Taliban Taking Over Afghanistan - Does anyone care?

[RDU VOL#14]

I’d say most of the equipment is everything we left.

So i guess stuff could get tested against the Iranians after all? I didn’t have the Taliban fighting the Iranians on my bingo card this year.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

 

[VolStrom]

The middle east will fight over rocks and sand for the rest of eternity.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

The middle east will fight over rocks and sand for the rest of eternity.

I guess the Taliban decided taking a year and half off from fighting was enough. Do they know anything else?

 

[Vol737]

I guess the Taliban decided taking a year and half off from fighting was enough. Do they know anything else?

To be fair, probably took them 6 months to learn how to crank up all their new vehicles we left them. Got new toys, time to try em’ out!

 

[RDU VOL#14]

To be fair, probably took them 6 months to learn how to crank up all their new vehicles we left them. Got new toys, time to try em’ out!

The NSA looking at the Talibans search history:

 

[Rasputin_Vol]

The middle east will fight over rocks and sand for the rest of eternity.

And Europe is the paragon of peace. Just roses and rainbows in the "garden", as Josep Borrell would say vs "the jungle" everywhere else.

 

[EasternVol]

The middle east will fight over rocks and sand for the rest of eternity.

Have you looked at our military history?

 

[VolStrom]

And Europe is the paragon of peace. Just roses and rainbows in the "garden", as Josep Borrell would say vs "the jungle" everywhere else.

You won't get an argument from me.

 

[LouderVol]

The middle east will fight over rocks and sand for the rest of eternity.

its a water conflict. One of the river that flows out of Afghanistan into Iran has dried up. Iran is blaming Afghani dams, that have existed for quiet some time. Iran wants Afghanistan to allow more water to flow. the issue is Afghanistan had droughts and the water isn't flowing into the river that feed these dams.

Afghanistan could open up the dams and let some water out, but it would be temporary relief.

 

[EasternVol]

its a water conflict. One of the river that flows out of Afghanistan into Iran has dried up. Iran is blaming Afghani dams, that have existed for quiet some time. Iran wants Afghanistan to allow more water to flow. the issue is Afghanistan had droughts and the water isn't flowing into the river that feed these dams.

Afghanistan could open up the dams and let some water out, but it would be temporary relief.

Why then are the Afghans attacking Iran? Or is it in response to Iranian attacks?

 

[LouderVol]

Why then are the Afghans attacking Iran? Or is it in response to Iranian attacks?

I haven't seen any conclusively about who started the fighting. I know there were some smaller fighting going on, but Afghanistan is definitely brining bigger guns quicker than Iran is. Maybe they hope to put a stop to the smaller fighting with the threat of bigger battles.

FWIW Iran has talked about blowing up the dams. Which I always chuckle about, that's asking for uncontrolled flooding.

also FWIW but back before we invaded Iran and Afghanistan have had a number of border issues before. so its not like this is completely out of the blue. When we were there Iran wasn't gong to eff around and find out too much.

 

[EasternVol]

It seems like we would have secured access to the lithium and rare earth elements while we were there:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...ghanistan-taliban-china/?itid=sf_article_list

 

[hog88]

It seems like we would have secured access to the lithium and rare earth elements while we were there:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...ghanistan-taliban-china/?itid=sf_article_list

We were too busy securing the poppy fields.

 

[Rasputin_Vol]

It seems like we would have secured access to the lithium and rare earth elements while we were there:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...ghanistan-taliban-china/?itid=sf_article_list

In order to do that, it would require one of two options:

1. Maintaining a occupying presence there indefinitely or colonize Afghanistan
2. Use diplomacy and cut mutually beneficial deals with the local govt... whether it was with the govt that we propped up for 20 years or with the Taliban. If we can cut deals with the Saudis, we can cut deals with the Taliban

 

[EasternVol]

In order to do that, it would require one of two options:

1. Maintaining a occupying presence there indefinitely or colonize Afghanistan
2. Use diplomacy and cut mutually beneficial deals with the local govt... whether it was with the govt that we propped up for 20 years or with the Taliban. If we can cut deals with the Saudis, we can cut deals with the Taliban

2 is the preferred option. We could have should have gotten a binding (and fair) agreement with our puppets when we had the chance.

