The Great Game

at

This morning.

Kabul, Afghanistan.

Chaos at Kabul airport as Afghans try to flee Taliban (BBC)

Pic: BBC

Meanwhile…

Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has confirmed that there are 23 Irish citizens currently in Afghanistan, adding that he is “very concerned” about the situation.

Speaking this morning, Minister Coveney said the Department of Foreign Affairs has been in contact with the 23 citizens directly, and about 15 of those are looking to leave Afghanistan.

The Minister said the Department has been helping those get bookings on commercial flights which have now been cancelled.

Coveney confirms 23 Irish citizens stranded in Afghanistan (Independent.ie)

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53 thoughts on “The Great Game”

    1. hmmm

      Get yyer facts straight Muldoon.

      It was the Taliban who stopped Heroin production in the mid 90s. It’s the real reason the place was invaded 20 years ago.

    2. goldenbrown

      of course the Brits have nothing to do with any of this atall, somehow it’s just that guy Biden, isn’t that right Charger?

      lol you simpleton

    3. Papi

      Charger, like malaria, just keeps coming back. The Incel Kid has been jettisoned for Spudface today. Aw, bless .

      1. Slave to the Rhythm

        Did I miss a special guest appearance then? I give this place a wide berth now a lot of the time.

    4. Slave to the Rhythm

      Caused by? Contributing factor for sure, but don’t go over the top pal. The Russians, Pakistan were there too, and you know the Afghan people as well don’t come out well out of it, why can’t they run their own sh^t?

      1. Nigel

        Imperialists and extremists keep violently taking over their country. Tends to make self-determination tricky.

    5. Slave to the Rhythm

      Good news about heroin, fair play, you talk like that’s a bad thing?

      Better quality and range for consumers, I though you are/were a free market/fair trade sort of guy?

  2. goldenbrown

    footage emerging of lads plummeting to their deaths from the undercarriages of departing aircraft..

    where do you even start with this? putting all of the history aside I’m wondering how (or why) did the Americans + Brits allow this to unfold the way it is?

    it’s obvious we’re only being fed a massively sanitised “the Taliban might be amenable reasonable guys lets see” reportage of what’s happening on the ground…you don’t have to look very far to find the barbarism already. there’s something very engineered about it all. Americans + Brits working overtime to manage the optics for themselves I suppose

      1. Nigel

        And they were ALL throwing away the lives of their soldiers and Afghan civilians for nothing, except maybe the massive profits of a few private contractors and arms manufacturers.

        1. theo kretschmar schuldorff

          Cost of war in Afghanistan 2001-2020: $978bn
          Pop of Afghanistan: 38.04m
          For that sum they could have bribed every man, woman & child $25,709 to get an American haircut and wear chinos.

      3. Slave to the Rhythm

        That’s true, the Danes for example had a huge presence there.
        Ireland should have been there too, but we did have a few mercenaries and deal makers.

    2. anonann

      I agree. The people of Afghanistan have been abandoned by the US and UK, after making it their political playground for so many years. I think it’s going to be very difficult for some time to distinguish what is media/politically driven narrative and what the reality of the situation on the ground is.

      1. Milk teeth

        I think that’s the problem, I don’t think Afghanis think much about Afghanistan. It’s a colonial construct

    2. Nigel

      You already mention Biden, I wouldn’t want you to foget how it all started in an orgy of right wing nationalism, opportunism and sheer greed, not to mention over the opposition of the largest protest demonstrations the world has ever seen.

  4. ProfessorMark

    I’m not sure I can read Broadsheet anymore. Can you guys not debate without resorting to insults & namecalling. Every post, every day – infantile stuff. Have a great Monday.

      1. Verbatim

        Not sure it is OK, why can’t you just let whoever it is, just be. Let me tell you how you do that, read the comment and move along, if you can’t do this, the problem is you. Think about it, only good will come of it, and the ripple-on effect into other areas of your life if you do…

        2. Slave to the Rhythm

          Yea 100%. Well said.

          If you can’t rise above it, you have no ‘right’ to be here either.

          Just get on with your own life FFS.

  5. stephen moran

    Biden is having a bit of that peanut farmer from Georgia Carter moment about it (despite inheriting the issue from hapless formers)..methinks we are going to need a bit of an Argo moment to get some of the chaps out of there. I wonder what Ben Affleck is up to today . Oh I forgot he’s stroking Jo Lo’s bum on a yacht

    One wonders when the US will learn that they were never going to magically turn Afghanistan or Iraq into postwar West Germany, Japan or South Korea as they were never going to stay. Trillions spent & the “government” (poorly led & riddled with corruption) couldn’t even stand on its own hind legs for 3 months.

    The “West” couldn’t win this war. It could only postpone admitting that we lost it. A cursory glance at a history book would tell you this but as you say no one reads anymore.

