I know nobody talks or participates or likely even reads anything posted here in this group, but I just have a need to vent somewhere and the last time I vented on fecebook it led to my account getting headbagged and hauled off to fecebook Guantanamo. Hopefully it’s safe to write here about my gut feelings.
Twenty years ago after most everyone in the USA and other parts of the world was pissed about the Sept 11 2001 destruction of the World Trade Center, the ‘war on terror’ started with the invasion of Afghanistan. Nearly twenty years on, I’m witnessing the fall of an American-backed government that is too similar to the fall of South Vietnam in April 1975.
Then, I was a junior in high school and the event had me question a lot about what I was taught as I grew up. Fast-forward 46 years and I’m seeing the very same thing happening again. Afghanistan is screwed… especially the women of that country, and the children. Twenty years of efforts… lives and money from not only the USA, but others like the UK, Australia, Netherlands, and other NATO members have all been for naught.
Don’t start wars, for they are near impossible to end. The lies that have led to the whole Iraq mess, and the blind post-9/11 “patriotism” that led the USA into Afghanistan in 2001 is to me, sickening in hindsight. I say hindsight because I was deep to the whole ‘let’s go kick ass’ mentality that permeated the USA at the time. Yes, I was fully into the whole line pushed by GW Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, et-al that getting and killing Osama Bin Laden was the A#1 priority.
Sadly, it just wasn’t that simple. It never is. It never will be. I’ve been outside the USA for over thirteen years now, and what I see from outside the windows of House USA looking in today, makes me sick. It seems nobody gives a sh..fu… crap about the people of Afghanistan as the country is overrun by the Taliban. Why would they be? They are pretty much in a civil war over basic health and welfare of themselves. I will say the effort the USA is putting in to get the people who have worked with the US forces there out with visas is commendable, and I’m pissed that the piss-weak Australian government hasn’t bothered to put much effort to get the ones who worked with with the Australian contingent out.
I just had to ramble. I’m pissed and there is nothing I can do about it… not now, and not in 1975. Then, I wondered what my cousin Johnny died for in Vietnam in November 1967, and now, what one of my distant nephews lost his foot to an IED for. My heart goes out to all the young people… the women and children of Afghanistan who after a number of years of hope and progress in their possibilities in life, will soon.. if not tonight but tomorrow or the next day.. will be back in the 14th century. I’m sick to my stomach about it all.
Twenty years ago after most everyone in the USA and other parts of the world was pissed about the Sept 11 2001 destruction of the World Trade Center, the ‘war on terror’ started with the invasion of Afghanistan. Nearly twenty years on, I’m witnessing the fall of an American-backed government that is too similar to the fall of South Vietnam in April 1975.
Then, I was a junior in high school and the event had me question a lot about what I was taught as I grew up. Fast-forward 46 years and I’m seeing the very same thing happening again. Afghanistan is screwed… especially the women of that country, and the children. Twenty years of efforts… lives and money from not only the USA, but others like the UK, Australia, Netherlands, and other NATO members have all been for naught.
Don’t start wars, for they are near impossible to end. The lies that have led to the whole Iraq mess, and the blind post-9/11 “patriotism” that led the USA into Afghanistan in 2001 is to me, sickening in hindsight. I say hindsight because I was deep to the whole ‘let’s go kick ass’ mentality that permeated the USA at the time. Yes, I was fully into the whole line pushed by GW Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, et-al that getting and killing Osama Bin Laden was the A#1 priority.
Sadly, it just wasn’t that simple. It never is. It never will be. I’ve been outside the USA for over thirteen years now, and what I see from outside the windows of House USA looking in today, makes me sick. It seems nobody gives a sh..fu… crap about the people of Afghanistan as the country is overrun by the Taliban. Why would they be? They are pretty much in a civil war over basic health and welfare of themselves. I will say the effort the USA is putting in to get the people who have worked with the US forces there out with visas is commendable, and I’m pissed that the piss-weak Australian government hasn’t bothered to put much effort to get the ones who worked with with the Australian contingent out.
