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Author Topic: Afghanistan  (Read 6165 times)

Peter McLennan

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Re: Afghanistan
« Reply #140 on: September 01, 2021, 04:31:57 pm »

No.

If you remember correctly, the troops were brought in and kept there for almost a month IN FEAR of another protest and potential rioting by Trump supporters during Biden's inauguration. That's what the meme indicates. Otherwise, it would be really stupid to imply 1/6, as everyone knows there were no troops on that day, not in any significant number or at critical locations anyway.

Even though there were near-zero "flag waving Trump supporters" after January 1.

Like I said:  Good Photoshop and screen capture skills, but zero credibility. 

Just like when you said "Wake me when it hits 60K"
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Slobodan Blagojevic

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Re: Afghanistan
« Reply #141 on: September 01, 2021, 07:29:56 pm »

Even though there were near-zero "flag waving Trump supporters" after January 1.

You really have problems with reading comprehension. Which part of what I wrote ("in FEAR of flag-waving Trump supporters") you didn't get? In your opinion, what were 26,000 troops doing in DC after 1/6, through the end of January?

Furthermore, even when the troops were gone, the fence surrounding the Capitol remained six months after the riots. Why, in your opinion, the fence was there, if not in FEAR of Trump supporters?

Should I further explain to you that the concept "in fear of" doesn't mean the fear has to materialize?

« Last Edit: September 01, 2021, 07:38:17 pm by Slobodan Blagojevic »
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Slobodan Blagojevic

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Re: Afghanistan
« Reply #142 on: September 01, 2021, 07:37:44 pm »

... women in Afghanistan WERE in the workforce, WERE in universities, WERE in government...

Yes - in the '80s already, under a pro-communist regime... until Americans decided to help mujahedins overthrow it.

Robert Roaldi

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Re: Afghanistan
« Reply #143 on: September 01, 2021, 07:45:56 pm »

That's a depressing way to look at how the world works.  I take issue with one question/response in particular:

Walt says no, but I think the answer is overwhelmingly "yes," and while I understand the "realpolitik" of it all, I'm not sure it's wise to totally give up on western idealism.  He says that we, "...can’t determine the fate of Afghanistan after 17 years of war, we have not been able to steer the politics of a country like Hungary or Poland, which are moving in an illiberal direction.."   

I would disagree that we couldn't determine the fate of Afghanistan - we simply didn't want to pay the price anymore.  The fact remains, for example, that women in Afghanistan WERE in the workforce, WERE in universities, WERE in government. We DID steer the politics of Afghanistan in a positive direction, all thanks to what, at the end, really was a fairly small presence - smaller or on par with the people we have stationed in multiple other places around the globe. Imagine what could have happened if we'd allowed this generation of Afghani people to rise into positions of leadership, instead of throwing them back under the boot of religious fundamentalism.

As for steering the politics of Poland or Hungary (or Turkey), yes, there are limits when dealing with a nominally democratic nation that simply votes "wrong." And while I'm not sure that the slide of those three nations toward a more authoritarian bent is indicative of a failure of American foreign policy, I AM sure that disengagement from the EU, and the corresponding removal of the financial and cultural influence we DO maintain there isn't going to stop the slide into "illiberalism."  (Edit:  That assumes, of course, that what we are "selling" is in fact positive, and not, instead, tacit support for radical nationalism.)

That "western ideal" of spreading liberal (in the non-partisan sense) ideas can be compromised very quickly by one or two cynical US-backed puppet military juntas and one Vietnam, so that pretty soon nobody believes the sales pitch anymore. I'm saying that they have a LOT of reasons to be cynical, and you can't blame them.
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Robert

Robert Roaldi

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Re: Afghanistan
« Reply #144 on: September 01, 2021, 07:48:38 pm »

Yes - in the '80s already, under a pro-communist regime... until Americans decided to help mujahedins overthrow it.

From what I've read, in the first half of the 20th Iran was also on the way to becoming a modern secular state (relatively speaking) with women entering the work force, etc., until various foreign powers stuck their noses in.
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Robert Roaldi

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Re: Afghanistan
« Reply #145 on: September 01, 2021, 07:57:12 pm »

James, You're swaying me back to nation building.  But we always seem to get into a mess when we do.  Nation building only seems to work  in total war like WWII in Japan and Germany and then when we leave troops.  Of course, I wonder what would happen if we pulled out?  As far as paying the price, the fact is we can't afford it anymore.  At one time we were the world's leading creditor nation.  Now we're the world's leading debtor nation, $30 trillion in debt at home.  We're printing 55% of the money we use in our budget.  We're broke.  Americans are tired of their sons, and now daughters, bleeding and dying.  We're still embarrassed by losing and offended by cowardly acts, regardless the cost.  Hence the neurotic bi-polar reaction to what just happened in Afghanistan.

What people say in idealistic speeches does not always match what happens on the ground, especially a few years and an election or two later.

The original reason for going to Afghanistan was in military response to the terrorist attacks and the US did so with the cooperation of many allies and the sanction of the UN. There are too many twists and turns afterward for me to remember, never mind explain (I mean, what do I know?) but it's pretty obvious that a consistent strategy wasn't maintained over the 20 years. With governments and ideologies changing every 4 to 8 years, at least, the odds of the US being good at long-term multi-generational "nation building" are so long that it may be fool's errand for them to try.

