Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
There's more troops there now than when trump left office.
He left 2000 troops behind. That wasn't enough to make a difference no matter the order.
Grow up people.
Actually, it was...
If the United States left 2,500 troops in the country and continued to provide air support to Afghan troops, it "was enough to maintain a tenuous equilibrium in which the Taliban made advances in the countryside, but every city remained in government hands," Boot said.
Status:
"“If a thing loves, it is infinite.”"
(set 1 day ago)
Location: Great Britain
27,163 posts, read 13,449,232 times
Reputation: 19459
Quote:
Originally Posted by NeutralParty
31 US military members died during Trump's first year in office. Did Conservatives on city-data call for Trump's resignation?
Yes, the bombing this week was absolutely horrific. I've prayed for those service members who were killed and their families every night since it happened. May they rest peacefully.
It's war. War is awful. War represents the absolute worst of mankind. People die. And it's really, really sad.
Bush, Obama, Trump, and now Joe Biden have all seen troops die under their presidency. Does that mean they all should have resigned from office?
After being in Afghanistan for 20 years, Biden is finally pulling us out (based on an agreement negotiated by Trump last year).
Biden is taking advice from the commanders on the ground in Kabul and senior pentagon officials. Just like Trump, Obama, and Bush did before him.
But to ensure fairness and call out city-data posters on their hypocrisy, did any of you folks who think Biden should resign after 12 US troops were killed earlier this week also suggest that Trump should resign when 31 military members were killed during his first year in office?
The problem with Biden's withdrawal is that he did not consult with allies and did not consult with those on the ground.
As a result you have Islamic fundamentalists in a stronger position than before 9/11 and a wasted twenty year campaign that amounts to nothing.
US allies now distrust the US and Biden, whilst Americas enemies are claiming a great victory and are using it as terrorist recruitment to take the Jihad against the west, with new military equipment, assets and financial backing.
The question therefore isn't how many deaths Biden's decision has led to already, it's how many further deaths (including Americans) this will all lead to, or do you think these Islamic fundamentalist terrorists are just going to call it a day.
Then you have all the Afghan young girls that will be sold in to sex slavery and all those individuals who helped the US and her allies, that will now be tortured and killed under the Taliban regime.
As former British General Sir Richard Barrons stated it's ‘Catastrophic outcome’ we had a diplomatic presence, we had a relationship with the Afghan intelligence organisations,”
A number of counter terrorism experts and military commanders have also gone on record to state that the terrorist threat against the West will now be grave, and that the world is entering an extremely dangerous and unpredictable new era.
Last edited by Brave New World; 08-30-2021 at 04:24 AM..
The problem with Biden's withdrawal is that he did not consult with allies and did not consult with those on the ground.
As a result you have Islamic fundamentalists in a stronger position than before 9/11 and a wasted twenty year campaign that amounts to nothing.
US allies now distrust the US and Biden, whilst Americas enemies are claiming a great victory and are using it as terrorist recruitment to take the Jihad against the west, with new military equipment, assets and financial backing.
The question therefore isn't how many deaths Biden's decision has led to already, it's how many it will lead to.
The allies knew that the USA was pulling out of Afghanistan. It had been in the works since 2019.
What the allies, Biden, the military and nobody else knew was that President Ghani would flee just days after vowing to stand strong. When Ghani fled, the Afghanistan army disbanded and the US -- which had been in the process of withdrawing since 2019 -- were left with not enough troops to fend off the Taliban and other terrorist groups. The choice was start the war all over again...or focus on getting out as quickly as possible.
Trump had been negotiating with the Taliban for over a year. Agreed to release 5000 prisoners last summer as part of that deal.
It is true that many thought that the USA should keep a small presence in Afghanistan -- but both Biden and Trump ran on the premise of a complete withdrawal.
Were things overlooked -- obviously as we sit in our comfortable chairs at home we can make up all kinds of reasons why things went wrong.
Maybe working with the Taliban was never the route to take....or maybe it was the only route to take.
Obviously two administrationis in DC both thought it was the right thing to do.
Status:
"“If a thing loves, it is infinite.”"
(set 1 day ago)
Location: Great Britain
27,163 posts, read 13,449,232 times
Reputation: 19459
Quote:
Originally Posted by moneill
The allies knew that the USA was pulling out of Afghanistan. It had been in the works since 2019.
What the allies, Biden, the military and nobody else knew was that President Ghani would flee just days after vowing to stand strong. When Ghani fled, the Afghanistan army disbanded and the US -- which had been in the process of withdrawing since 2019 -- were left with not enough troops to fend off the Taliban and other terrorist groups. The choice was start the war all over again...or focus on getting out as quickly as possible.
