Thread: U.S. leaves its last Afghan base, effectively ending operations

That is hilarious. I bet the Americans were grinning like cheshire cats when they turned that down.

The parties agreed to meet in the coming months to determine the modalities of this cooperation with mutual consensus."

Translation: Everyone knows the talitubbies will be back to the old tricks in no time.

Department Press Briefing – July 19, 2021

Ned Price, Department Spokesperson


July 19, 2021


"QUESTION:

Good afternoon, everyone. Happy Monday. Welcome back. We have a few things at the top, so we’ll get right going.


At the President’s direction, the Department of State is working to relocate interested and eligible Afghan nationals and their families who have been approved through the Special Immigrant Visa, or SIV, program.


As the next step in that process, I am pleased to announce that the Department of Defense has agreed, at the request of the Department of State, to allow the use of Fort Lee, Virginia, as the initial relocation site for the pool of applicants who are closest to completing special immigrant processing. These are brave Afghans and their families, as we have said, whose service to the United States has been certified by the embassy in Kabul and who have completed thorough SIV security vetting processes. They will be provided temporary housing and services as they complete the final steps in the special immigrant process.


We expect to begin the first relocation flights before the end of July, as you heard from the President. Approximately 2,500 Afghans and family members are currently eligible to finish special immigrant processing in the United States, and we’ll certainly provide more details as they become available."

Department Press Briefing - July 19, 2021 - United States Department of State

"700 are Afghan nationals who supported military efforts, and they are being processed through the Special Immigrant Visa Program, which was created in 2009. The rest of the applicants are family members."

Afghan refugees who aided US to be housed at Fort Lee military base with families while awaiting final visa approval — RT USA News

Only a few 100,000s to go.

Here is a list of the 44 ISAF member countries (ranked by numbers of personnel):

Country name:

United States

United Kingdom

Germany

France

Italy

Canada

Poland

Turkey

Australia

Spain

Romania

Georgia

Denmark

Belgium

Bulgaria

Czech Republic

Norway

Sweden

Hungary

Slovakia

Croatia

Portugal

Albania

Lithuania

Macedonia

Latvia

Estonia

New Zealand

Finland

Azerbaijan

Slovenia

Greece

Armenia

Mongolia

Singapore

Montenegro

United Arab Emirates

Ukraine

Luxembourg

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Ireland

Jordan

Iceland

Austria Countries Currently Contributing Troops to ISAF No news if any will follow the leader, so far.

I wonder if Russia did a similar thing when it also left with its tail between its legs?

Nah, only joking.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

I wonder if Russia did a similar thing when it also left with its tail between its legs?

Nah, only joking.

A good joke...
Not having similarly devoted his trustful allies (read satellites - or are there any other names for such sacrifice?), the poor papa Brezhnev did not come on the idea to involve them in his just war...

The Beast (1988 film) - Wikipedia

Erdogan the Useful Idiot.

Erdogan considers his people to be expendable, he won't give a fuck.

As "ageing one" suggests, via his red star, the two teams are so similar.

Originally Posted by OhOh

Afghanistan 1 - ameristan 0

Both engaged in multiple citizens being shot daily, both have competing political parties alleging they are the legitimate government, both in the midst of a financial crisis, both have a history of being defeated in wars ....

Not quite sure what hoohoo thinks he is scoring, but right now it's Taliban 1 Everyone else 0.

18 military personnel die in Turkmenistan, circumstances unclear


ASHGABAT (Agencies): Eighteen military personnel, including a major and a lieutenant, have died in Turkmenistan amid reports about rising tensions along the border with Afghanistan, where Taliban militants have been on an offensive to capture districts in the region.


Two separate sources told RFE/RL on July 20 that of 18 deceased military personnel, six had been returned to their relatives in the eastern Lebap region that borders Afghanistan.


An RFE/RL correspondent in the region confirmed the information, adding that he visited burial sites of two soldiers in two villages in the region on July 19 and was able to talk to the relatives of other soldiers who were brought to the region in coffins.


Officials told relatives that the soldiers died in a mass traffic accident near Ashgabat, the capital, and did not allow them to see the dead men, who were buried in closed coffins.


It remains unclear if a massive deadly traffic accident with the involvement of military vehicles happened near Ashgabat in recent days as the tightly controlled and isolated Central Asian nation’s government is known for its reluctance to talk to media.