 

[Franklin Pierce]

Nicole Gee's family had to Fundraise Money in order to fly slain Marine to Arlington

• Nicole Gee, 23, was one of 13 service members who died in a suicide blast at Kabul Airport in 2021 with 170 desperate Afghans seeking to leave the country

The family of a Marine who was killed during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 had to pay $60,000 to fly her body from California to Arlington to bury her.

Nicole Gee, 23, was one of 13 service members who died in a suicide blast at Kabul Airport in 2021 alongside 170 desperate Afghans seeking to leave the beleaguered country.

The terror attack, which ISIS claimed responsibility for, occurred in the early morning hours of August 26, during the frenzied evacuation near the US embassy.

Republican lawmaker and Army veteran Cory Mills last week met with the families of the 13 service members killed on duty and was told one was forced to pay to move the body of their loved one.

He claimed Marine Gee's family were forced to find 'a staggering $60,000' worth of funding to move her body to its final resting place.

The family of Marine Nicole Gee, 23, who was killed during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 had to pay $60,000 to fly her body from California to Arlington to bury her

Nicole Gee's family had to fundraise money in order to fly slain Marine to Arlington | Daily Mail Online

 

[davethevol]

Judge vacates desertion conviction for former US soldier captured in Afghanistan

 

[WBO]

Should have been there only long-enough to kill Bin Laden (mainly not letting him escape when we had him trapped a few weeks after 9/11). No one is ever going to pacify Afghanistan. No one has, going back to Alexander the Great. Just stay away.

 

[volkyries]

Nicole Gee's family had to Fundraise Money in order to fly slain Marine to Arlington

• Nicole Gee, 23, was one of 13 service members who died in a suicide blast at Kabul Airport in 2021 with 170 desperate Afghans seeking to leave the country

The family of a Marine who was killed during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 had to pay $60,000 to fly her body from California to Arlington to bury her.

Seems like there is more to the story that isn't being told. Cost them $60,000, but a veteran org decided to step in to cover the flight on a private jet? It says DoD can provide a commercial transportation waiver. Wonder if the family didn't want her flying cargo and chose another route. Hopefully someone gets to the bottom of this one way or the other.

Having worked the mortuary side of military, there are rules and if this situation wasn't the exception, we would have heard a lot more complaints about this in previous years.

 

[WBO]

Seems like there is more to the story that isn't being told. Cost them $60,000, but a veteran org decided to step in to cover the flight on a private jet? It says DoD can provide a commercial transportation waiver. Wonder if the family didn't want her flying cargo and chose another route. Hopefully someone gets to the bottom of this one way or the other.

Having worked the mortuary side of military, there are rules and if this situation wasn't the exception, we would have heard a lot more complaints about this in previous years.

Thank you for your service.

There is a made for HBO movie titled "Taking Chance" (Kevin Bacon is the Marine LTC) that showed the care path for a fallen Marine from death to internment. The care and attention given that hero made me proud as hell to be an American.

Especially when you see Russian bodies rotting away, neglected on the battlefield.

 

[Grand Vol]

Thank you for your service.

There is a made for HBO movie titled "Taking Chance" (Kevin Bacon is the Marine LTC) that showed the care path for a fallen Marine from death to internment. The care and attention given that hero made me proud as hell to be an American.

Especially when you see Russian bodies rotting away, neglected on the battlefield.

That was a powerful movie.

 

[Rasputin_Vol]

Should have been there only long-enough to kill Bin Laden (mainly not letting him escape when we had him trapped a few weeks after 9/11). No one is ever going to pacify Afghanistan. No one has, going back to Alexander the Great. Just stay away.