    The point is that Afghanistan should only have been a counterterrorism, and not a nation-building, mission.
    That said, the lazy direct association of the Taliban with Al Qaeda is sloppy in the “independent” press. Trump did invite them to Camp David !

    That said his botched evacuation is horrendous, but the US do have some form with leaving their “allies” high & dry

    Should spark a tragic refugee crisis for the Daily Fail & the Daily Excrement to get their teeth into though.

    The issue for Europe is Angela Merkel (Capt sensible & Mrs pragmatic IMO) has left the building.

  6. goldenbrown

    lets talk about Charger…
    it seems you have a bit of a persistent resident “malware” infestation Bodger
    obviously the Charger character has been here on and off for months in various guises
    I have to admit at times I was thinking it’s actually by design
    I can’t help you unfortunately but it is interesting to observe nonetheless how one individual appears to have imploded your site reach via simple persistent old school trolling, a shame whatever the reasoning
    I’ll continue to keep an eye open for the excellent sub-dermal political and web fluff features, hopefully you can find a way and the means to reestablish a quite venerable and useful local web institution

    1. scottser

      yeh, i sent the lads an email reminding them of their own rules which they don’t seem to mind breaking for a certain piscine poster. surely banned means banned? i suspect it’s about the click numbers also which is a shame. i haven’t received a reply yet but i’ll be sure to post it when i get it.

      1. Papi

        I wouldn’t hold your breath. Accuse Bodger of clickbaiting and he’ll be on it like lightning. Enabling Charger however, that’s a different story, as we’ve all seen.

    1. anonann

      He can say that. That doesn’t make it true. I wonder will we see this being pushed in a media narrative.
      I saw yesterday when following the guardian’s coverage of it (which has been quite good, if you ask me) that the US had curtailed flights evacuating Afghans out in favour of prioritising the evacuation of US nationals. Not a good look, but in fairness none of this looks good.

  8. Junkface

    Spending millions on training the Afghan army was a total waste of money. They were told this more than a decade ago. They had 300,000 in the army versus 80,000 Taliban. What did they do? Took off their uniforms and walked away as the Taliban approached each district. Useless! There is no will to fight for their country, they don’t have a unified nationalism, it’s more about tribal regions. Planet earths money pit.

  9. Janet, dreams of an alternate universe

    if I believed in a God I don’t think I’d pray much,
    but I’d pray for every woman that’s going to get left behind when those planes take off

    1. Birdie

      That’s what’s just so desperate Janet. All the women and girls left behind will have such a hellish existence. They should be priority evacuated imho.

      1. V aka Frilly Keane

        Worse even
        look at all these lads trying to do a runner themselves
        and leaving all the women in their lives to fend for themselves

        Instead of focusing on the history and the politics lads
        or whatever Charger is at

        why not spend five minutes imagining what it is like for a girl who just watched her father brother husband uncles cousins try and eff off
        picture where she might be hiding
        wonder if she has water food

        wonder what will happen when she is found

        1. Slave to the Rhythm

          Welcome back V< you were missed, genuinely… looking forward to reading your hot take on the Dublin Mayo game… ref…. and incidents.

          1. V AKA Frilly Keane

            ‘that right?

            I’ve already seen what ‘Slave to the Rhythm’ has posted about me here

            So spare me even more fake news Lads

            BTW, anyone that wants to folly stuff on the championship
            @akafrillykeane for yerselves

          2. Slave to the Rhythm

            remind me… did I insensitively express dislike one of your cake recipes?

            Gowan… tell us what happened the Rebelettes there y’day

  11. stephen moran

    The Persians, Alexander the Great, The Mongols, The British (twice), the Russians and now the Americans have all fought long, bloody and utterly pointless stalemates for the hearts of minds of the Afghans. None of the invaders have ever come close to understanding what makes the tribes, the warlords, the Mujahideen and now the Taliban, tick. Anyone can successfully invade Afghanistan. Staying there and getting out is the problem – committed insurgency has trumped the best equipped and supplied armies every time.

    Back in 1843 Dr William Brydon was the only survivor of a 5000 strong British Army and 12,000 attached civilians to reach safety in Jalalabad. The rest were killed by the Afghan tribal troops as they retreated through the Khyber pass. He missed the dramatic last stand of the 44th Foot at Gandamak – wiped out to a man by the tribes.

  12. Slave to the Rhythm

    Poor old Charger … I’m not sure whether this is the correct approach.. but my opinion is irrelevant … unlike many others here… sadly… I respect the site’s right to make their own rules and interpret them as they see fit… why do so many people here insist on telling the moderators how to do their jobs… hi everyone…

  13. Mary Brennan

    Surly the Americans knew what would happen at the airport when they sent in planes that they desperate people there would try and get on a plane . Does people need help now not in months time .

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