Taliban Taking Over Afghanistan - Does anyone care?

[VolStrom]

The bottom line is we have made ourselves week by giving up the manufacturing of the things we need to protect ourselves. Better learn how to speak Chinese in the next 20 years, because with the pussies we have in charge today you don't stand a chance.

 

[n_huffhines]

Taiwan isn't our problem if you undo all your damn globalization damage. Until then discuss it with a lot of manufacturers and their idle assembly lines. That was just "strategic business planning" and logistics at fault - not destroyed plants.

We live in a bizarro world where the free trader is a globalist and the guy proposing an entangling alliance in Asia is not.

 

[hog88]

Meanwhile, the old Soviet Union, circa 1982 and their misadventure in Afghanistan, says hold my beer.

Hopefully out of this we will see Congress do more to assert its authority and not allow open-ended conflict this to go unexamined at the outset. Its fine to allow a POTUS a lot of discretion as to when to engage military action short of a formal declaration of war, especially in modern times when there is less traditional nation-state attack on us.

But the Congress should reasonably demand that whatever administration is calling those shots identify set goals that justify termination of hostilities. Otherwise it just goes on and on and at the very end we end up at best "tied" with whatever enemy there is because nobody articulated precise criteria to measure success.

This we agree on.

 

[05_never_again]

I won’t go that far. I think there is reason to be concerned with China. Clearly countries are afraid to stand up to them, and their economy is massive.

Their massive economy is a result of them being able to access a network/global system that is owned and operated by the United States (which has an even larger economy). Paper. Tiger.

 

[ClearwaterVol]

They do? How much are the Germans, Japanese and Koreans paying us to be there?

Germany - 100M per year
Japan 1.9B per year
S. Korea - 925M per year.

 

[hog88]

Germany - 100M per year
Japan 1.9B per year
S. Korea - 925M per year.

I didn't know that. Direct payment or is this figured by not charging rent on the bases?

 

[Franklin Pierce]

State's 'rosy' Afghanistan Outlook At Odds With Grim Intelligence before Taliban takeover

The top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee pointed to the “rosy picture” the State Department had painted about Afghanistan as opposed to the increasingly “grim” intelligence community assessments in explaining why he believed the Biden administration miscalculated the Taliban takeover so badly.

Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas told the Washington Examiner the Biden administration ignored the bleak assessments from the Pentagon and the intelligence community, and he critiqued the U.S. Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, who had negotiated the February 2020 deal in Doha, Qatar, with the Taliban and had continued to insist wrongly the extremist group was open to a peaceful settlement rather than taking the country by force.

State's 'rosy' Afghanistan outlook at odds with grim intelligence before Taliban takeover

 

[Jxn Vol]

I didn’t know that building back better Joe was talking about the Taliban.

 

[ClearwaterVol]

I didn't know that. Direct payment or is this figured by not charging rent on the bases?

It is not for rent, but they can do things like construction projects for the base for the military, but it is direct payment too. I don't know why Germany pays so little either. They have roughly half of the force in Japan, but pay 1/10th the cost. Maybe the cost of operating the war ships over there?

 

[tvolsfan]

Their massive economy is a result of them being able to access a network/global system that is owned and operated by the United States (which has an even larger economy). Paper. Tiger.

I very much hope you’re correct.

 

[AM64]

Some of these people died probably

You can see it coming, libs insist on new warning labels for all military aircraft:

"Passengers must ingress and egress only through authorized and clearly marked doors and hatches."
"Keep head, arms, and legs inside aircraft at all times."
"Unauthorized entry and exit will be prosecuted."
"At no time during operation will passengers or crew ride on the exterior of the aircraft - violators will be prosecuted"
...

 

[VolStrom]

Germany - 100M per year
Japan 1.9B per year
S. Korea - 925M per year.

Wow! Those are some major bucks, what micro percentage of our costs does that amount to?

 

[Grand Vol]

Yup, the Taliban leadership certainly pulled the wool over Pompeo's eyes. Explains in part why Pompeo was immediately on Fox this weekend bashing Biden for mistakes they all made.

Well, it's not like anyone from the Biden Admin was available to make a statement to the press this last weekend...

 

[05_never_again]

I very much hope you’re correct.

