I keep thinking that I am done talking about Afghanistan. We've surely covered all the idiocy possible, right? No, we have not.
Apparently we trusted them a lot. In order to help get Americans and Afghans safely out of the country -- fleeing the threat of the Taliban, remember -- we gave the Taliban a complete list of the names of the ones they were looking for. So that the Taliban could help them the Taliban's enemies get through Taliban security, you see.
Well, hopefully the Taliban were serious about that amnesty they said they were offering.
After today's suicide bombing and complex attack, which killed dozens of Afghans and a dozen American servicemembers, the evacuation is pretty much over. The new layers of security they'd have to put up to prevent this from becoming a daily occurrence would slow the trickle of passengers to a halt anyway. If we are still going to meet that 31 August deadline, we'll need to be pulling out tomorrow -- and there are reports that we started pulling out paratroopers today.
Maybe the Russians can help us get the remaining Americans out afterwards. Maybe the Taliban will let them go in return for ransom money, although I imagine the Chinese might pay more to get to visit and interrogate them in Afghan prisons.
7 comments:
It is true that our allies are likely to trust us much less going forward. It is likely that people in countries where we have a military presence are now less likely to assist us going forward. But more deeply, American citizens are now less likely to sign up for anything that might send them into a compromised situation. Force Recon might understand going in that they could end up in a very bad place, but your average accountant hoping to help out with nation-building didn't sign up for this. Females will be especially reluctant. I suppose that is a good thing, that reality has taught the lesson that political correctness tried to deny.
No more nation-building. Democracy requires a long buildup of institutions to survive, and places without that aren't able to grab it. Punish our enemies and get out. The "cruel" solution is ultimately just and kind. Imposing levels of justice that are not in the vocabulary ultimately gives power to the manipulators and sociopaths, not the decent people. Even in former Yugoslavia, with a European tradition, nation-building is still precarious. Hell, Ireland and the Basque ETA, both quite Western in geography, just barely display western values in terms of getting along.
And the most educated, cultured nation on earth went completely insane 90 years ago.
Yes, that's true. I sometimes wonder if that isn't happening here, too; but maybe we'll wake up from all the wokeness that seems to be driving people insane. (Cf. that recent story that half of young white women have been diagnosed with mental illness.)
I am so very sorry about these deaths and injuries, Grim. They are heart-breaking and enraging.
Thanks, Elise. You know last night Wolf and I were trying to help get a family to an RAF plane. He and I extracted people from Iraq when it was a war zone, so when I was approached I called him.
That’s the Abbey gate, the one the Brits use. I hope those kids weren’t there.
I hope so, too, Grim. And I hope the family got out safely. You're a good man.
Deleted due to in-temperament world class rant.
I do hope you'll hear good news of those evacuees, and that it will help you deal with this unfolding horror. Thanks for trying.
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