[Woodchopper545]

Every word you wrote is delusional. Our government went in there and tried to change the culture which they never should have done. I worked I Saudi Arabia for many years and I had Saudi coworkers that I got to know well and was introduced to the sons BUT I never met the female side of the family. I was invited to share meals and the men all ate first then the females got what was left. Bottom line, the Saudis are a very conservative culture BUT the Afghanistan people are still way more conservative than that. Afghanistan is still living several century’s in the past. The only thing they will do to become more modern is to pick up whatever technology that keeps them in power all the while clinging to their centuries old culture.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by Woodchopper545

The Daily Sun newspaper still has no coverage about the Afghanistan disaster. No information on the thousands or our men and women soldiers there to protect and evacuate the ten to forty thousand Americans still sheltering in place in Afghanistan.

Your confusing the Sun with a newspaper that tries to inform its patrons.

It exists to tell us about what goes on here and whatever else the developer wants to inform us of. If it does not help to sell houses they see no reason to report on it.

[sshepard03]

I heard someone say, "...our Government is made up of smart people." He must have been a foreign visitor on holiday.

[SacDQ]

That’s interesting big brother is watching.Yet the Taliban are still allowed access on social media sights to spread their beliefs.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by sshepard03

I heard someone say, "...our Government is made up of smart people." He must have been a foreign visitor on holiday.

Or skipped his meds

[ThirdOfFive]

Originally Posted by Luggage

It's fairly obvious that the original mission was to kill terrorists, and of course they didn't like that, some have the mission expanded and nobody bothered to complain like they did in the Vietnam days (moderator I'm not being political).
We seem to have been let on a chain to discuss poppy fields, well there are a lot more worse things than cheap heroin and I in fact think if it was cheap we have a lot less crime. If you follow TV news about drugs and I mean the rabbit ears TVs, and you know Americans have a lot more problems like oxycodone, drunk drivers that still kill and these little sticks called cigarettes. The Taliban that have just done a public service announcement seem to understand how America works by Allaying fears and allowing others to leave or at least saying they will give them that chance. Who is to say what type of civilization and culture is the right one my wife may not like hearing it but there's about a billion Muslims that live with the wife staying at home with a veil and not learning much education. Star Trek pretty much I had a rule that we have learned not to touch the other civilizations because they have to grow up as they want to and every time we interfere we will be screw up. Was Afghanistan a better place 20 years ago without US troops? We will never know what will become of that area of the world has surely we will never go back there again with American troops unless unfortunately God forbid they would be another 9/11 in which case I fear some president would use an atomic bomb to simply wipe all the Muslims off the face of the Earth. Again dear moderator I'm not being political

Excellent points made in the quoted post.

America is all too often blinded by her own ideals, going back to the Big Stick policy of Teddy Roosevelt and probably even before that. We seem to have this mindset that because our system of majority rule and free elections works so well for us, it will therefore work equally as well for everyone. No matter how often it is disproved, we still insist on it.

Iraq is a prime example, but not the only one by far. Gulf War I was justified; we were bound by treaty with an ally and we honored that. And even though it was unpopular at the time, stopping short of taking Baghdad and ousting Saddam Hussein was proven, in hindsight, to be the correct course of action as shown by the fiasco of Gulf War II and it's aftermath.

Again, blinded by idealism, we ousted the brutal dictator Saddam Hussein and forced a shiny new democracy on the Iraqis. Rule of law was going to triumph. Women were going to have equal rights and all. Everybody was going to have a say. And to emphasize the point, we hung Saddam and a fair number of his cronies, sat back and waited for this shiny new jewel of a democratic Iraq to take form and act as a beacon to the world. Except that it didn't. As brutal and cruel as he was, ol' Saddam knew precisely what it took to keep peace in Iraq. Before Gulf War II, Iraq was a country of relative peace; a secular country where all religions were tolerated (Saddam had Christians in high places in his government) and life, at least by the standards of the region, was pretty darn good. Of course, Saddam and his operatives had to rip out a few tongues and toss a few people off walls to keep it that way, but life was (relatively) good.

But today? Today, Iraq resembles Afghanistan far more than it resembles a western democracy. Rule by warlord and Islamic idealists predominates. There are many Iraqis who yearn for the good old days of Saddam Sussein. Things are bad and getting worse. In Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and quite a few other spots around the area and the world.

You cannot force a democracy, nor implement rule of law, on a people who do not want either. We've bollixed up the Middle East with our misdirected idealism. Time to get out, and to finally realize that we should be nowhere in the world militarily unless vital American interests are at stake. Let people rule themselves.

[GMIJFI]

Has anyone heard (from legitimate source) how much ((American) dollars the former president and his cronies absconded with when they fled the country? Wish we could somehow freeze their accounts to get it back

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by GMIJFI

Has anyone heard (from legitimate source) how much ((American) dollars the former president and his cronies absconded with when they fled the country? Wish we could somehow freeze their accounts to get it back

A net worth of $5mil to $9mil, including real estate & other assets he could not take.

I don't think that is the real issue here.

[newgirl]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

We never had a chance to replace their govt along term. Strange that feminists are not jumping up and down over what is going to happen to females over there.

Why would you think they are not?

[I'm Popeye!]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

This is not open mike night. TOTV is a privately run website with rules which include no political posts. But there are those that just can't help themselves and insert political posts into almost every thread, resulting in many of them getting closed by the moderators who are just doing their job.

Anyone who wants "free speech", are free to start their own web forum

I wrote what I wrote, so now I'll edit and take it back.
- sorry, you missed what I said -
.

Originally Posted by Bay Kid

Who is in charge of the taliban?

A former terrorist who was held captive at Guantanamo then released in exchange for a US deserter. It’s possible some Americans will be held hostage to exchange for other terrorists in prison now or in the future.

[Woodchopper545]

Anyone who believes that the taliban will keep their word that they’ll allow safe passage does not understand the situation. First, the Koran and shariah law allows them to lie to infidels. Second, in the late 1800s the British negotiated a “safe withdrawal “ from an city in Afghanistan that they occupied. Part of the deal was to leave their weapons behind. Well, they packed up their wagons with women and children and wounded and the surviving military formed up and they all marched away from the shelter of their fortress. Somewhere along the route to safety the Afghans attacked the British and killed many of the men, women and children and wounded in the group.
The Afghanistan Taliban is not to be believed or trusted. They only understand strength and that must be backed up superior firepower.