birchesgreen
Established Member
Or has it? The drone strike on ISIS-K indicates it might just have entered a new phase.
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Current events in Afghanistan
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Xenophon PCDGS
Veteran Member
Did that drone strike occur prior to the final US force withdrawal?
Scotrail314209
Established Member
It did I believe, it occurred a day or two ago.
nlogax
Established Member
Good interview with a retired four star general on R4 this morning who suggested that now the US has completely pulled out of Afghanistan their 'over the horizon' capability will be very much diminished. Military intelligence on the ground is still needed for that to work. As of today there isn't any.
WestRiding
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The least we could have done before leaving, is to have destroyed our military equipment and vehicles before leaving.
birchesgreen
Established Member
Do you really think thats the last time they are going to attempt to strike ISIS? Lack of intel will probably mean even more "collateral damage" than they get already.
Given that the Taliban are the enemies of ISIS (indeed, many Taliban were killed in the recent suicide bomb; ISIS mostly think the Taliban are apostates and heretics), we may be in the curious position of using whatever influence we have to soften and moderate the Taliban and give tacit encouragement to their efforts to suppress ISIS.
birchesgreen
Established Member
Well we will see, i think the US are still too addicted to war to outsource it just yet.
Interestingly the latest Pentagon "leaks" are trying to tangentally blame us for the the US losses in the Abbey Gate attack.
Interestingly the latest Pentagon "leaks" are trying to tangentally blame us for the the US losses in the Abbey Gate attack.
nlogax
Established Member
This depends on a number of factors, one of which is Pakistan who is threatening to require US troops to leave. Suddenly what was a relatively straightforward operation for US forces to conduct now becomes an eight to nine hour flight for a Predator drone. As for the how the US policy will change towards this new 'Taliban 3.0' considering that ISIS-K consider them to be fair game for terrorist attacks.. that's the bigger factor.
What do you mean? The whole Cold War was nothing but outsourcing.
SteveP29
Member
Once fossil fuels finally run out, the USA will really be a third world country, their reliance on oil and lack of planning and innovation of sustainable and renewable sources looks like it will be telling.
Oil, control of the opium supply?
birchesgreen
Established Member
Whats the Cold War got to do with the price of fish, it ended a long time ago.
The Long War has been a bit different.
Your contention was that the USA doesn't do outsourced wars. The way that they conducted themselves during the Cold War clearly shows that they can and do.
birchesgreen
Established Member
I didn't say they didn't do it in the past, they haven't done it recently which is more relevant.
You are saying the use of over 100,000 private military contractors during the Iraq conflict wasn't outsourcing war? What about those in Somalia or the thousands that were in Afghanistan until recently?
birchesgreen
Established Member
I'd call that modern day mercenaries personally but each to their own.
Difficult to call them mercenaries when the contracts were being let directly by the DoD.
Xenophon PCDGS
Veteran Member
Now that all coalition forces have left Afghanistan, who are we now relying on for accurate on-the-ground reporting of daily events there?
nlogax
Established Member
In addition to the journalists that remain there, you mean?
I'm not sure that we have ever had accurate on-the-ground reporting of daily events in Afghanistan, but there are still foreign journalists (and, one assumes, expensive heavily armed security contractors) in country.
brad465
Established Member
Turns out we didn't get everybody out and the UK Government are trying to negotiate with the Taliban to get another 150-250 eligible people out:
www.bbc.co.uk
Afghanistan: UK and Taliban in talks over further evacuations
A UK official is in Qatar for talks to secure the exit of both UK and Afghan nationals, No 10 says.
www.bbc.co.uk
That's about the number that was reported previously, though the true number is probably closer to 1,000 including the families of those who helped us.
Xenophon PCDGS
Veteran Member
They show a great deal of courage, as organisations such as ISIS-K could regard them as targets. The Canadian journalist, Lyce Doucet now in her 60's who works for the BBC is still there, I understand.
A possible positive:
Taliban HELPED escort stranded Americans to Kabul 'secret gate' (msn.com)
No use at all for those Afghans employed by NATO in whatever capacity but a step up from Sadam and the British hostages he kept for four months. It is quite possible that they would like every non-Afghan out of the country (including the journalists).
Yes, @Xenophon PCDGS, I believe Lyse Doucet is still there (I wouldn't have put her down as Canadian until I checked), she speaks some Dari and has been there on and off for over 30 years, which might help (being a woman won't though). Her reports are also measured in tone so if and its a big if we are going to get Taliban-lite, they might find it useful to let her stay rather than do a Putin.
Side note: This is perhaps a reminder of how brilliant the BBC's foreign correspondents are.
Taliban HELPED escort stranded Americans to Kabul 'secret gate' (msn.com)
No use at all for those Afghans employed by NATO in whatever capacity but a step up from Sadam and the British hostages he kept for four months. It is quite possible that they would like every non-Afghan out of the country (including the journalists).
Yes, @Xenophon PCDGS, I believe Lyse Doucet is still there (I wouldn't have put her down as Canadian until I checked), she speaks some Dari and has been there on and off for over 30 years, which might help (being a woman won't though). Her reports are also measured in tone so if and its a big if we are going to get Taliban-lite, they might find it useful to let her stay rather than do a Putin.
Side note: This is perhaps a reminder of how brilliant the BBC's foreign correspondents are.
nlogax
Established Member
Indeed. Lyse Doucet is a reminder of what the BBC can still bring to the table in terms of journalism. Absolutely fantastic.
Watching Dominic Raab getting slapped about by the Foreign Affairs Committee. It's simultaneously entertaining and depressing as hell. The sheer incompetence and disinterest evident from Raab..yikes.
Watching Dominic Raab getting slapped about by the Foreign Affairs Committee. It's simultaneously entertaining and depressing as hell. The sheer incompetence and disinterest evident from Raab..yikes.
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That applies equally to his boss and several of his colleagues in Cabinet.
nlogax
Established Member
And in the absence of any worthwhile opposition people keep bloody voting for them over and over. Argh.
Xenophon PCDGS
Veteran Member
Reminds me of the old adage..."Better the Devil you know"
Indeed. I'm so glad that we voted for this strong and stable governance we've enjoyed since 2015 rather than chaos with Ed Miliband. Properly dodged a bullet there.
(Tweet from David Cameron in May 2015 stating: "Britain face a simple and inescapable choice - stability and strong Government with me, or chaos with Ed Miliband")
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