A Political Thread pt. 2

[Bada-Bing!]

Absolutely crazy scenes.

 

[ncurd]

I know I'm usually in the all Tories are ******** crowd but occasionally you find one who genuinely cares. Not surprised to hear he's ex-service personnel worked with a fair few as well have a cousin who's an officer in the Royal Engineers and haven't come across one who didn't want do a good job out there.

 

[ncurd]

Then there's our leader

 

[Groundhog]

Pretty crazy scenes from Afghanistan alright. I don't massively blame the US for pulling out, they've been there for 20 years, trained and armed the Afghan army, but they still folded instantly without a fight. What I am critical of is how quickly they decided to do it and how they are leaving a tonne of people they should have made provisions for (Afghan translators, guides etc) behind who will very obviously face reprisals. I am also obviously critical of what a meaningless waste of human lives the whole war was.

The scenes of chaos at the airport are pretty harrowing and I hope as many people whose lives are in danger under a Taliban regime are evacuated.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

 

[Ticklishchap]

Pretty crazy scenes from Afghanistan alright. I don't massively blame the US for pulling out, they've been there for 20 years, trained and armed the Afghan army, but they still folded instantly without a fight. What I am critical of is how quickly they decided to do it and how they are leaving a tonne of people they should have made provisions for (Afghan translators, guides etc) behind who will very obviously face reprisals. I am also obviously critical of what a meaningless waste of human lives the whole war was.

The scenes of chaos at the airport are pretty harrowing and I hope as many people whose lives are in danger under a Taliban regime are evacuated.

The scenes at the airport are a strange echo of Saigon (or worse still Phnom Penh), as if nothing has been learned after all these decades by the US.

On the British side, the betrayal of Afghan students offered scholarships is shameful, especially as the excuse that has been given is bureaucratic and process-driven.

I read an interview in the Independent (online) yesterday with the mother of a Blackwatch soldier killed in the early stages of the war. She now believes that the sacrifice of her son was pointless and it is hard not to agree with her.

 

[Ticklishchap]

On a more upbeat note, Liz Truss has signed a global trade deal with Peggy from Littlehampton, whose homemade strawberry jam is to die for, according to the neighbours. Brexit was worth it after all.

 

[Ticklishchap]

... It looks as if Boris has done a kind of U-turn over the 35 Afghan students with scholarships, promising to do all he can to get them to the U.K. But he has made many 'promises' before. ...

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

... It looks as if Boris has done a kind of U-turn over the 35 Afghan students with scholarships, promising to do all he can to get them to the U.K. But he has made many 'promises' before. ...

The only promise you could trust Johnson to keep is the promise to keep on lying.

 

[die_mole]

I just don't get how we didn't have a plan for refugees after twenty years of occupation. I've wanted us to leave (eight 8 year old me knew it was gonna be a repeat of Vietnam ffs) for awhile now but we should have had something in place for the Afghanistan people who have been dependent on us.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Flag worship is so insane

 

[Ticklishchap]

Flag worship is so insane

... And we have got it, with a vengeance, with this government. The strange thing about it is that it is quite un-British. Flags (usually those of Wales England, Scotland - the Home Nations rather than the U.K.) are traditionally associated with sporting events. The Union Flag is associated with royal occasions and the Armed Forces, especially commemorative events such as Remembrance Sunday. We are not a nation of flag-wavers. In fact it is considered just a bit naff except in the situations I have outlined.

 

[Reiser99]

While I personally don't agree with the decision to just abandon Afghanistan, I wonder if actually it is a bit politically savvy from Biden. General consensus is that he is unlikely to run again in 2024 with Kamal Harris one likely candidate to succeed him. By doing this now and taking the heat, it avoids future democratic candidates being tarred by this brush. Maybe it's just the coverage over here, but it does seem like Harris is being kept away from this and Biden is trying to make it clear that it is his responsibility. Yes it's gone worse than expected, but it was a bit like pulling a plaster off, just had to get it down and out the way.

 

[Al Bangor]

 

[Al Bangor]

 

[Ticklishchap]

While I personally don't agree with the decision to just abandon Afghanistan, I wonder if actually it is a bit politically savvy from Biden. General consensus is that he is unlikely to run again in 2024 with Kamal Harris one likely candidate to succeed him. By doing this now and taking the heat, it avoids future democratic candidates being tarred by this brush. Maybe it's just the coverage over here, but it does seem like Harris is being kept away from this and Biden is trying to make it clear that it is his responsibility. Yes it's gone worse than expected, but it was a bit like pulling a plaster off, just had to get it down and out the way.

... Unfortunately I don't feel overwhelming confidence that Kamala Harris would be elected, but perhaps you can give an American perspective on this?

 

[Reiser99]

... Unfortunately I don't feel overwhelming confidence that Kamala Harris would be elected, but perhaps you can give an American perspective on this?

I'm English mate, I've just read theories that Kamala would be one candidate to succeed Biden if he didn't run again in 2024 and so it would make sense to avoid tarring her with this brush. Didn't mean she would get elected, just that she'd be a likely nominee.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

The democrats IMO are gonna get really nasty with each other come next election.

 

[ncurd]

While I personally don't agree with the decision to just abandon Afghanistan, I wonder if actually it is a bit politically savvy from Biden. General consensus is that he is unlikely to run again in 2024 with Kamal Harris one likely candidate to succeed him. By doing this now and taking the heat, it avoids future democratic candidates being tarred by this brush. Maybe it's just the coverage over here, but it does seem like Harris is being kept away from this and Biden is trying to make it clear that it is his responsibility. Yes it's gone worse than expected, but it was a bit like pulling a plaster off, just had to get it down and out the way.

It should be noted reading yesterday Biden has massively long history on this topic, one of the things he passionately disagreed with Obama about. So I don't know how political it was in terms of forward planning and just carrying on with Trumps plan because he just simple didn't disagree with it enough.