In Kabul next week??? They have already been directed to destroy all ‘sensitive’ documents and computers…
I had a conversation the other night with a former Army guy who’d done a couple of tours… Apologies for the language…
Yes, I remember both Vietnam, I was flying out of Cubi during the fall of Vietnam, and participated in both Frequent Wind, and Eagle Pull. Also the little op known as the Mayaguez rescue. Our crew took this picture when we found the MV Mayaguez, although the Air Force took the credit since they ‘processed’ the film at Utapao… (which STILL pisses me off)…
Yes, those are two Swift boats tied up alongside the Mayaguez, but they were crewed by Khmer Rouge, and shot at us every time we flew by (thankfully they were lousy shots).
I also knew folks that were involved in the attempted hostage rescue in Tehran in 1979 that failed…
The one thing that kept running through my mind yesterday was- “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.” Granted I’ve been retired for 29 years, but I still lay the blame for the clusterf**k now going on in Afghanistan directly at the feet of Xiden and SECDEF Austin.
Their ‘scramble’ to get out has been mismanaged from the get go, sneaking out in the dark of night after they turned off the lights at Bagram??? Really??? WTF happened to actually COORDINATING the turnover, knowing we’d still need a base to operate from if/when things went south? And the constant downplaying of the Taliban… Junior Varsity? Really??? “Oh, they won’t actually try to control the country, they don’t have that capability.”
Have anyone looked at a @#%$$ tactical map of Afghanistan lately? The ‘JV’ controls over 75% of the country!
And it’s obvious the Pentagon has its head up its ass, more concerned with ‘domestic terrorists’ and CRT than actually protecting its personnel. Kirby, who I think of now as ‘Baghdad Bob’ Kirby gave a disjointed confusing press conference about how the Puzzle Palace was ‘working the issues’ and believed that ‘negotiations’ would get everything resolved… Yeah, right, pull the other one, it has bells on it… There are contingency plans already worked out, you pull them out and say “Go!”…
Which drives me back to which one of the first two pictures will be the news lead next week…
Meanwhile, Xiden is nowhere to be found, either hiding in Delaware or at Camp David and Austin is throwing Kirby to the wolves…
At least, unlike the reception ‘we’ received when we came back, we made sure the GWOT kids GOT a real welcome home. But what will the administration say to those gold star families and those who came back with PTSD, missing limbs, and chronic injuries that they may or may not be getting treatment for? Or those who’ve lost veterans to suicide (20+ a day)…
Gah, I’m gonna shut up now, so I can go find my BP meds…
This was the inevitable result, unless we…
A) Exterminated the Afghanis, Pakistanis, and Iranians.
B) Kept 40,000 troops there forever.
Look at the up side. At least now we’ll stop paying farmers to grow opium.
+1 McChuck
The Taliban were bound to win because they lived there and were not ever planning to leave. They might run across the border, they may lose the black headgear, but they were not ever going to leave. And in the end, they wanted victory more than any other group in that part of the world. Same thing happened in Vietnam.
Screw nation building and bringing democracy to people who don’t want it. Bring back the punitive raid.
BTW I’ll send you my copy of The Last Battle by Ralph Wetterhahn. They talk about the P-3 trips to Koh Tang Island
And a good portion of the Taliban lived and trained in Pakiland, which is supposed to be our friend or ally or something.
You stop this… excrement by being bold, decisive, laying a heavy hand on anything and everything, with a rule of engagement being “Yes, Harder, Faster, MORE!”
It’s my understanding that Trump had told the Taliban it if they pulled something like this after we left it would send the bombers in.
Whatever the outcome, God bless all our troops, UK, US and others, for what they have gone through and done.
McChuck is correct. As long as islam exists on this planet EVERYTHING that is happening right now in A’stan will continue
happening there and a lot of other places. We’ve ALWAYS had
only one actual course of action to deal with the problem of
islam…..but few people will admit it let alone advocate for it.
And that course is the TOTAL extermination of that ideology. As long as anyone exists who subscribes to it then all the attendant evil and violence the cult of mohammed engenders will continue. And the exact same thing can be said about Progressivism/Socialism/ Communism. Both ideologies are incompatible with any other belief structures.