That isn't to say that they are incapable of inflicting damage, so to speak. I have a little 14 lb Miniature Dachshund. He'll bite if threatened, and it'll hurt, and it'll leave a scar. But he's incapable of killing or seriously hurting you. That's China.

 

[Orangeburst]

Their massive economy is a result of them being able to access a network/global system that is owned and operated by the United States (which has an even larger economy). Paper. Tiger.

As long as the dollar holds. And the EU is still on board..and the petro dollar. Lotta potential for it to shift dramatically. No doubt they are ascending and we are declining.

 

[hog88]

That isn't to say that they are incapable of inflicting damage, so to speak. I have a little 14 lb Miniature Dachshund. He'll bite if threatened, and it'll hurt, and it'll leave a scar. But he's incapable of killing or seriously hurting you. That's China.

China can put a real hurt on us without firing a shot, you are severely underestimating them. If it did come to firing shots they would be a formidable opponent.

 

[ClearwaterVol]

Wow! Those are some major bucks, what micro percentage of our costs does that amount to?

We're not dropping bombs in Japan, so I would say they are paying a pretty solid chunk.

 

[tnmarktx]

That isn't to say that they are incapable of inflicting damage, so to speak. I have a little 14 lb Miniature Dachshund. He'll bite if threatened, and it'll hurt, and it'll leave a scar. But he's incapable of killing or seriously hurting you. That's China.

What??

China is our biggest threat period.

 

[05_never_again]

As long as the dollar holds. And the EU is still on board..and the petro dollar. Lotta potential for it to shift dramatically. No doubt they are ascending and we are declining.

Which it will for some indefinite period of time, because there is no viable alternative. The Eurozone is still a s**tshow and has been for the entire time post-financial crisis.

There is no doubt that the United States abuses its reserve currency status and that it allows us to do things other countries couldn't get away with (because they don't have underlying bids under their currency). And one day the USD will not be the primary reserve currency. But not any time soon.

China is doing a great job at making it appear to the world like they are some ascendant power. The reason they are moving at this pace is because they know their time is limited. Same as Russia.

 

[LouderVol]

Meanwhile, the old Soviet Union, circa 1982 and their misadventure in Afghanistan, says hold my beer.

Hopefully out of this we will see Congress do more to assert its authority and not allow open-ended conflict this to go unexamined at the outset. Its fine to allow a POTUS a lot of discretion as to when to engage military action short of a formal declaration of war, especially in modern times when there is less traditional nation-state attack on us.

But the Congress should reasonably demand that whatever administration is calling those shots identify set goals that justify termination of hostilities. Otherwise it just goes on and on and at the very end we end up at best "tied" with whatever enemy there is because nobody articulated precise criteria to measure success.

I would like to see them set a number of potential "qualifications".

Date, and "military victory". First one to be achieved. Beyond that congress has to approve.

I was thinking about some others but I see them wiggling out of qualifications like deployment size, budget cost, lives lost.

 

[AM64]

Ignorant and counterproductive selfishness. Refugees have a great track record in America, including refugees from war-torn Islamic countries.

Much much less concern about legitimate refugees that are cleared for entry because of their support than their cousins entering through Mexico. We can check what one group brings with them - the other group not so much ... a lot of that by choice.

 

[VolStrom]

That isn't to say that they are incapable of inflicting damage, so to speak. I have a little 14 lb Miniature Dachshund. He'll bite if threatened, and it'll hurt, and it'll leave a scar. But he's incapable of killing or seriously hurting you. That's China.

Are you serious? China can shut down our economy tomorrow if they want to. We have made ourselves so dependent on them, we have no choice. Watch and see.

 

[05_never_again]

China can put a real hurt on us without firing a shot, you are severely underestimating them. If it did come to firing shots they would be a formidable opponent.

What we could do to them without firing a shot is much more severe.

 

[85SugarVol]

CV-22s could do the mission and get into Pakistan if they would allow them to land. The big helos (-53s and -47s) could make the distance if they aren't loaded down heavily and get refueled at Kabul Airport.

However, the problem comes from getting those assets in place quickly.

The Navy’s Carl Vinson just deployed with operational CVM-22B’s for the first time. Wonder if they would have the range to make it to Kabul and back from the Gulf?

Plus I’m pretty sure they can re-fuel in flight if there are KC-135’s in the area.

 

[hog88]

What we could do to them without firing a shot is much more severe.

What could we do to them?