I just had to ramble. I’m pissed and there is nothing I can do about it… not now, and not in 1975. Then, I wondered what my cousin Johnny died for in Vietnam in November 1967, and now, what one of my distant nephews lost his foot to an IED for. My heart goes out to all the young people… the women and children of Afghanistan who after a number of years of hope and progress in their possibilities in life, will soon.. if not tonight but tomorrow or the next day.. will be back in the 14th century. I’m sick to my stomach about it all.
A former Pence adviser said Trump had 4 years to help Afghan allies leave the country but Stephen Miller's 'racist hysteria' blocked it from happening
From The Business Insider
By Kelsey Vlamis - Aug 21, 2021, 5:35 PM
A former national security official blamed the Trump administration and former Trump adviser Stephen Miller's "racist hysteria" for impeding the visa application process for Afghans who worked with the US.
Olivia Troye worked as the homeland security and counterterrorism adviser to Vice President Mike Pence. In a Twitter thread Friday, she blasted the Trump administration for its handling of the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) programs that provide a path to US residency for locals who worked with the US government in Afghanistan.
"There were cabinet mtgs about this during the Trump Admin where Stephen Miller would peddle his racist hysteria about Iraq & Afghanistan. He & his enablers across gov't would undermine anyone who worked on solving the SIV issue by devastating the system at DHS & State," Troye wrote
Since the Taliban swiftly seized control of Afghanistan Sunday, the US has been struggling to evacuate Americans as well as tens of thousands of Afghan allies who have worked with the US over the past two decades.
The Biden administration has come under sharp criticism from both sides of the aisle for its handling of the US troop withdrawal and subsequent evacuations. But criticism has also been aimed at the Trump administration, including Miller in particular.
Troye said she worked on the SIV issue but got "nowhere" because allies of President Donald Trump and Miller at the Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security, and other security agencies "made an already cumbersome SIV process even more challenging."
She said many people within the administration believed the matter was urgent but that many were afraid to oppose the president's allies, adding that there were "many closed door meetings" strategizing how to address the issue.
"Trump had FOUR years-while putting this plan in place-to evacuate these Afghan allies who were the lifelines for many of us who spent time in Afghanistan," she said. "The process slowed to a trickle for reviews/other "priorities"-then came to a halt."
An Afghanistan War veteran told CNN this week that Miller "should be held accountable for war crimes" for opposing the resettlement of endangered Afghans, and that he was "complicit" in their deaths.
Miller is an advocate for strict immigration limits. In an appearance on Fox News Tuesday night, Miller said "those advocating for mass Afghan resettlement are doing so for political and not humanitarian reasons," adding that it would also be too expensive.
"The United States of America never, ever, made a promise, written or unwritten, to the people of Afghanistan that if after 20 years, they were unable to secure their own country, that we would take them to ours. That is nonsense. That has never been US government policy," Miller said.
Insider has reached out to Trump's office and Troye for comment. Stephen Miller could not immediately be reached for comment.
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I’m beyond upset about this. I’ll be the first one to say that President Biden has bungled the whole withdrawal from Afghanistan, but when the previous administration basically overturned the game table when they left, there were obviously things missed when the pieces were picked back up. They did push the final withdrawal date out from May to July which probably helped keep things from being worse than they are, but my BIGGEST question is how the U.S. military and CIA intelligence didn’t see this coming?
I’m livid about this. My blood is boiling and sadly it’s been making my efforts to tune out and get into this fantasy of roleplaying a bit hard. Thanks for letting me rant here.
From The Business Insider
By Kelsey Vlamis - Aug 21, 2021, 5:35 PM
A former national security official blamed the Trump administration and former Trump adviser Stephen Miller's "racist hysteria" for impeding the visa application process for Afghans who worked with the US.
Olivia Troye worked as the homeland security and counterterrorism adviser to Vice President Mike Pence. In a Twitter thread Friday, she blasted the Trump administration for its handling of the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) programs that provide a path to US residency for locals who worked with the US government in Afghanistan.