Yep. The USA has been fighting muslim aggression since… before the USA was created. Hell, our first ‘official’ war after Independence was against muslims.
Then again, most of the slaves bought by Democrats and pre-Democrats were bought from muslim slave traders…
So, well, Democrats have been funding muslim aggression against us since… before they were officially Democrats.
Nothing ever copulating changes, dammit.
Great. Now I’m riled up again.
Ditto what McChuck said. This was always going to happen from the first day we set foot in that country. Nobody seems to know what an “exit strategy” is anymore. And heaven forbid they read a history book. How many armies have invaded Afghanistan only to find it too expensive in lives and money to stay there. The Persians, The Mongols, The Brits (3 times), The Russians (also 3 times), and now NATO. Wash, rinse, repeat. And in the end, Afghanistan always reverts back. But the politicians will never learn.
There’s this country in the far east that has lifted upwards of 90% of it’s population out of poverty, improved housing, jobs, medical, transportation, AND it’s military. It also borders a rather large country that have alligned militarily and are great economic/tech trading partners. Our media tells us they’re selfish, evil, war mongering slave masters. Most elites of this Untied States of America are psychopaths. They’re still playing checkers while the rest of the world is playing Go and Mahjong. Geopolitically speaking, they’ve lost long ago. Now, we’re all just waiting for the temper tantrum from these loser idiots. That tantrum, unfortunately may produce a dreadful looking cloud(s).
Which country is that? Japan?
Israel.
I was there in 01 when we won the war.
I was there in 02 when we won the peace.
I was there in 03 when we decided to loose the war.
From the New and Improved ROE that handcuffed every single troop while at the same time implementing the anti-Islamophobic Command structure inside the Puzzle Palace.
We would have been better served if we had simply sacrificed 10K soldiers on top of 100 billion in tax dollars in the name of worshiping the Pedophile Prophet.
The real problem is what we will see in the next few years,
It will make 911 look like a playground squabble.
How many times does our Political Royalty have to tell us that they HATE America before we believe them?
MSG Grumpy
As a reminder we haven’t had a win since the War and Navy Departments became the Department of DEFENSE. Cant say we won Panama, that was just big brother beating up little brother. Same with Grenada, just a punch in the gut to the neighborhood bully. We got a tie in Korea and Desert Storm and in another stalemate which I predict will be a loss in Iraq this time. and we have LOST Nam and now Afghanistan and it only took us twice as long as Russia to realize we were beaten!
3 million people died after the dems pulled the resupply plug on Vietnam. How many this time?
Who cares?
Or, as the locals say, Insh’Allah!
Enemies foreign in this case may possibly be being used by enemies domestic as a proxy.
2000 saw a lot of the same unhinged pattern that we saw later when fraud schemes fell apart. It is probable that certain persons were already insane by that point, /and/ playing for an end game near the current situation.
We presumed that because 43 was drawing that intensity of fire, that he was on our side. No. The intensity of fire was because the folks firing were crazy and uncivilized even then. Bush was Establishment, and his game was pretending to fight, while selling us out. Laura Bush’s comment on southern border security confirms that the Bush opposition to Trump wasn’t merely wanting to retain the GOP as a Bush fiefdom. In hindsight, a lot of Bush’s work on the WoT makes sense as willful, knowing sabotage.
Americans, military and civilian, should wake up and realize that emotionally investing in anything built on congressional funding is wasteful, unless and until we get our own house in order.
All- Thanks for the comments, and like many others, I agree with McChuck. Gerry- Since I was there and flying in those P-3s, I’m curious as to what he said… And how much he got wrong and how much he got right.
It won’t be a repeat of ’75 because the feckless idiots and bungholes in charge won’t allow a repeat of ’75.
So, well, welcome to the best parts of the pre- and post-Crusades, where muslims enslaved and killed every person who remained from the other side.
Those that rewrite/deny true history are doomed to repeat the real thing. It has to be hard to watch since we’ve all seen how this ends and it’s not pretty.
I also knew folks that were involved in the attempted hostage rescue in Tehran in 1979 that failed…
I’d be very interested to hear any comments they made.
When the hostages were taken I wanted to enlist, but my physical condition prohibited it. I consoled myself with the fact that since this was an obvious attack similar to Pearl Harbor, there would be reprisals. The only question was, would the U.S. simply write the hostages off, or would the hostages be rescued before the place got obliterated?