The sources, however, told RFE/RL that the bodies were not brought to Lebap from Ashgabat, but from the neighboring Mary region that lies next to Afghanistan and where a major border crossing with Afghanistan, Serhetabat, is located.


One of the sources who is close to the Defense Ministry told RFE/RL that two of the six men buried in Lebap were an army major and a lieutenant.


Neither the Defense Mi-nistry nor the Interior Mini-stry would comment to RF-E/RL about the situation.


There have been traffic accidents in the past in which military personnel were killed. Last September, at least five soldiers died in a traffic accident in the Mary region. Independent media reports said at the time that 11 soldiers died in the accident.


There have also been several deadly incidents along the Turkmen-Afghan border in recent years as well. In June 2018, shoot-outs near Serhetabat left 25 Turkmen soldiers dead.


In recent weeks, Turkmenistan has been sending heavy weaponry, helicopters, and other aircraft to areas along the 800-kilometer Turkmen-Afghan border as the security situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated sharply with Taliban fighters advancing on provincial centers and even some border crossings.


Hundreds of Afghans, including soldiers, local police, and regular citizens, have reportedly fled into other neighboring Central Asia countries, including Tajikistan.


On July 5, the border guard service reported that more than 1,000 Afghan troops had crossed into Tajikistan over the previous 24 hours.


The United States has announced the withdrawal of all of its forces by August 31. Earlier this month, U.S. forces vacated their largest base in Afghanistan at Bagram, north of Kabul.


Amid the pullout, the Taliban have pushed into several areas and now control about one-third of the country’s 421 districts and district centers.


The rapid withdrawal of U.S. forces, and the Taliban battlefield successes, are stoking concerns that the Western-backed government in Kabul may collapse.


https://thefrontierpost.com/18-milit...ances-unclear/

Originally Posted by sabang

Erdogan the Useful Idiot.

Hmm

Only if he gets paid

He is a tragi comical Trumpesque maniac and a little too close to Europe

Originally Posted by misskit

18 military personnel die in Turkmenistan, circumstances unclear

And so it begins...

Originally Posted by misskit

the soldiers died in a mass traffic accident near Ashgabat

Judging from watching travel on road videos of the area, somewhat understandable.

Originally Posted by OhOh

Judging from watching travel on road videos of the area, somewhat understandable.

You can always trust hoohoo to believe the party line...

Officials told relatives that the soldiers died in a mass traffic accident near Ashgabat

<snip>

The sources, however, told RFE/RL that the bodies were not brought to Lebap from Ashgabat, but from the neighboring Mary region that lies next to Afghanistan and where a major border crossing with Afghanistan, Serhetabat, is located.

Tajikistan says it's ready to take in up to 100,000 Afghan refugees

DUSHANBE, July 23 - Tajikistan is preparing to take in up to 100,000 refugees from neighbouring Afghanistan where fighting has escalated as United States-led troops withdraw, a senior Tajik official said on Friday.


Taliban insurgents are gaining control of more and more territory in Afghanistan, which the Pentagon estimates now extends to over half of Afghanistan's district centres.


Imomali Ibrohimzoda, deputy head of Tajikistan's emergencies committee, told a briefing on Friday the former Soviet republic was already building two large warehouses to store supplies for refugees in the Khatlon and Gorno-Badakhshan provinces adjacent to the border.


A few hundred Afghan civilians fled to Tajikistan this month but the Dushanbe government says they have already returned to Afghanistan.

https://www.qatarday.com/News/tajiki...efugees/2038/0

The problem with that is, as we well know, that the talitubbies will just melt into the crowd...

Originally Posted by misskit

Tajikistan says it's ready to take in up to 100,000 Afghan refugees

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

The problem with that is, as we well know, that the talitubbies will just melt into the crowd...

They can have our afghans

100 % taliban free.

Originally Posted by helge

They can have our afghans

100 % taliban free.

How many % of mudjahedin?

I would gladly swap your Afghanis for the same amount of our Somali's.

Our Afghanis make nice kebabs, and polite Uber drivers.

Originally Posted by OhOh

No news if any will follow the leader, so far.

Originally Posted by OhOh

Canada

Special immigration measures will help Canada resettle thousands of Afghans who worked with military, embassy

Meaka Raman-Wilms Ottawa


Published 1 day ago

"Thousands of Afghan nationals who worked for Canadian troops and diplomatic staff will be allowed to resettle in Canada through a fast-tracked process, as part of a new federal program intended to protect them from Taliban reprisals.