Taliban says China eyeing investments in Afghanistan's gas, oil sectors

 

[Franklin Pierce]

Mom of Marine Killed in Kabul Airport Bombing: 'I Live Every Day Knowing These Deaths Were Preventable'

Christy Shamblin, mother-in-law of Sgt. Nicole Gee, who was killed in Afghanistan on August 26, 2021, speaks at a town hall in Escondido, CA on August 7, 2023.

Parents of U.S. service members killed in a suicide bombing attack at Kabul Airport during the botched Afghanistan withdrawal spoke at a town hall in Escondido, CA on Monday morning that was hosted by Rep. Darrel Issa (R-CA). Nearly two years after the horrific attack, families haven’t received answers to many questions about the attack and there’s been no accountability for the failures that led to what Gold Star Mother Christy Shamblin calls the murder of her daughter and 11 others.


Shamblin delivered an emotional speech Monday morning remembering Marine Sgt. Nicole T. Gee, her daughter-in-law, and excoriating the Biden administration and Pentagon officials.

Mom of Marine Killed in Kabul Airport Bombing: 'I Live Every Day Knowing These Deaths Were Preventable'​

 

[volkyries]

Nicole Gee's family had to Fundraise Money in order to fly slain Marine to Arlington

Seems like there is more to the story that isn't being told. Cost them $60,000, but a veteran org decided to step in to cover the flight on a private jet? It says DoD can provide a commercial transportation waiver. Wonder if the family didn't want her flying cargo and chose another route. Hopefully someone gets to the bottom of this one way or the other.

Having worked the mortuary side of military, there are rules and if this situation wasn't the exception, we would have heard a lot more complaints about this in previous years.

Here in my best Paul Harvey voice is, "the rest of the story". The Pentagon didn’t refuse to pay $60,000 to fly fallen Marine Nicole Gee to Arlington [Updated]

Shamblin said she does not think Gee’s family ever asked the Defense Department to pay for the costs of moving Gee to Virginia to be interred at Arlington National Cemetery. “I think that we got the information that that’s how much it was going to cost, and the private non-profit just stepped in and took over from there,” Shamblin. “I’m not even sure that it went to the point where they said ‘no.’ That may have been the next step in the process, but we just never got to that point.”

Laura Herzog, founder and CEO of Honoring Our Fallen Inc, told Task & Purpose that she personally secured an in-kind donation of a flight in a private aircraft to transport Gee to Arlington National Cemetery so that the fallen Marine would not have to be transported on a commercial airline. (emphasis on airline is mine)

Under DOD policy, when the remains of fallen military members are returned home, they are delivered to an initial location designated by family members, often a hometown. There, families, friends and communities often hold memorial services. If family members wish to see their service member buried elsewhere, such as in a national cemetery like Arlington, the family must pay to transport the members to that location. They can then request to be reimbursed for those expenses along with the rest of the funeral bill under a Defense Department policy.

“In the case of Sgt. Gee, the Marine Corps stayed consistent with its policy that all costs associated with internment be borne by the government,” the spokesperson said. “At this time, we have no record of any incurred charges or any pending requests for reimbursement associated with the transportation of Sgt. Gee’s remains to Arlington National Cemetery. The Marine Corps takes very seriously the transfer of remains of our Marines – they never leave a Marine behind, and they care for the families of their fallen Marines.”

In the article it looks like Representative Mills who exposed this "travesty" still refuses to admit he jumped the gun on calling out the DoD changed his story from "DoD said pay for it yourself" to instructions to the family were unclear.

My sister-in-law didn't seem to have any issues getting her husband from Colorado to Arlington when he was killed in Iraq. Maybe their casualty assistance officer wasn't as good as hers or maybe the Gee family just wanted more. Either way, DoD did not force them to fund raise in order to get their daughter to Arlington.

Finally, Thank you Sgt Gee for your service and sacrifice.