Then the so-called rescue attempt turned into a train wreck of epic proportions, and that was the very first time in my life I was embarrassed to be a citizen of the United States. For that debacle, I’d have cheerfully burned a flag on the steps of the Capitol Building.
I couldn’t believe our leadership was that incompetent. Why the idiots at the top didn’t commit suicide is beyond me.
Worse, nothing was done to fix the problem.
When the crap in Afghanistan started, I thought that all of them (Pres. VP, Congress, and most Generals) had read the history of Afghanistan, including the British, Elphy Bey, and their little jaunt through the Kyber Pass. Such is Afghanistan. But I guess not.
Our current commander, Elphy-Bi, is an idiot. This isn’t his fault, given his condition. He’s probably okay in the morning, but put him under stress and all he’s capable of is hiding out at Camp David. The VP is in worse shape, both mentally and morally.
This is only a small part of what’s wrong in the U.S. What’s next?
One scenario that occurs to me is that at some point in the future, the Democrats will seize control of the White House and the Capital Building, and at some point in time, burn the U.S. Constitution on the front steps of the Capital – with all ‘peaceful demonstration’ ceremony. After that, they’ll destroy the Washington Monument and both Lincoln and Jefferson memorials.
If that doesn’t mobilize a violent uprising, we’re done. Might as well raise the hammer and sickle and learn to salute it – maybe the electricity will be turned on this week.
“Democrats will seize control of the White House and the Capital Building” – 6 January 2021.
“burn the U.S. Constitution” – 5 February 1937
“destroy the Washington Monument and both Lincoln and Jefferson memorials” – Didn’t you watch the news last year?
Beans- we shall see…
MC- That we have twice…
As a Canadian who observes and occasionally comments….we’ve had 5 years of Trudeau and tomorrow he apparently is going to call an election. If he is successful with a majority next month your northern neighbour will be well on its way to becoming a version of communism….in time we will become the next Venezuela. Trudeau has bought off the media to the tune of $600+ million Cdn in grants….so guess who they’ll support in the upcoming election…and demonize his opponents. Firearm confiscation process has just begun. A universal income is on the table and I have acquaintances with small businesses who can’t get enough workers because Trudeau is currently paying them enough to stay home. You’ve had Biden for only half a year and there are more than a few similarities between Biden and Trudeau….. don’t give up your firearms.
The Biden administration is putting out feelers to the Taliban dangling Money in front of them and BEGGING them not to attack our embassy in Kabul and are dangling MONEY AS A BRIBE. This is fitting for the Delusional President who knows NOTHING about ending a war, and much less about NEGOTIATING. NONE of this would have happened with previous administration .
The Biden administration is already urging Americans there who are not working for the government to get out while the going is good.
After the Taliban evict the people from the American Embassy in Kabul in their own way and style, they will turn the building into a Shit-Hole like the rest of that Hell-Hole of a country… or blow it up.
Joey is just thinking back to his old school days when he had to surrender his lunch money to the school yard Bullies to try to keep from being beat up… . Of course that didn’t work then either.
Jimmy Carter is no longer the weakest President in my lifetime. That distinction now belongs to that HORSE‘S ASS in the White House Delusional Joey
It isn’t knuckling under to a bully, it is malice.
In hindsight, Obama wanted ISIS to happen. Its failure after he could no longer directly meddle was probably a disappointment.
Biden is aligned with Obama, and Obama sees the Taliban as a means to his desired geopolitical end state.
The game being played domestically with BLM is complicated, perhaps even confused or insane. It is not entirely clear whether the Democratic idea of the end game is intimidating Americans into surrender, slowly cutting folks out of the herd with a bunch of incidents, or directly moving to mass murder by force.
Attacks by Taliban would in their minds potentially cause the intimidation that they were trying for with the BLM protests.
Issue is, these people can’t see other humans as anything but symbols in their own ideology, and continue to misread lots of others, because they only consider the ideologically possible explanations. If they haven’t won yet, they presume that they only need to act more savagely, or more tyrannically.
