48 thoughts on “Friday’s Papers”

    1. Praetorian

      A new faction named ‘ISIS-K’ seems to be the threat…not the Taliban.
      These headbangers seem intent on destroying the Taliban too.
      Within 18 months we’ll see a full scale US/UN/NATO/EUFOR troops on ground force engaged in full scale military operations….maximum carnage & multiple casulties in the first six months….followed by another twenty years of occupation.
      Afghanistan is a major fuel supply line from Russia to India….it’s in the G7’s interest to protect it.
      i served with ISAF in ’04….it was known back then this will go on for 100yrs.

      2. Mr T

        Hmm, I wonder who could be funding ISIS-K

        Isn’t it strange how ISIS seem to attack most islamic countries, but not Israel – sworn enemy of all Muslims?

        Funny that

      3. Mr T

        Also the strategic reasons for Afghanistan are not because of Russia – India link.
        Its because of the “Belt and Road” – a project to link China by land through Tibet, Afghanistan, Iran and on to Europe.

        It would mean naval blockades would have no impact on China. China have already began negotiating with the Taliban – and no doubt will be negotiating for the circa $1 trillion in mineral deposits in the country. Including the biggest Lithium deposit in the world supposedly.

          1. SOQ

            Interesting how the production of opium was never interrupted. They produce 90% if the world’s supply- is it something to do with the climate?

      4. ian-oG

        It’s hardly a laughing matter but the first time I heard about ”ISIS-K” I thought to myself, wow, that Korean pop is everywhere these days.

    2. bisted

      …but isn’t this the basis of the Yanks case for extradition of Assange…that he published their correspondence from which the details of collaborators could be gleaned?

  3. Birdie

    Now Biden will “hunt them down”… what an utter mess that man has made of this. I don’t know why I thought he’d be different but it’s just an utter calamity that could of been avoided had he listened to his diplomats weeks ago.

    1. Charlie

      He’s damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t. It’s a lose/lose situation. This situation is the work of one George W scumbag Bush that everyone since has tried to manage.

      1. goldenbrown

        Charlie, I’m as glad as the next man that the Biden show (has temporarily at least) prevented the insanity of Trump and you’re correct about Bush/Blair (you could go much further back than that)

        but inherited deals geopolitical strategy etc. aside

        this shutdown exercise he is presiding over is FUBAR

        the blood of everyone involved over the course of this exercise is on his hands

        1. Charlie

          Whether he pulled out this year, next year or some other US President pulled out in 20 years, a 100 years time…the same situation would arise. It’s all feeds back to the idiot of all idiots, George W Bush, who now sits at home painting by numbers.

          1. Mr T

            Not nearly as bad – apparently there was intelligence which predicted a quick fall of Afghan govt, but these were ignored.

            And then to not have any contingencies for evacuating citizens etc – the mind boggles.
            Worst though is when Biden withdrew US airforce from Bagram & other airbases and transferred it totally to Afghan military – they must have known that the Afghanis didnt have the expertise to maintain these planes. With no air force the Afghan military folded immediately

          2. Nigel

            I don’t think they ignored the reports about the government and the army, I think the reports about the government and the army, along with Trump’s deal, made withdrawal an immediate inevitability. I mean the choices were to withdraw with the Afghan military and government as it was after twenty years of ‘nation building’ or… not withdraw, after Trump’s peace deal had already handed Aghanistan to the Taliban? I think the actual alternative to what we’re seeing was an all-out shooting war. It’s perhaps worth reminding people at this point that the Trump admisintration refused to co-operate in any way with the incoming Biden administration, which meant no intelligence briefings or policy briiefings on any level, which would include anything to do with their dealings with Afghanistan.

            I suppose the Taliban will now be fighting an ISIS insurgency, which has a ghastly irony.

            And you know what isn’t getting anywhere near enough stick on this? The bloody bloated and utterly useless US Army. Twenty years of occupation, billions of dollars, countless deaths, and a house of cards government and paper tiger army letting the Taliban back in. How much of US foreign policy is driven by deference to the US military as an institution? It needs to be burned down.

