Another Diplomatic Crisis - are we positioning for war?

inquiring mind

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Those who paid for it.

That's also a lot different that we have no equipment as you said earlier.
Ok, we have a lot less equipment than we have paid for because the withdrawal flub allowed it to be taken away from a faultering government. You just can't make a rose out of it.
 
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Desk trauma

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Ok, we have a lot less equipment than we have paid for because the withdrawal flub allowed it to be taken away from a faultering government. You just can't make a rose out of it.
As fast as they folded they would have done so even faster had we disarmed them on the way out.
 
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As fast as they folded they would have done so even faster had we disarmed them on the way out.
I agree, but there was absolutely no need to leave more than they could use, and I doubt many of them could fly Apache helicopters or operate other very expensive equipment.
 
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Desk trauma

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I agree, but there was absolutely no need to leave more than they could use, and I doubt many of them could fly Apache helicopters or operate other very expensive equipment.
The equipment that was left by the US, rather then that possessed by the Afghan army, was bricked prior to withdrawal. They had trained personnel to use all their equipment, they however chose to abandon it and fade into the woodwork. Again for that equipment to remain out of Taliban hand we would have had to disarm the Afghan army on our way out.
 
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rjs330

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The equipment that was left by the US, rather then that possessed by the Afghan army, was bricked prior to withdrawal. They had trained personnel to use all their equipment, they however chose to abandon it and fade into the woodwork. Again for that equipment to remain out of Taliban hand we would have had to disarm the Afghan army on our way out.

And we should have. The army was going to fall, the soldiers were going to bail, the Talaban was going to win. There is no excuse to provide the enemy with military equipment.
 
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TLK Valentine

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And we should have. The army was going to fall, the soldiers were going to bail, the Talaban was going to win. There is no excuse to provide the enemy with military equipment.

It seems unlikely that the Afghan army would give up their new toys without a struggle.
 
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So you believe we should of disarmed them totally prior to them being routed thus ensuring they could not resist?
No, I said, "I agree, but there was absolutely no need to leave more than they could use, and I doubt many of them could fly Apache helicopters or operate other very expensive equipment."
 
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Belk

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No, I said, "I agree, but there was absolutely no need to leave more than they could use, and I doubt many of them could fly Apache helicopters or operate other very expensive equipment."
You doubt this based on what? Every joint military exercise I have been a part of we did not bother giving people equipment without training. The military is rather keen on ensuring those who are going to be protecting our back sides have the ability to do so.
 
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iluvatar5150

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Well, they're sure seeing what that reasoning got them.

Yeah, we got an infrastructure bill (finally), effective distribution of covid vaccines, and a steep decline in Presidential toilet tweeting.
 
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You doubt this based on what? Every joint military exercise I have been a part of we did not bother giving people equipment without training. The military is rather keen on ensuring those who are going to be protecting our back sides have the ability to do so.
And you never know, maybe it was one of those guys flying in the Taliban parade I posted earlier. A flub anyway you paint it.
 
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That's what they did.

I meant against the US.

Regardless of what shiny new toys we gave them to play with, once it became obvious we were leaving them to twist in the wind, they walked off the line...

Could've been worse -- at least it wasn't the Iraqi military...
 
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iluvatar5150

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We need one for sure, but what % of it is for actual infrastucture?

Last I checked, all of it.

Thanks to Trump's effort to get it done in a timeframe that was said to be impossible.

Development != distribution.

I'm fine with giving Trump credit for giving the pharmaceutical companies a blank check and staying out of their way. But there's a difference between paying for something and then handling the logistics of distributing it. Trump didn't have much, if anything to do with the distribution; and based on how poorly his administration handled similar distribution issues around PPE, it's hard to imagine him doing it well.

Replaced by rambling, incoherent messages from the bunker.

I've yet to see Biden top this gem:

“Look, having nuclear—my uncle was a great professor and scientist and engineer, Dr. John Trump at MIT; good genes, very good genes, OK, very smart, the Wharton School of Finance, very good, very smart —you know, if you’re a conservative Republican, if I were a liberal, if, like, OK, if I ran as a liberal Democrat, they would say I’m one of the smartest people anywhere in the world—it’s true!—but when you’re a conservative Republican they try—oh, do they do a number—that’s why I always start off: Went to Wharton, was a good student, went there, went there, did this, built a fortune—you know I have to give my like credentials all the time, because we’re a little disadvantaged—but you look at the nuclear deal, the thing that really bothers me—it would have been so easy, and it’s not as important as these lives are (nuclear is powerful; my uncle explained that to me many, many years ago, the power and that was 35 years ago; he would explain the power of what’s going to happen and he was right—who would have thought?), but when you look at what’s going on with the four prisoners—now it used to be three, now it’s four—but when it was three and even now, I would have said it’s all in the messenger; fellas, and it is fellas because, you know, they don’t, they haven’t figured that the women are smarter right now than the men, so, you know, it’s gonna take them about another 150 years—but the Persians are great negotiators, the Iranians are great negotiators, so, and they, they just killed, they just killed us.”
 
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