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President Biden: The NEW one and only politics thread

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Moderator1, Jan 20, 2021.

Page 1407 of 8882
  1. DanOregon

    DanOregon Well-Known Member

    I really have a hard time understanding the Afghanistan withdrawal. We've had 20 years to plan an exit and it seems to have caught everyone by surprise that a) the US is leaving and b) the Taliban will be taking over.
     
    DanOregon, Aug 13, 2021
    #16873
  2. Machine Head

    Machine Head Well-Known Member

    Do people not get that he's the Zodiac Killer and digs this?
     
    Machine Head, Aug 13, 2021
    #16874
  3. Machine Head

    Machine Head Well-Known Member

    It's all out in the open.
     
    Machine Head, Aug 13, 2021
    #16875
  4. Neutral Corner

    Neutral Corner Well-Known Member

    Probably the biggest factor in that was that Trump agreed to a treaty to withdraw impulsively, without talking to the Pentagon. Not only that but not only did he set a date certain (which I remember Republicans saying you should never do because it lets the enemy know when to build up forces until) but he set a short date. The other big factor was that we had been training the Afghan military for decades and had supplied tons of equipment. They were supposed to be able to stand up for themselves.

    Didn't happen. Lots of corruption and skimming, black market deals. Lots of troops on the payroll who either didn't really exist or who were Taliban supporters. Then add that when the withdrawal actually started to happen, Afghan troops out in the rural areas were approached by the local Taliban leaders - in many cases members of their own clan. They were told that if they did not fight against the Taliban they would be left in peace, and that if they did they and their families would be killed. Many of them simply took their issue weapons and outright joined the Taliban.

    The Brits warned the world about the Afghans after they were run out of there. "Never get into a land war in Asia."
     
    Neutral Corner, Aug 13, 2021
    #16876
    Spartan Squad, I Should Coco, 2muchcoffeeman and 3 others like this.
  5. Machine Head

    Machine Head Well-Known Member

    How can this stand?

    I'm sure it was posted here earlier, but have we just given up on rules, regulations whatever?

     
    Machine Head, Aug 13, 2021
    #16877
  6. micropolitan guy

    micropolitan guy Well-Known Member

    So, in 20 years we'll be trading partners with then, like Vietnam? It's well past time for us to cut our losses and GTFO. Vietnam in the desert. Didn't we learn anything?
     
    micropolitan guy, Aug 13, 2021
    #16878
  7. tea and ease

    tea and ease Well-Known Member

    This has no place to go, so I'm just going to land my pride here. Yesterday I hosted a lunch for 4 extremely smart women... just to talk. A Princeton educated university professor, a woman who worked with C. Everett Koop to announce the perils of smoking, a woman who manages 59 self-owned properties, and me. As we sat in my dining room, with window to the street, a Trumpist neighbor walked by and everyone said, almost in unison, "Turn the light off."
     
    tea and ease, Aug 13, 2021
    #16879
    Jake from State Farm, TigerVols, BitterYoungMatador2 and 1 other person like this.
  8. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    I posted about this earlier when someone else posted about this. ... I agree that the fact that he didn't disclose for a year and a half is slimy and dishonest and he should get skewered. They have disclosure rules and he has been playing fast and loose with them, as if they don't apply to him.

    On the stock purchase itself. ... it's probably not as insidious as people are assuming. Sitting on the Senate Health committee, the potential for him to have had non-public info that people are keyed on, is obvious. Which is why there are disclosure rules.

    But I remember that time period well. ... Covid and Remdesivir were already on everyone's radar screen when she bought her shares of Gilead. People had already started driving the stock price up without any non-public info. Everyone was trying to figure out what the deal with the virus was, and the head of the World Health Organization had already intimated that Remdesivir may be the only antiviral out there that could potentially have been effective against it. Which sent volumes in Gilead through the roof. People were speculating just based on what they were hearing on CNN. Which created a frenzy in Gilead stock that played out over the next few months as the stock ran up and then came back down.

    What I'd guess is that his wife was like a lot of people who turned themselves into amateur gonna-get-rich speculators. ... they didn't know anything more than anyone else did, but thought they saw an opportunity to capitalize on something. Subsequently, we learned that there really wasn't any beneficial non-public info that anyone had had access to. It was just a fluid situation with a lot of partial and misinformation getting thrown out there and a lot of people gambling on it. The dollar amounts we are talking about on her stock purchase are not that large and she is still holding the stock. ... at a slight loss. I'd also guess that Paul knew the optics of it when he either found out what his wife had done or he sat down to do his disclosure forms. ... and the dishonest weasel just buried it for a year and a half and then thought he'd sneak it on through. He's a complete shit.
     
    The Big Ragu, Aug 13, 2021
    #16880
    TigerVols likes this.
  9. Jake from State Farm

    Jake from State Farm Well-Known Member

    Isn’t this the day Trump gets reinstated?
     
    Jake from State Farm, Aug 13, 2021
    #16881
  10. Mngwa

    Mngwa Well-Known Member

    No. The Taliban are taking Afghanistan back to the dark ages.
     
    Mngwa, Aug 13, 2021
    #16882
    OscarMadison likes this.
  11. Hermes

    Hermes Well-Known Member

    They misread the prophesy. It’s been delayed three months. The Pillow Man has spoken.
     
    Hermes, Aug 13, 2021
    #16883
    tapintoamerica likes this.
  12. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    Those in Afghanistan opposed to the Taliban had 20 years to create a society capable of resisting them on its own while under the umbrella of American protection. They didn't. They aren't even really resisting the Taliban right now. So the only other option available to the US was permanent quasi-occupation of the country. My guess is that there are indeed organized armed forces in Afghanistan who will fight the Taliban, but in the traditional way they are accustomed to, by letting the Taliban be the government and they the clandestine nocturnal fighters who rely on ambush, murder and terrorism. They are probably quietly making overtures for clandestine support from Iran and/or Saudi Arabia right now.
     
    Michael_ Gee, Aug 13, 2021
    #16884
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