A Political Thread pt. 2

[Vieux Talonneur]

Really don't like the sound of what's going on in Afghanistan.

 

[BiggusLaddus]

As long as Biden has 'no regrets'.

To surrender everything back to the Taliban is frankly an insult to the people who have suffered and died (mostly Afghans) in the last 20yrs.

 

[Reiser99]

As long as Biden has 'no regrets'.

To surrender everything back to the Taliban is frankly an insult to the people who have suffered and died (mostly Afghans) in the last 20yrs.

I'm not condoning Biden's actions, but this situation is a result of 20 years of bad foreign policy when it comes to Afghanistan. As soon as the US and UK went into Afghanistan this was always the likely outcome. Both countries needed to commit far more resources than they were ever willing to in order to get self-reliant Afghanistan government. I think Biden just accepted that in terms of a purely, selfish, USA oriented view, the situation was unwinnable and they should just cut their losses. Yes it's screwed over Afghanistan, but it won't harm him in American polls.

 

[BiggusLaddus]

Oh absolutely. And not least amongst those failings not dealing with the reality that we were spending 20yrs trying to defeat an enemy that was being funded by, trained by, and protected by one of our allies.

 

[Yulia]

Terrible things happen in Afghanistan.. although I'm more scared of "Taliban delegation in Moscow" that came a month ago what an idiotism

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Biden faces an uncomfortable future after the latest revelations about Trump — The Independent

‘Given the chronic lying of the Trump administration and the detachment from reality of many Trump supporters, there is a real risk here’

apple.news

 

[The Seeker]

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Afghanistan: UK troops sent to get Britons out as Taliban advances

About 600 troops will be deployed on a short-term basis after the Taliban seized several cities.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Afghanistan: UK troops sent to get Britons out as Taliban advances

About 600 troops will be deployed on a short-term basis after the Taliban seized several cities.

www.bbc.co.uk

It's sad how staggeringly incompetent the Afghan government and army have been. Those who warned against the original invasion are going to have a big "I told you so" moment when, after 20 years of occupation, it turns out the western forces achieved sweet **** all with regards to long term change in the country. Either the Afghan forces are completely useless or they are not so secretly sympathetic to the Taliban. I strongly suspect a fair bit of both.

 

[Reiser99]

Marble Arch Mound: Deputy leader resigns amid spiralling costs

Westminster Council's Melvyn Caplan steps down after total costs nearly doubled to £6m.

www.bbc.co.uk

In a statement released earlier, Westminster City Council Leader Rachael Robathan branded the rise in costs "totally unacceptable" and accepted her deputy's resignation "with regret". She said: "Doing nothing was never an option. So when the mound fully reopens in September, I hope that people will come and see it for themselves."
"The mound may delight or divide views and that's OK, but we're confident that in the end it will fulfil its original brief - to get people back into the West End and remind them of why this is a world class city."



Just to clarify this is now costing £6 million and is scheduled to come down in January 2022. Therefore it will open less than 6 months, so that's over £1million pounds a month they need to make back.

 

[ncurd]

Wait the mound is only open a limited time? Who's brainchild was this immediate obvious stupid idea?

 

[Which Tyler]

Wait, what?
They're building a new Silbury Hill in London?
As a temporary thing?

For what possible reason?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Wait the mound is only open a limited time? Who's brainchild was this immediate obvious stupid idea?

Is it dirt from a nearby building site they didn't want to pay to get removed, so stuck it there and put up a ticket booth?

I really don't understand it - I thought it was a joke at first, paying to walk up a small hill in London, it's beyond parody

 

[Reiser99]

Actually thinking about it, It was meant to be open 6 months, but the first 2 months have been refunded or are now free, so when it reopens in September it will need to make over £1.5million a month + any additional income from extra footfall (are people really going to go to the area just for this and then spend extra, or will it be people in the area who decide to go up for a laugh and then regret it immediately?) that they might get (not sure how much the council will directly get from extra footfall).

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

How much money did America pump into the Afghan conflicts? Must be in the trillions.
Getting wiped out in what a couple months?

 

[Bada-Bing!]

How much money did America pump into the Afghan conflicts? Must be in the trillions.
Getting wiped out in what a couple months?

Afghanistan: What has the conflict cost the US and its allies?

How much has been spent on foreign military intervention in Afghanistan over the past two decades?

www.google.co.uk

Almost $978 billion, which is an estimate. But what an absolute Horlicks they have made of the region in the last 20 years in terms of lives lost, which is incalculable.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Counting the costs of America's 20-year war in Afghanistan

President Joe Biden's decision to end America's longest war has prompted a reckoning over the colossal cost of the two-decade-long conflict in Afghanistan

www.independent.co.uk

Apparently the real figure is $2.7 trillion

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Just more money to justify their military.

And Iraq on top of that? And the lives lost.

 

[Which Tyler]

 

[Reiser99]

Afghanistan: Boris Johnson defends UK's role amid evacuation

Boris Johnson says there is "no military solution" to the situation as the Taliban advances.

www.bbc.co.uk

Apparently Britain can be proud of what it achieved in Afghanistan because there have been no al-qaeda attacks since (we'll ignore other terrorist attacks and the complete destabilisation of a country for one terror group) and also 3 million Afghan women and girls have been educated who wouldn't have been (again let's ignore that they are now either fleeing for their lives, going have have that education made redundant under Taliban rule or are dead because of this fighting). But yeah, let's be proud.