the West especially Europe and the UK were the work of ISIS affiliates and by all accounts the Taliban hate ISIS.

[Skean Dhude]

They went in to top OSB. That was the reason. Then some SJWs though we should stand up for things like womens rights and put some western values in place while they were there. LGBTQWERT wasn't on the agenda then or it would have been that.

The US was holding it together. It's allies just had token forces in place. TheUS were also supplying air support, special forces and logistic support to the Afghan army so now they are going they just are not prepared. These people that stood up against the Taliban are being thrown to the wolves. Cuba, Vietnam and now Afghanistan. They come in promise freedom and then drop their allies in the mincer when it doesn't go as planned.

The West as been falling for some time now. Here is just another example of it.

[bigpaul]

Places like that should be left to evolve at their own pace, we cannot expect a 9th century civilization to take on 21st century Western values even if you are at it for 20 years, once the military pulls out it reverts to what it was before, as we are seeing now.

[Skean Dhude]

BP, I understand what you are saying but I think we can change these places. Just not the way politicians think they can. they are so used to the population being sheep that they forget there are wolves out there and that they know what is best.

Politicians are scum.

[bigpaul]

maybe we can change these places, maybe we cant, but SHOULD WE? I mean we wouldnt like if someone tried to do the same to us!! better to let them evolve at their own pace and mind our own business, that my opinion for what its worth.

[MaryN]

Personally I've had it up to here with Afghanistan. If they want to exist in the Medieval Age then let them. Equally they should not benefit from the West unless they comply with basic human rights. Having said that. I'm not sure they deserve to be credited with human rights.

[bigpaul]

The Taliban were kicked out of power exactly 20 years ago, lets see if they do anything different this time, the leadership is saying they want govt workers to return to their posts, women will have some rights under Islamic law(we'll see about that one) and that they dont want to upset the international community, the problem is if they can control the foot soldiers who might think very differently. time will tell.

[Joe]

Well it looks like they have their first victory. The Uk for some bizarre reason has agreed to take in 20,000 Afghans.
Personally I would have thought the local Afghans would have moved into an adjacent country with a similar way of life and climate but instead they have opted to come to the Uk.

[bigpaul]

(18 August 2021, 15:18)Joe Wrote: Well it looks like they have their first victory. The Uk for some bizarre reason has agreed to take in 20,000 Afghans.
Personally I would have thought the local Afghans would have moved into an adjacent country with a similar way of life and climate but instead they have opted to come to the Uk.

not really surprising is it?
personally I'm with the British MP who called them all cowards for "deserting a sinking ship", good job the British werent like that in WW2 we'd all be speaking German now and Goose Stepping.

[Mortblanc]

(18 August 2021, 15:24)bigpaul Wrote: [quote='Joe' pid='106643' dateline='1629296282']


not really surprising is it?
personally I'm with the British MP who called them all cowards for "deserting a sinking ship", good job the British werent like that in WW2 we'd all be speaking German now and Goose Stepping.

It seems I remember reading about a place called Dunkirk where people lined up in the ocean praying they could get out of the place, and another place called Burma, and a couple of high speed retreats across North Africa,,,

Then there was that 1842 British retreat from Kabul, an entire army of 16,000 erased, with one known survivor.

No nation is without its failures and defeats, and the refugees that result.

I really do believe that if you had asked one of the civilian survivors of the fall of Singapore in 1941 if they wished they had evacuated they would have said yes.