On a side note - my grandfather whom i never met on my dad’s side - was stationed in India in WW2. I think he was involved with the logistical side of things, but we have some photos of a trip he made to - of all places - Abbottabad
Probably true. There are a handful of barbarian wastes around the world, and they are the natural corners for evil to hide, so they will get attention when the next global terrorist/dug dealer what have you hangs out there. Maybe Trump will end his days in Kabul?
I guess there is some hope that the Chinese investment in Afghanistan might lead them to defend their assets…but the investment, a few billions, doesn’t look that big to my not-knowledgable eye. They’ll probably have written it off.
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There is no ‘Taliban’ to strike a deal with…
The whole thing is a shit show that we should not have got involved in…
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Killing off the Heroin trade was meant to be a big outcome. That stopped very early in the campaign.
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The legal trade is predominantly fruit and nuts, you’re not going to build new state infrastructure off that.
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“Local officials said Mazar-i-Sharif - the capital of Balkh province and fourth largest city in Afghanistan - fell largely without a fight.
Abas Ebrahimzada, a lawmaker from Balkh, told the Associated Press news agency that the national army were the first to surrender, which then prompted pro-government forces and other militia to give up.”
It looks to me that the Afghan army was fully demoralised years back, and the Afghan government was disenfranchised when the US signed a peace agreement with the Taliban without Afghanistan’s participation and making promises he Afghan government didn’t agree to and later rejected. The terms of the agreement must have been pretty fucking broad if they’re still allowed to conquer cities!
——
Edit: It’s clearly in agreement with the US that the Taliban take control of Afghanistan. Taliban are sending out “We’ve reformed, honest guv” media messages. I’ll believe that when I see no crimes against humanity in a 12 month period.
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Don’t worry Kabul - there’s still hope. John Simpson’s over there.
13:00 BST
Taliban: Fighters will not enter Kabul, but will halt at the gates
21:00 BST
BBC: Taliban Fighters Enter Kabul
So, their word is also good for the freedom of women, the freedom of the press, that there will be no revenge, etc.?
Uk foreign secretary
US foreign secretary Blinken saying ‘this is manifestly not Saigon’ - ‘No!’ everyone else is saying - ‘it’s going to much worse!!!’
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to be slightly fair, the government had fled in between those statements.
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. We should be fair to the Taliban after all, let’s give them the benefit of the doubt…until the bodies are found! Okay, I’m being a little unfair but with good reason.
The president has fucked off but the minister for education is still there and shocked he disappeared. She says she feels safe in her home!!
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21:10 - the BBC enters Kabul. Oddly it all seems a little harder this time
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Ryan has it to a tee!
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Crazy images from Kabul airport 
.
People are clearly desperate to get out of the country
Christ, there are videos of stowaways falling from planes taking off on the Daily Fail
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Where’s the “I told you so” emoji???
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Great job by the US ‘Cultural Attaches’ in country; completely dropped the ball.
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They were only ever juggling hand grenades…the pins were bound to fall out one day…
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True, but people on the ground completely underestimated how quickly the pins were loosening.
Maybe they thought the Afghan military would put up any kind of resistance.
These lessons were learnt a long time ago by those who were willing to learn them…