Political Discussion

im overly paranoid about the fact that the taliban are back in afghanistan... almost exactly 20 years after 9/11.. i honestly wonder if something dangerous is planned in the coming month and i dont want to have another terror attack on the level of that or anthrax mail
 
duke86fan said:
im overly paranoid about the fact that the taliban are back in afghanistan... almost exactly 20 years after 9/11.. i honestly wonder if something dangerous is planned in the coming month and i dont want to have another terror attack on the level of that or anthrax mail
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The Taliban and al-Qaeda are not the same. The Taliban never left AFG; although their control and influence has waxed and waned but, for obvious reasons, they're making a big push now.

AQ was at the height of their power and influence around 9/11. They're not a cohesive entity with a global reach anymore. Even if you see their name attached to different groups in different countries, I'd take it with a grain of salt that they're actually working under any central authority. Quite frankly, they don't have the capability to launch a terror attack with the sophistication and impact of 9/11. The Taliban never did.
 
PadishahEmperorDiaperBaby said:
The Taliban and al-Qaeda are not the same. The Taliban never left AFG; although their control and influence has waxed and waned but, for obvious reasons, they're making a big push now.

AQ was at the height of their power and influence around 9/11. They're not a cohesive entity with a global reach anymore. Even if you see their name attached to different groups in different countries, I'd take it with a grain of salt that they're actually working under any central authority. Quite frankly, they don't have the capability to launch a terror attack with the sophistication and impact of 9/11. The Taliban never did.
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I am glad that the US is finally ending this war. The whole thing was doomed from the beginning and the amount of lives and money squandered is disheartening. I am glad we are pulling out but the administration/state department/Military really fucked up the pullout process. The fact that the US is scrambling to send troops back in to secure the hasty exit of diplomats is ridiculous. Also, abandoning the Afghans that aided the military is never a good look.
 
Short of making Afghanistan a US territory (which neither the US nor Afghanistan wanted) there is no way to protect the Afghan people from themselves. The government was given billions in aid and the Afghan military has been given 20 years worth of training and yet the Afghan military was unwilling to fight off the Taliban. I understand that ineptitude and corruption caused many in the military to go without pay or adequate food or support. That all brings about the question if the Afghans are unwilling to sacrifice to protect their people then should Americans be asked to continue to sacrifice in kind?

Pulling out was the right decision and was never going to a completely smooth process. It just feels like everyone was caught flatfooted when it seemed like they should have been preparing an exit strategy since we first set up a military presence.
 
Latest headlines this morning say that the Taliban have taken Afghanistan.

There was also a piece about how the pull out of Afghanistan is disastrous for Biden precidency and political prospects of reelection. But that this disaster has been a long time coming and set in motion long before Biden took office.
 
RenegadeMonster said:
Latest headlines this morning say that the Taliban have taken Afghanistan.

There was also a piece about how the pull out of Afghanistan is disastrous for Biden precidency and political prospects of reelection. But that this disaster has been a long time coming and set in motion long before Biden took office.
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80% of Americans agree with the pullout. The biggest issue is Inept execution. If in two years America remains fully withdrawn in the region and nothing more catastrophic happens I don’t think it will have much of an impact on his re-election prospects.
 
The Taliban have been planning and waiting for this moment for 20 years. They capitalized on it and moved faster than anyone anticipated. Pulling out was doomed to failure.

But I echo what @Indymisanthrope says. These are the concerns for his reelection prospect and this pullout will likely be the defining point of his presidency.
 
Indymisanthrope said:
Not sure I would bet on this. Doesn't matter if this was inherited policy or not, the execution is in his lap and the other side will not miss any opportunity to paint it as anti-patriotic, anti-humanitarian, anti-military, pro-Taliban, you name it. And on some of those counts they won't be wrong.
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I agree but it also depends who he is running against. Trump was planning to pull out troops in May if he was re-elected and Trump negotiations with the Taliban at the end of his presidency led to the release of 600+ military fighters many of whom went right back to the frontlines. If there are no deaths of Americans in Afghanistan of American diplomats or civilians during this evacuation as poorly as it was executed the fact that we are no longer waging war in the region after 20 years will prove to be a plus. The NeoCons that supported Biden over Trump will be heavily critical but that was always going to be the case eventually.
 
RenegadeMonster said:
The Taliban have been planning and waiting for this moment for 20 years. They capitalized on it and moved faster than anyone anticipated. Pulling out was doomed to failure.

But I echo what @Indymisanthrope says. These are the concerns for his reelection prospect and this pullout will likely be the defining point of his presidency.
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Two years is a long time and with major crisis taking place domestically I think more people will remember his Covid response rather than almost anything that happens from foreign policy standpoint. If there is two years of peace time and Covid recovery continues to progress to some form of a re-pandemic normalcy his poorly executed pullout will be a minor stain on his record overall.
 
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Max Sterling said:
Wait, was everyone expecting Biden to go for a second term? Can't we have different people run? I mean, hardly anyone I know wanted him in this last race, he's just what the Democratic party gave them. Give them someone else...
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I don't want him to run. But the establishment will always push for reelection of a sitting president for a second term. Unless he flat out says no, I don't want it, he will be the 2024 candidate.
 
A historic increase to food stamp benefits is about to start. Each person receiving benefits will receive an average of $36 more a month in benefits a month.

To me it sounds like nothing with how much food is going up in price. But apparently this is by far the largest increase in food stamp benefits ever. Especially when you learn that benefits average $121 per person a month. It's quite the substantial percentage increase.

But at the same time makes me say that's all they get? No wonder people who have low income always eat junk food and highly processed foods. Buying fresh healthy food for a single person costs about that much a week these days! It does for me. And that is shopping at a grocery store like Market Basket which is cheap. Going to a "world class supermarket" like Big Y or Wegmans and you can easily spend 2 to 3 times as much for the same food!
 
RenegadeMonster said:
A historic increase to food stamp benefits is about to start. Each person receiving benefits will receive an average of $36 more a month in benefits a month.

To me it sounds like nothing with how much food is going up in price. But apparently this is by far the largest increase in food stamp benefits ever. Especially when you learn that benefits average $121 per person a month. It's quite the substantial percentage increase.

But at the same time makes me say that's all they get? No wonder people who have low income always eat junk food and highly processed foods. Buying fresh healthy food for a single person costs about that much a week these days! It does for me. And that is shopping at a grocery store like Market Basket which is cheap. Going to a "world class supermarket" like Big Y or Wegmans and you can easily spend 2 to 3 times as much for the same food!
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Found out how much of a nightmare food insecurity is when I helped out with a public health initiative after H. Katrina. We got grant money to help convenience store owners expand their inventory to include fresh fruits and veggies because we had a lot of problems with grocery stores not wanting to return to low income areas post natural disaster. Food stamps being incredibly inadequate is only part of this problem. Food insecurity has as much to do with access to grocery stores as well as access to a kitchen to cook these foods--there are a substantial number of people that live in temporary housing like motels and have no way to prepare food. I'm glad they are finally raising the limit. It was terribly inadequate to begin with.
 
70 Million people voted for a reality star president not once but twice so your average American's opinion isn't worth the Charmin Ultra Soft that they wipes their butts with.

thehill.com

Poll: Majority of Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of Afghanistan

A majority of Americans disapprove of President Biden’s handling of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, according to a new poll.The survey, conducted by The Trafalgar Group and Convention of S…
thehill.com thehill.com
 
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