"There were cabinet mtgs about this during the Trump Admin where Stephen Miller would peddle his racist hysteria about Iraq & Afghanistan. He & his enablers across gov't would undermine anyone who worked on solving the SIV issue by devastating the system at DHS & State," Troye wrote
Since the Taliban swiftly seized control of Afghanistan Sunday, the US has been struggling to evacuate Americans as well as tens of thousands of Afghan allies who have worked with the US over the past two decades.
The Biden administration has come under sharp criticism from both sides of the aisle for its handling of the US troop withdrawal and subsequent evacuations. But criticism has also been aimed at the Trump administration, including Miller in particular.
Troye said she worked on the SIV issue but got "nowhere" because allies of President Donald Trump and Miller at the Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security, and other security agencies "made an already cumbersome SIV process even more challenging."
She said many people within the administration believed the matter was urgent but that many were afraid to oppose the president's allies, adding that there were "many closed door meetings" strategizing how to address the issue.
"Trump had FOUR years-while putting this plan in place-to evacuate these Afghan allies who were the lifelines for many of us who spent time in Afghanistan," she said. "The process slowed to a trickle for reviews/other "priorities"-then came to a halt."
An Afghanistan War veteran told CNN this week that Miller "should be held accountable for war crimes" for opposing the resettlement of endangered Afghans, and that he was "complicit" in their deaths.
Miller is an advocate for strict immigration limits. In an appearance on Fox News Tuesday night, Miller said "those advocating for mass Afghan resettlement are doing so for political and not humanitarian reasons," adding that it would also be too expensive.
"The United States of America never, ever, made a promise, written or unwritten, to the people of Afghanistan that if after 20 years, they were unable to secure their own country, that we would take them to ours. That is nonsense. That has never been US government policy," Miller said.
Insider has reached out to Trump's office and Troye for comment. Stephen Miller could not immediately be reached for comment.
_____________________________________________
I’m beyond upset about this. I’ll be the first one to say that President Biden has bungled the whole withdrawal from Afghanistan, but when the previous administration basically overturned the game table when they left, there were obviously things missed when the pieces were picked back up. They did push the final withdrawal date out from May to July which probably helped keep things from being worse than they are, but my BIGGEST question is how the U.S. military and CIA intelligence didn’t see this coming?
I’m livid about this. My blood is boiling and sadly it’s been making my efforts to tune out and get into this fantasy of roleplaying a bit hard. Thanks for letting me rant here.
I have very little in me to sustain a long reply to this, but in answer to your biggest question: of course they saw it coming. Just about everyone involved with situation knew how bad it was going to be. If they did not, they were engaged in willful ignorance of the deepest, head-in-the-sand variety.
Regardless, for those who knew, I suspect they just did not care. Once the various forces involved in Afghanistan pulled out (Canada left the country in 2011 formally and took the rest of their NATO training forces out in 2014, and I know there was some involvement from the UK and other nations but don't know just what), it was going to be no-longer-their-problem.
Regardless, for those who knew, I suspect they just did not care. Once the various forces involved in Afghanistan pulled out (Canada left the country in 2011 formally and took the rest of their NATO training forces out in 2014, and I know there was some involvement from the UK and other nations but don't know just what), it was going to be no-longer-their-problem.
I would agree that they did see it coming eventually, but they certainly got caught with their pants down on the speed that it happened. I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would think the Afghan army would provide any sort of resistance when they were basically sold out by the Pompeo deal. Anyway, I knew they were going to collapse when an elite Afghan unit with their top commander faught a daylong battle with no support, and ran out of ammo and were forced to surrender. They were soon after beheaded.
I'm trying not to let it all get to me, but having witness the fall of Saigon in'75, it seems its what Americans do. They get into wars and try and make thing 'right', it dont go their way, they get bored and public opinion changes and people forget about it or put it out of their minds, and then an 'out' is found. Once a pullout is announced, the ones you were fighting can start planning their victory parade.
I'm trying not to let it all get to me, but having witness the fall of Saigon in'75, it seems its what Americans do. They get into wars and try and make thing 'right', it dont go their way, they get bored and public opinion changes and people forget about it or put it out of their minds, and then an 'out' is found. Once a pullout is announced, the ones you were fighting can start planning their victory parade.