          3. Cian

            This is an interesting article written by Sarah Chayes who has been living in Afghanistan for 20 years. She suggests that the problem:

            I was there. Afghans did not reject us. They looked to us as exemplars of democracy and the rule of law. They thought that’s what we stood for.

            And what did we stand for? What flourished on our watch? Cronyism, rampant corruption, a Ponzi scheme disguised as a banking system, designed by U.S. finance specialists during the very years that other U.S. finance specialists were incubating the crash of 2008. A government system where billionaires get to write the rules.
            […]
            One final point. I hold U.S. civilian leadership, across four administrations, largely responsible for today’s outcome. Military commanders certainly participated in the self-delusion. I can and did find fault with generals I worked for or observed. But the U.S. military is subject to civilian control. And the two primary problems identified above — corruption and Pakistan — are civilian issues. They are not problems men and women in uniform can solve.
            https://www.sarahchayes.org/post/the-ides-of-august

          4. Nigel

            You can’t divorce the US military from its civilian leaders – that’s the command structure of the US military, and it’s not fit for any purpose other than lining somebody’s pockets.

        1. bisted

          …the Atlantic…seriously, Charlie…haven’t you ever heard that it’s the victors who get to write the history…in Afghanistan the Yanks definitively lost…again…

          1. Charlie

            Brains. The dogs on the street know ISIS blossomed in 2003. Where in the name of divine Jaysuz did you get your education? A pub?

          2. bisted

            …thanks Charlie…I was sure crooked Hillary had formed ISIS…maybe she just armed them…btw…no divinities were used in the formation of my opinions…erroneous or otherwise…

          5. Nigel

            Call me what you like, you’re just straight up wrong. Bash Hilary for something she actually did and IDGAF. I can’t abide losers who let W Bush of the hook.

          6. bisted

            …whose letting Bush off the hook…I despise all US politicos…you are the one on here for years defending the indefensible troika of crooked Hillary, Obama and sleepy Joe when they were last in power…they bombed eight countries…how many new wars did Trump start?

          7. Nigel

            Because you said Hilary ‘formed’ ISIS, when Bush was the idiot responsible. No defense of anything else occurred. You were just wrong. Live with it.

          8. bisted

            …thanks Nigel…I knew it was one of those damn Yanks…Reps or Dems…they’re all baddies to me…and to an increasingly large chunk of the world…

  4. goldenbrown

    there’s a lot of numbers being thrown about on the media….by my tot the Irish mission to Kabul managed to extract 36 out of the 111 reportedly trying to get out

    that’s just 32%

    was the Irish “mission” to Kabul basically to administrate bums on seats for those lucky ones who had managed to get themselves inside the airport perimeter?

    1. GiggidyGoo

      No Irish citizen or their families will be abandoned in Afghanistan, Foreign Affairs and Defence Minister Simon Coveney has pledged.

      “No-one is going to be abandoned here,”
      “We will continue to stay in contact with all the families”
      “There is a risk, of course [in getting people out], but I think it’s a managed risk. Other countries are taking risks to get their people out and I don’t see why Ireland wouldn’t do the same,”

      While he acknowledged the presence of the ARW on the mission, Mr Coveney said the rescue operation was primarily a diplomatic mission.

      Somehow I get the impression that Coveney has messed up

          1. Bitnboxy

            ROFL! You have no business calling anyone a troll GiggidyGums, you mad-out-of-it low born toothless auld lad. You blame everyone but yourself for your own dysfunctional issues.

            Delusional twit.

            Sheesh!

          4. GiggidyGoo

            Ah Bitty. The kellys baby. Scan the code (if you can extract yourself from the kiddies klub for a minute)

      2. goldenbrown

        yeah, I thought that fireside chat on Primetime last night as he stepped away from the canapés was appalling…I can’t imagine how those peoples relatives felt watching that

        but he’ll write a strongly worded letter to the bad guys on some UN headed paper, wha?

        1. Bitnboxy

          Or take to an anonymous internet comment forum for a aul bit of a rant à la GiggidyGums which has more do with their own dysfunction than the fevered targets of their ire?

          Just a thought.

          Chortle.

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