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

They can choose not to buy the Russian gas piped via Germany- up to them. But Nordstream was a German decision, and why didn't the yanks just keep their big nose out of it? None of their business- or do ya want the EU to start sanctioning the US because fracking? Germany is not Puerto Rico, or the Marshall islands. A rather high handed and arrogant way to treat your supposed allies, rightfully trashed by the German folk. Onya Angela.

Originally Posted by sabang

But Nordstream was a German decision, and why didn't the yanks just keep their big nose out of it? None of their business

...with thousands of US troops stationed in Germany for the express goal to protect that country (and the rest of Western Europe) from demonstrated Russian aggression, it is clear that the US definitely has a say insofar as German decisions affect European security. Merkel's confidence that Putin will not play games with European energy security is grossly misplaced and reflects, I believe, her past experience as a fluent Russian-speaking East German. Nordstream is the camel's nose under the tent...it's only a matter of time before Europeans feel the hump...

So send them home, and don't eat bratwurst any more. Fine by me. Think you'll find the German people are not as scared as Americans these days.

Originally Posted by sabang

So send them home

...tRump threatened to do just that...Merkel soiled her drawers...

Originally Posted by sabang

Think you'll find the German people are not as scared as Americans these days.

...gross generalizations poorly thought out...

Oh that's right, I forgot- Americans can tell everyone else what they think, even if they don't realise they actually think it. Pull yer head in.

Originally Posted by sabang

Americans can tell everyone else what they think

...so, stick out your tongue and stamp your foot...you clearly don't have much to say here...

Not to you, anyway. Go sort out your considerable problems at home if you want to make a difference, rather than just endlessly trying to stir trouble elsewhere.

Originally Posted by sabang

Think you'll find the German people are not as scared as Americans these days.

Originally Posted by tomcat

...gross generalizations poorly thought out...

sabang is correct, though. Good education, lots of travelling and a safe environment. One only needs to look at politicians' rhetoric in the US, the all-panic-news, homicide rates, crime rates etc ... but anyway . . . back to the topic

Originally Posted by panama hat

sabang is correct, though

...disagree...his arguments are repetitive, provocative and immature...his contribution to discussions here quickly become white noise...

Originally Posted by tomcat

...disagree...his arguments are repetitive, provocative and immature...his contribution to discussions here quickly become white noise...

Yes true, but I was referring to the post I quoted.

Originally Posted by panama hat

Yes true, but I was referring to the post I quoted.

...the part you quoted is an unsupported generalization intended to provoke...we have more talented shit-stirrers here...

Some use the tap, other use unilateral economic sanctions that everyone has to follow...or else.

Afghanistan's ghost soldiers undermined fight against Taliban - ex-official

Afghanistan's ex-finance minister has blamed the government's fall on corrupt officials who invented "ghost soldiers" and took payments from the Taliban.


Khalid Payenda told the BBC that most of the 300,000 troops and police on the government's books did not exist.


He said phantom personnel were added to official lists so that generals could pocket their wages.


The Taliban rapidly seized control of Afghanistan in August, as US forces withdrew after 20 years in the country.


Mr Payenda, who resigned and left Afghanistan as the Islamist group advanced, said records showing that security forces greatly outnumbered the Taliban were incorrect.


"The way the accountability was done, you would ask the chief in that province how many people you have and based on that you could calculate salaries and ration expenses and they would always be inflated," he told Ed Butler, presenter of the BBC's Business Daily programme.


The former minister said the numbers may have been inflated by more than six times, and included "desertions [and] martyrs who were never accounted for because some of the commanders would keep their bank cards" and withdraw their salaries, he alleged.

There have long been questions over Afghan troop numbers.


A 2016 report by the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (Sigar) claimed that "neither the United States nor its Afghan allies know how many Afghan soldiers and police actually exist, how many are in fact available for duty, or, by extension, the true nature of their operational capabilities".


In a more recent report, Sigar expressed "serious concerns about the corrosive effects of corruption... and the questionable accuracy of data on the actual strength of the force".


Mr Payenda said that troops who did exist were often not paid on time, while there were leaders of government-backed militias who were "double-dipping" - taking their government wage, and then also accepting payments from the Taliban to give up without a fight.


"The whole feeling was, we cannot change this. This is how the parliament works, this is how the governors work. Everybody would say the stream is murky from the very top, meaning the very top is involved in this," he said.


He said he did not think former President Ashraf Ghani was "financially corrupt". Responding to accusations of corruption within the finance ministry, Mr Payenda said: "I agree with that to a certain extent but in these issues, absolutely not."


He added that the West was "part of" some of the failures in Afghanistan, and described the US and Nato's involvement in the country as "a great opportunity lost".


Afghanistan'''s ghost soldiers undermined fight against Taliban - ex-official - BBC News

Originally Posted by sabang

So send them home, and don't eat bratwurst any more. Fine by me. Think you'll find the German people are not as scared as Americans these days.

Yes well that's straight out of the chinky/russian propaganda playbook isn't it.

Originally Posted by misskit

Afghanistan's ghost soldiers undermined fight against Taliban - ex-official

Another good reason to stop throwing good money after bad.

Originally Posted by HermantheGerman

Respect for the Talibans on how fast they are advancing.

Female students have been banned from universities in Afghanistan with immediate effect, the Taliban has said.
A letter, confirmed by a spokesperson for the higher education ministry, instructed Afghan public and private universities to suspend access to female students until further notice in accordance with a cabinet decision.

Taliban bans women from universities in Afghanistan | World News | Sky News

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Female students have been banned from universities in Afghanistan with immediate effect, the Taliban has said.

Add to that female teachers not allowed to teach, girls not being allowed to go to school . . . I'm sure sabang, Backspit, OhWoe are happy that Afghanistan is free.

I am just happy that the Talebaddies didn't get their app. 8 billion they promised to spend on women, among other things.

They've also banned women from women from working in NGO's, and as a result many of them are leaving Afghanistan. So they want to be primitive, impoverished, and stone age. Leave them to it.

Originally Posted by sabang

They've also banned women from women from working in NGO's, and as a result many of them are leaving Afghanistan. So they want to be primitive, impoverished, and stone age. Leave them to it.

Yeah, can't beat totalitarian states can you.

Sabang loves 'em.