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Robert

Robert Roaldi

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Re: Afghanistan
« Reply #146 on: September 01, 2021, 08:01:47 pm »

... The fact remains, for example, that women in Afghanistan WERE in the workforce, WERE in universities, WERE in government. We DID steer the politics of Afghanistan in a positive direction, ...

But then something like this happens, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/01/texas-abortion-law-supreme-court.
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Robert

James Clark

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Re: Afghanistan
« Reply #147 on: September 01, 2021, 08:06:02 pm »

But then something like this happens, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/01/texas-abortion-law-supreme-court.

Oh, I doubt the Taliban are as reprehensible as the Texas GOP, but I guess I could be proven wrong.
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James Clark

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Re: Afghanistan
« Reply #148 on: September 01, 2021, 08:11:22 pm »

From what I've read, in the first half of the 20th Iran was also on the way to becoming a modern secular state (relatively speaking) with women entering the work force, etc., until various foreign powers stuck their noses in.

I think it's reasonable to look at intervention and draw a conclusion that foreign interference gives the more regressive/authoritarian/nativist elements a convenient target to fight and rally against.  I'm just not sure that the movement toward religious fundamentalism is quite as simple as that cause/effect would imply.

I'm sure there are a wide range of studies that examine why cultures accept or even welcome theocratic (or nationalistic) authoritarianism, but my recollection of the things I've read on the subject is that the circumstances that allow that start internally, and the foreign presence is simply a convenient rallying point.
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Robert Roaldi

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Re: Afghanistan
« Reply #149 on: September 01, 2021, 09:47:53 pm »

I think it's reasonable to look at intervention and draw a conclusion that foreign interference gives the more regressive/authoritarian/nativist elements a convenient target to fight and rally against.  I'm just not sure that the movement toward religious fundamentalism is quite as simple as that cause/effect would imply.
...

I'm sure you're right. I'm the last person to think that my short rant explains anything very thoroughly.
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Robert

Robert Roaldi

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Re: Afghanistan
« Reply #150 on: September 01, 2021, 09:48:16 pm »

Oh, I doubt the Taliban are as reprehensible as the Texas GOP, but I guess I could be proven wrong.

:)
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Robert

Slobodan Blagojevic

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Re: Afghanistan
« Reply #151 on: September 02, 2021, 07:18:33 am »

... And since I mentioned Slobodan, I'll just say for the record that even when I think that he's utterly and completely wrong or has a blind spot on some topic, I do respect his intelligence even when we totally disagree.

Noted and appreciated. The same here.

Slobodan Blagojevic

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Re: Afghanistan
« Reply #152 on: September 02, 2021, 07:21:37 am »

But then something like this happens, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/01/texas-abortion-law-supreme-court.

Although this is a tangent, for the record, I am against the TX abortion law on many levels and hope it will be overturned by the SCOTUS in due time. Not that I think anyone cares what I am for or against, mind you.

James Clark

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Re: Afghanistan
« Reply #153 on: September 02, 2021, 09:47:00 am »

Not that I think anyone cares what I am for or against, mind you.

If people didn't care, people wouldn't engage :)  I think we can have challenging discussions, for enjoyment if nothing else, even if the net effect on the world at large is zero ;)
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Robert Roaldi

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Re: Afghanistan
« Reply #154 on: September 02, 2021, 01:27:27 pm »

Episode 258 of the Making Sense podcast with Sam Harris covers much of this ground in a conversation with Peter Bergen, https://samharris.org/podcasts/258-fall-afghanistan/.

For those not familiar with this podcast, note that only the first hour or so is available for free. Entire episodes are behind a paywall except for some selected ones that he deems to be PSAs.

From the blurb on the linked page: "In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Peter Bergen about the US exit from Afghanistan, the resurgence of the Taliban, and his new book, “The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden.” They discuss the Neo-isolationist consensus on the Right and Left, the legitimacy of our initial involvement in Afghanistan, our ethical obligations to our Afghan allies, Biden’s disastrous messaging, the weakness of the Afghan army, the advantages of the Taliban, the implications for global jihadism, the relationship between the Taliban and al-Qaeda, how Osama bin Laden came to lead al-Qaeda, bin Laden’s sincere religious convictions, our failure to capture bin Laden at Tora Bora, the distraction of the war in Iraq, the myth that the CIA funded al-Qaeda, bin Laden’s wives, his years of hiding in Pakistan, his death at the hands of US Special Forces, and other topics.

Peter Bergen is the author or editor of nine books, including three New York Times bestsellers and four Washington Post best nonfiction books of the year. His most recent book is The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden. Bergen is a Vice President at New America, a professor at Arizona State University, and a national security analyst for CNN. He has testified before congressional committees eighteen times about national security issues and has held teaching positions at Harvard and Johns Hopkins University."
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Robert

Peter McLennan

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Re: Afghanistan
« Reply #155 on: September 02, 2021, 03:21:45 pm »

You really have problems with reading comprehension. 

You have hurled that epithet many times.  Could it possibly be that you have problems with output?

Quote
Should I further explain to you that the concept "in fear of" doesn't mean the fear has to materialize?

No

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