Trump had been negotiating with the Taliban for over a year. Agreed to release 5000 prisoners last summer as part of that deal.
It is true that many thought that the USA should keep a small presence in Afghanistan -- but both Biden and Trump ran on the premise of a complete withdrawal.
Were things overlooked -- obviously as we sit in our comfortable chairs at home we can make up all kinds of reasons why things went wrong.
Maybe working with the Taliban was never the route to take....or maybe it was the only route to take.
Obviously two administrationis in DC both thought it was the right thing to do.
The US did not consult Britain or any other allies, and it was believed that there would be no immediate withdrawal and than any withdrawal would be a properly planned and organised event.
What you had instead is the Biden administration closing down Bagram air base in the dead of night, and then announcing an unplanned withdrawal over days rather than months.
Bagram was central to supporting Afghanistan forces against the Taliban, although Biden prefers the narrative that the Afghan Army were all cowards.
In terms of US Allies, every single nation has been critical of Biden and the US, with the British even publicly calling the US decision a 'mistake', with current and former politicians from across Europe and the World queuing up to denounce Biden, and the likes of Tony Blair calling it imbecilic, whilst others called it the end of the special relationship.
I don't think the US will be able to count on much support in the future, in relation to any similar military campaigns.
The only people celebrating Biden's poor decision making are Americas enemies, who now pose a greater threat than they did before 9/11.
Then again it's believed that they are already planning to attack the US, to tie in with the 20th anniversary of 9/11.
31 US military members died during Trump's first year in office. Did Conservatives on city-data call for Trump's resignation?
Yes, the bombing this week was absolutely horrific. I've prayed for those service members who were killed and their families every night since it happened. May they rest peacefully.
It's war. War is awful. War represents the absolute worst of mankind. People die. And it's really, really sad.
Bush, Obama, Trump, and now Joe Biden have all seen troops die under their presidency. Does that mean they all should have resigned from office?
After being in Afghanistan for 20 years, Biden is finally pulling us out (based on an agreement negotiated by Trump last year).
Biden is taking advice from the commanders on the ground in Kabul and senior pentagon officials. Just like Trump, Obama, and Bush did before him.
But to ensure fairness and call out city-data posters on their hypocrisy, did any of you folks who think Biden should resign after 12 US troops were killed earlier this week also suggest that Trump should resign when 31 military members were killed during his first year in office?
The idea that either scenario would lead to a call for a President's resignation is ridiculous. As long as we are enmeshed in wars on foreign soil there will be casualties and deaths. Extricating ourselves from Afghanistan was never going to be a clean and quick surgical procedure. It is a testament to the ability of our military commanders that the evacuation and withdrawal has been as effective as it has been - this could have been far, far worse.
Regardless, I disagreed with Trump when he proposed the full withdrawal from Afghanistan and disagree with Biden for following through. We should have maintained a base of operations in Afghanistan just as we have in Germany and South Korea for many decades. When you see how quickly Taliban, ISIS-K and Al-Qaeda have filled the void, there is little doubt we will be back again one day. 9/11 won't be the last major attack on our soil.
Status:
"“If a thing loves, it is infinite.”"
(set 1 day ago)
Location: Great Britain
27,163 posts, read 13,449,232 times
Reputation: 19459
Quote:
Originally Posted by GearHeadDave
Regardless, I disagreed with Trump when he proposed the full withdrawal from Afghanistan and disagree with Biden for following through. We should have maintained a base of operations in Afghanistan just as we have in Germany and South Korea for many decades. When you see how quickly Taliban, ISIS-K and Al-Qaeda have filled the void, there is little doubt we will be back again one day. 9/11 won't be the last major attack on our soil.
I agree, a small useful presence would have seen stability and continued intelligence sharing with that region, and would have had benefits for the west in terms of tackling fundamentalist terrorist groups.
The West is now going to have to invest in further counter terrorism forces, border controls and be on a heightened level of security, as the world is now even more dangerous and unpredictable.
I've said this in another thread, but we were still at war then. Casualties are an unfortunate part of war.
Those Marines only went back to Afghanistan last week because President Biden failed to evacuate people before they left. If he had evacuated people first, they wouldn't have had to go back, and therefore wouldn't have been blown up. That's the difference.
There are, reportedly, ~6000 troops at the airport. When was the last time we had 6000 troops in A'stan? Trump bragged in an official statement in April about how he had US forces down to "less than 2000" before he left office.
How many troops did Biden withdraw from Afghanistan and when?
...And, the person who never served a day of combat in his life or even wore a uniform made that call against his military advisors’ recommendations...
You keep making this claim but only ever offered reporting about the Pentagon wanting him to leave ~2500 SF troops and "paramilitaries" on the ground indefinitely after the withdrawal.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