Three cabinet ministers on Friday described the program to reporters. They said that they could not provide many details, for security reasons.

The announcement comes after weeks in which the government faced increasing pressure to act in order to protect the lives of Afghans whose association with Canada now puts them at risk, as U.S. troops withdraw from Afghanistan and the Taliban expands its territory.

Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino acknowledged that the situation is urgent.

“The risk of retribution from the Taliban is grave,” Mr. Mendicino said, adding that people who worked with Canada, as well as their families, are often subject to intensifying threats of violence, torture and death. “Not only does Canada owe them a debt of gratitude, we have a moral obligation to do right by them,” he said.

Mr. Mendicino, joined by Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, said the program involves “special immigration measures,” and will include not only Afghans who worked for Canada, but also their families. He said that he anticipates the numbers of resettled people will be “in the several thousands.”

The government said the new program will offer a “path to protection in Canada” and will allow certain Afghan nationals to be in the country shortly. However, Mr. Mendicino did not provide a time frame, or details of what the protection would consist of.

The announcement was welcome news for Roya Shams, a graduate student in Ottawa, who said she has been terrified for her family in Afghanistan.

“To some extent it’s hopeful,” she said, adding that she is relieved to see the government taking action, though she is still anxious about the situation.

Ms. Shams said her father, who was an Afghan police officer and an advocate for girls’ education, used to work “side by side” with the Canadian military.

She said he was assassinated in 2011, and now her family in Kandahar are in danger of Taliban reprisals.

“I fear for their lives,” she said. “The minute [the Taliban] come, I have no hope.”

Mr. Mendicino said the government’s focus is on those who have had a “significant and enduring relationship with the government of Canada in Afghanistan,” and that this includes interpreters who worked with Canadian forces, current and former locally engaged staff at the Canadian embassy, and their families.

Asked how many people are eligible, and when they will arrive, Mr. Mendicino said work is underway to identify eligible Afghans. He added later that the government is making an effort to be flexible and inclusive in the requirements.
The government’s new program follows weeks of pleas from various quarters.

Former Afghan drivers who worked for Canada recently told The Globe and Mail that they’re in danger, and that they have been asking the Canadian government to bring them to safety. And a former employee of the Canadian embassy in Afghanistan said he has been pleading with Ottawa to help get his family out of Kabul.

Andrew Rusk, the co-founder of Not Left Behind, an organization recently formed to advocate for action on the issue, said he was generally pleased with Friday’s announcement.

“But it shouldn’t have taken dozens of veterans and other Canadians to push the government to do the right thing,” said Mr. Rusk, whose sister-in-law was Nichola Goddard, the first woman to die in a combat role with the Canadian military.

Mr. Rusk said he and his wife, Kate, read in the news that the interpreter who had worked with Ms. Goddard was still in Afghanistan and needed to get to safety. That was what led him to start Not Left Behind, which consists of veterans, family members of veterans and others.

“Anybody that helped Canada previously that isn’t brought out has a target on their back,” Mr. Rusk said. “The Taliban isn’t going to care what your individual circumstances were.”

Canadian armed forces withdrew from Afghanistan in 2014.

In a statement, Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole said that the resettlement program comes too late. “The Liberal government should have made this announcement weeks ago,” he said. “The Americans made it clear that they would be leaving Afghanistan months ago, and the rise of the Taliban was an expected result.”

The NDP’s defence critic, Randall Garrison, and its immigration critic, Jenny Kwan, released a statement saying these measures are “long overdue” and that it was “unconscionable” for Canada not to have done more already.

“The Liberals’ scramble to change their tune is demonstrated by the fact that the government is still unsure how many Afghans are eligible to come to Canada,” the statement said.

Ms. Shams said she doesn’t know yet if her family will be resettled in Canada under the new program, but that she hopes they’ll qualify. She said her heart goes out to everyone who is in the same situation.

“Right now my family needs rescue,” Ms. Shams said. “I hope the Canadian government would consider everything that’s happening and bring my family to safety.”

Special immigration measures will help Canada resettle thousands of Afghans who worked with military, embassy - The Globe and MailOnly took 7 years to show some compassion.

Originally Posted by sabang

I would gladly swap your Afghanis for the same amount of our Somali's

Hmm

No

Never

Not even if you offered to take all our swedes too