US signs peace deal with the Taliban.

[draynay]

lol Trump doesn't make deals. He demands what he wants and then kicks and screams on the floor when it doesn't go the way he wants and blow the whole thing up. Deals usually have some mutual agreement that benefits both parties.

I could put "deals" in quotes but I figured my sig covered it.

[Breccia]

lol Trump doesn't make deals. He demands what he wants and then kicks and screams on the floor when it doesn't go the way he wants and blow the whole thing up.

That literally happened today. It's a known risk of negotiating with terrorists.

[Easo]

That literally happened today. It's a known risk of negotiating with terrorists.

I nearly spit my drink out. Thanks, I guess.

[Rukh]

https://www.thenational.ae/world/asi...-ends-1.987043

So they're going to resume attempting to take over Afghanistan. I'm guessing Afghanistan being told to hand over 5k taliban prisoners without their consent aint happening.

[caervek]

So they're going to resume attempting to take over Afghanistan.

Sadly they shouldn't have much trouble retaking control of the country, the puppet government won't stand a chance now they've lost US support.

[Kaleredar]

Sadly they shouldn't have much trouble retaking control of the country, the puppet government won't stand a chance now they've lost US support.

Hmmm... I wonder if the Afghanistan government is going to reach out to Russia for support instead.

[eschatological]

Nope, to sum the whole cluster up very simply: After 9/11 the USA wanted Al-Qaeda and Bin Laden, Al-Qaeda and Bin Laden were in Afghanistan, Afghanistan was controlled by the Taliban, the Taliban wouldn't be cool with the USA military just rolling in and setting up bases to hunt Al-Qaeda, so in order for the Al-Qaeda hunting to take place the Taliban had to be brushed aside and Afghanistan taken over.

That's basically how the war in Afghanistan came about. Obviously the USA didn't just overthrown the Taliban and declare itself the ruler of Afghanistan, they set up a pro-US puppet government (some would argue the same thing) who then invited them to stay, but yeah this is the reason this mess has dragged on so long.

I think this is a very......naive view of the Taliban.

The Taliban was just al Qaeda writ as a formal government of a very tribal country. It's what an al Qaeda government would look like. The main difference was the Taliban didn't have the reach al Qaeda did, mainly because their leader wasn't a Saudi playboy-turned-terrorist who could help fund them from SA, and have ties to the CIA.

So philosophically - just as bad. Functionally - much smaller reach than al Qaeda.

[Mihalik]

Hmmm... I wonder if the Afghanistan government is going to reach out to Russia for support instead.

I seriously doubt Putin would bite on that one.

Afghanistan was the USSRs Vietnam/Afghanistan/Iraq all in one. I doubt the Russians would want a rematch of Afghanistan 2: The Electric Boogaloo, but now against fanatics that are even more experienced and battle hardened.

[Blur4stuff]

I agree that we shouldn't be there. What infuriates me is that a few dozen companies are walking away from this much richer than before while many thousands of people have died for no fucking reason. Had the war ended nine years ago we'd have the same result as what we're about to get.

[jonnysensible]

I think this is a very......naive view of the Taliban.

The Taliban was just al Qaeda writ as a formal government of a very tribal country. It's what an al Qaeda government would look like. The main difference was the Taliban didn't have the reach al Qaeda did, mainly because their leader wasn't a Saudi playboy-turned-terrorist who could help fund them from SA, and have ties to the CIA.

So philosophically - just as bad. Functionally - much smaller reach than al Qaeda.

where did you get this view from? this is utterly wrong

The Taliban and AQ are the very opposite of eachother.

[Toppy]

where did you get this view from? this is utterly wrong

The Taliban and AQ are the very opposite of eachother.

Most american people: Theyre brown terrorists therefore the same!

[eschatological]

Most american people: Theyre brown terrorists therefore the same!

lol, I'm brown myself, and immigrated to the States from a country just on the other side of Pakistan.

I'd love to hear what you think are the philosophical differences between al Qaeda and the Taliban. Even though the Taliban doesn't formally practice Wahhabism, they have, in practice, been just as draconian, just as literal, and just as strict in their (Sunni) Islamic interpretations.

Like I said, studying the Taliban is like a study in how one would go applying the terror tactics of al Qaeda into a national government of people.

[caervek]

Hmmm... I wonder if the Afghanistan government is going to reach out to Russia for support instead.

Pretty sure they did that in 1979, it started okay at first but then the USA started arming/bankrolling the Taliban and the country went to hell. No way Russia would want a replay of that, not after having just seen the USA lose there too.

Also the USSR shared a border with Afghanistan so just sitting back and letting US backed extremists take over would have been a bad idea, by comparison Russia is over 1300km from Afghanistan, so letting some non-US affiliated extremists take over a country 1300km away isn't nearly as daunting a prospect.

[jonnysensible]

Pretty sure they did that in 1979, it started okay at first but then the USA started arming/bankrolling the Taliban and the country went to hell. No way Russia would want a replay of that, not after having just seen the USA lose there too.

Also the USSR shared a border with Afghanistan so just sitting back and letting US backed extremists take over would have been a bad idea, by comparison Russia is over 1300km from Afghanistan, so letting some non-US affiliated extremists take over a country 1300km away isn't nearly as daunting a prospect.

they funded the afgan mujas not the taliban wtf. Ill write a big post soon because this is getting bad.

[Breccia]

US launches air strikes against the Taliban.

"How many days was that?"

Five. It was five days after the not-really-a-cease-fire.

EDIT: Oh, right, Trump said literally yesterday he had a bigly yuge relationship with the Taliban.

We’ve agreed there’s no violence. We don’t want violence. We’ll see what happens.

[zorkuus]

US launches air strikes against the Taliban.

"How many days was that?"

Five. It was five days after the not-really-a-cease-fire.

EDIT: Oh, right, Trump said literally yesterday he had a bigly yuge relationship with the Taliban.

The best deal maker at work ladies and gentlemen.

[Low Hanging Fruit]

The best deal maker at work ladies and gentlemen.

All he wanted was a headline. "Trump makes peace deal" that he can wave around. It doesn't matter if it's true or not. He will be waving it around the whole election cycle. Annoyingly so.

[Breccia]

"Trump makes peace deal"

With terrorists. That part's important. Yeah, I know, he won't say it, but it needs to be said.

There's no telling what's next, but for now at least, I don't know which is worse:
1) Trump intentionally negotiating with terrorists, or
2) Trump failing at diplomacy yet again.

[Ihavewaffles]

Isn't standard operating procedure when the US "leaves" they cut down to a few thousand [military] "advisors"?

"america is like irish relatives, we never leave!" -Bill Maher

[Low Hanging Fruit]

With terrorists. That part's important. Yeah, I know, he won't say it, but it needs to be said.

There's no telling what's next, but for now at least, I don't know which is worse:
1) Trump intentionally negotiating with terrorists, or
2) Trump failing at diplomacy yet again.

That isn't in doubt in my mind.