[Nigredo]

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/hamas ... -us-676851

Jezza's mates speak up

[Boiler]

Some r/w cretin elsewhere said of Biden's speech "the idiot cant even read his queue cards" [sic]

There's no point in trying to argue with someone that dim, is there?

[Watchman]

No one saw this coming, Raab says of Taliban’s rapid Afghan takeover

Sorry Dom, it’s in the job title - Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. As this country’s senior diplomat you have a whole plethora of analysts and advisers; get the fuck out and bring a grown up in

[Andy McDandy]

I swear, I cannot recall a UK government - not even Major's post-Redwood 1995-97 one - that wears its incompetence quite so shamelessly.

[Youngian]

I swear, I cannot recall a UK government - not even Major's post-Redwood 1995-97 one - that wears its incompetence quite so shamelessly.

Major is an example of someone who learned on the job and grew. Others don't have that capacity

Exhibit two

[Malcolm Armsteen]

I swear, I cannot recall a UK government - not even Major's post-Redwood 1995-97 one - that wears its incompetence quite so shamelessly.

The standard of ministerial candidates is so low as to be incredible. It comes from pandering to a reactionary and under-educated base (the Local Associations) filtered through the Brexiters-Only sieve. They have an agenda, certainly, but they are also woefully lacking in talent, experience and any form of positive vision. And sound morality and decency are left behind...

>edit<
Just look at Frost's face in that video. It's all in that shit-eating grin.

[Nigredo]

No one saw this coming, Raab says of Taliban’s rapid Afghan takeover

Sorry Dom, it’s in the job title - Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. As this country’s senior diplomat you have a whole plethora of analysts and advisers; get the fuck out and bring a grown up in

Raab knows what he's doing and is in full control of the situation, he's got a double first in history from Oxford dunchaknow

[Bones McCoy]

America's shaky grip on reality aside: Those of us outside her borders can witness a couple of eternal truths, replayed again.

1. The president (even if a democrat) is not our ally. This applies even if Harris assumes the presidency.

2. When Uncle Sam comes calling, saying "Ally with us, we will protect you", look to every outcome since Korea (A lifetime away). A short attention span, buyers remorse at another war, and superpower levels of hand-washing.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Lots of US engagements have worked in the way they and their allies wanted. The problem is most of the biggest stuff hasn't.

[Youngian]

Why doesn't anyone listen to me? asks Bastani. Can't find any academic discipline called international affairs.

Is this a Blue Labour hot take from Tara?

[Tubby Isaacs]

"International affairs", ha ha. Some of the worst for that one size fits all analysis are people like Bastaani. There are different people who are experts on different regions, who may or may not be listened to by politicians.

It's like how they used to think economists were all neoliberal austerians. Academic economists regularly called out Osborne and were happy with Jez investment in green growth. It was some of the other stuff they were less impressed with (while recognizing that it was still better than Johnson).

[Tubby Isaacs]

Two point here. Fair enough to say you never thought a military solution would succeed- it didn't, you were right. But not sure "I'd have done a negotiated deal with the people who've just shown they don't care about negotiated deals" is a great point.

[Andy McDandy]

I suspect that the only thing that could have worked was utterly destroying the Taliban, then as with postwar Germany occupying the country for decades and forcing through major changes to society and attitudes. You'd still have terrorists up the bum, and plenty of people saying it was a waste of time, but any other course of action would lead to where we are.

[Youngian]

Wiser to have kept that observation to yourself even with the caveat.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Spiked unmasks the real villains. "Western Feminists" who challenged Trump.

[mattomac]

If I’m honest Trump had signed this in to action a year ago.

The guy constantly asked why they had troops in places that didn’t bring them any cash, there are literally tonnes of speeches.

America was 75% in favour of this a month ago, it can pretend it’s disgusted but actually when you look below the line you’ll see plenty are just using this as a bush to batter their political opponent,

Spiked doesn’t care if it did it would have denounced Trump years ago, when he sowed the “America first” approach even further into the fabric of the country.

“And Trump would have done it better…..” How? Sadly this was sown into history almost a decade and a half ago, so I’m not going blame him, but he is much to blame as Biden.

If not more….

[Tubby Isaacs]

You can always invent a story about hypocrisy somehow, where somebody has said something about something and not about something else they might have done. Biden's by no means had an easy time from all on his own side though.

It's not very hard to find "Western feminists" who are vocal about the Taliban. But if Western feminists went on a lot about Trump, it's not surprising given lots of them live in the country the country he was president of. And anyway, I thought talking about abroad was clever coastal elite stuff?

[MisterMuncher]

The usual performance in creating a circular hierarchy of victims each both more and less worthy of help than the other, such that you can rationalise helping no-one.

[Bones McCoy]

I suspect that the only thing that could have worked was utterly destroying the Taliban, then as with postwar Germany occupying the country for decades and forcing through major changes to society and attitudes. You'd still have terrorists up the bum, and plenty of people saying it was a waste of time, but any other course of action would lead to where we are.

To quote Harry Andrews from 633 squadron: "You can't kill a squadron".
And likewise you can't kill an insurgency.

US Post 1945 invasions have just one success - Korea. A UN operation organised mostly by second world war staff officers.

Since then they've intervened here, interfered there.
But eventually the boys have to go home, and what remains is often a bigger shitshow than the initial setup.

During my student days, the arrogance of youth had me believing there were solutions.
Perhaps they are, but I've seen enough failures to know that people many pay-grades above me have tried and failed.

Maybe some of those Ayn Rand following billionaire space-travel cunts like Bezos and Musk could lend a hand.
To demonstrate the superiority of free-market solutions - obvs.

[The Weeping Angel]

I wanted to share this thread

It debunks one of the pernicous myths about Afghanistan.