The only reason Biden is relevant here is because the obvious difference between who holds formal power, and whoever it is making the actual decisions allows federal officials more leeway for disobedience. Which would seem to not be an issue, because surely their motivations in 2021 are not that different from their motivations in 2020? Well, it may be an issue, if the Democratic leadership has no loyalty to federal officials, and the hatred or indifference they feel for ordinary Americans extends to federal bureaucrats.
If you are a senior state bureaucrat, embassy protection may well be your biggest worry here. Anywhere else, and there are other closer entities being prepared to attack the things you love.
Biden would absolutely be a knowing participant in this were he mentally capable. Obama would never have picked a decent man with regard for American lives to be VP.
MJ- They were ‘less than complimentary’ to put it mildly. The Navy was ready to go in 48 hours, but Carter stuck his oar in and made it a ‘joint service’ op… We know how that ended…
David- Truly sorry to hear that. And no, from my cold dead hands…
Re. Teheran embassy take over
Operation Ajax, managed and run from that embassy. Kermit Roosevelt and Herbert(?) Schwarzkopf.
All of the above statements mirror my disgust, distrust and dismay over the incredible incompetence, stupidity and carelessness clearly displayed by the so called “leaders” in washington and the pentagon.
AND if it is not incompetence and stupidity, then the only other reason is treason.
Yes Jim, from my cold dead hands.
Biden is SO Jealous of Trump’s accomplishment, and the remarkable legacy that will follow him that he spent his first-day in office dismantling his predecessor’s legacy, by signing dozens of executive orders to wipe out his long list of accomplishments….By Reinstating the Iran Deal, Moving the Embassy out of Jerusalem, Lifting the Restrictions Against Red China, Higher Taxes, Opening the Southern Border, with Millions of Illegals Flooding In, Increased Welfare, Job Killing Environmental Wacko Regulations, Worshiping a Criminal by Erecting Statues of Him, The Destruction of Constitutional Rights, Giving Away the Store to Foreign Welfare Queens, A Weakened Military. everything good that Trump had done for us the Delusional Creep wiped out. And now he finds him self deep in Doo-Doo by the way he BOTCHED UP the exit of out Troops from Afghanistan.
And this is what they call .a return to what they call “Normal”.
“Obama is so jealous of Trump’s achievements, which means the people who control Obama are jealous of Trump’s achievements.”
There, I fixed it for you.
Interesting to hear your side. I took part in Operation New Life on Orote point Guam. When we land at Anderson what I believe were the Mayaguez Marines were waiting to fly out. They didn’t look like they wanted to be chatted up. Still have some of my Vietnamese money they were giving away. Met the VP. This has gotten me more upset than I’ve been in awhile.
All- Thanks for the comments… Can’t disagree with anyone either.
Suggested reading list for Depts of State, Defense, Homeland *spit!* Security, and anyone on the W.H. staff. Sorry, no audio versions or videos.
Anything by Peter Hopkirk.
Everything by George McDonald Fraser.
Rudyard Kipling.
John Masters.
Defeat Into Victory: Battling Japan in Burma and India, 1942-1945 by William Slim
In hindsight, it looks like the week of 9/11, 2012, was an intentional ‘oversight’. Knowing what we have learned since about Obama’s pattern of behavior.
Narcissists apparently get profoundly distressed when one of their attempts to get a reaction fails to get a reaction. This is ugly enough when it is interpersonal, when they can only “find what you love and take it away”.
Obama, or whoever it is that is driving things, appears to see reactions in terms of revolution and race war. Would probably have escalated even if it had gone as expected, but the reactions were not satisfying in fitting expectations, so they are doubling down on their gambles and provocations.
A federal bureaucrat or official who sometimes listens to Republican instructions and sometimes listens to Democrat instructions is not someone the central decision makers see as ‘someone who will obey us now, because we hold the formal title of power’. The current central decision makers see such federal bureaucrats or officials as ‘people who sometimes do not obey our every whim’, and that comes with a very deep raging grudge.
These central decision makers can somewhat mitigate that personal experience by telling themselves they have absolute power, which aligns with their religious belief in overly simple models of human behavior, but the little hints that this is not so gnaw away at their peace of mind. Under this model, they can be expected to lash out at a number of people in federal service who decided that going along with this was the expedient course of action.
All- Good points… sigh
Stretch- Good list!
Bob- They go along to get along, wanting those large dollar pensions…