Politics

[fourfive8]

Yep, the trick is for anyone with a functioning brain to not be completely disgusted and outraged about anything having to do with the bassturd in chief and most of his admin. The SVN-NVN thing is not lost on me. My best friend from HS lost his left leg below the knee during the Tet offensive at Da Nang. I was in college at the time- later drafted but didn't go anywhere. Another of our schoolmates who graduated a couple of years earlier was awarded the CMH, posthumously.

 

[Red Leg]

Yep, the trick is for anyone with a functioning brain to not be completely disgusted and outraged about anything having to do with the bassturd in chief and most of his admin. The SVN-NVN thing is not lost on me. My best friend from HS lost the lower half of his left leg during the Tet offensive at Da Nang. I was in college at the time- later drafted but didn't go anywhere. Another of our schoolmates who graduated a couple of years earlier was awarded the CMH, posthumously.

Exactly. It is why we need to make sure that we deploy no conventional US troops in Ukraine. If Ukraine can defend its independence and bleed Russia of its territorial ambitions with military aid, then I support it whole heartedly. However, what gives Putin and his military leadership nightmares is article 5 of the NATO treaty. Putin et al need to remain firmly convinced we would indeed go to war were any NATO member attacked. Sending US troops into Ukraine would blur that distinction, and increase by several magnitudes to opportunity for a strategic mistake.

 

[Red Leg]

Really well done. Bill Maher picking at another liberal scab.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1631877626313711619

 

[John Wasmuth]

Good morning. The reason I brought up the post is that I made the mistake of watching the news and observed Former President Trump at a political rally. He went in for what seemed a very long time about “Abandoning “ our hardware in Afghanistan and leaving it for the enemy as one of Biden’s many mistakes. We’ve heard it over and over again.
Now I dislike Joe Biden for many many reasons however this isn’t something new. We’ve done it several times.

 

[Dragan N.]

Ok, y’all can come uncorked over this and hate me till the end of time, which is fine with me….
the fact that we left a ton of weapons when we left Afghanistan isn’t lost on any one. Those munitions were left for tha Afghanistan army to fight the Taliban. The fact that they dropped them and ran the other way does not decrease the fact that they were left to combat assholes.
The same exact thing happened on April 30th 1975 when the NVA breached the line in SVN and we lost a ton of weapons left behind for SVN to fight NVN. Shit gets sickening after a while. Anyone with two brain cells knows that. Every time we occupy a country this happens. It’s nothing know.

The US army failed to defeat the Taliban during the troop surge. The years of the troop surge were some of the bloodiest in the Afghan War. Even at the height of the American troop surge, the Talian still controlled huge swaths of Afghan territory. If the US military failed to defeat the Taliban, how could anyone have thought that the Afghan army could pull it off ?

 

[Captain David newlin]

A good read on postwar economies is The Reckoning by David Halberstam. Making long story short, after WW2, the world's manufacturing was in ruins. We had it all to ourselves. In order to rebuild our enemies economies we paid for almost 100% of their defense needs and our best and brightest worked in those industries. Meanwhile, Japan, Germany and others who we defended after the war employed their best and brightest in consumer goods like autos, electronics and other manufactured goods. It's still the same today. (I worked with some engineers for a Big 3 that couldn't find their asses with both hands).

Having said that, these countries are back on their feet and still offloading their defense costs on the U.S. taxpayer and at the same time sticking it up OUR ass with TARIFFS on just about every manufactured goods TO PROTECT THEIR INDUSTRIES! Meanwhile, they have BETTER health care (among high income nations, we have the worst!) and that nice imported Mercedes, Volvo, BMW, Honda, Acura, ad nauseum we buy is subsidizing these countries defense, health care and other social "benefits".

Don't even start on NAFTA, the biggest scam ever perpetrated on the American worker. Read the Heritage's Foundation paper on it's "benefits" before it passed. They were reduced illegal immigration, a reduction in drug smuggling and a crimp on American workers' salaries and unions. They got one right and here we are with a big deficit and no tax base to support it.

I'm done.

Well said. Thank you

 

[spike.t]

BBC News - China boosts military budget while warning of escalating threats

China discusses military budget while warning of escalating threats

Beijing says it will increase spending in line with previous years, while warning of "escalating" threats.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[spike.t]

BBC News - Ukraine war: Russian reservists fighting with shovels - UK defence ministry

Ukraine war: Russian reservists fighting with shovels - UK defence ministry

Troops could be engaging in hand-to-hand combat in Ukraine, Britain's defence ministry says.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[jpr9954]

 

[roverandbrew]

The US army failed to defeat the Taliban during the troop surge. The years of the troop surge were some of the bloodiest in the Afghan War. Even at the height of the American troop surge, the Talian still controlled huge swaths of Afghan territory. If the US military failed to defeat the Taliban, how could anyone have thought that the Afghan army could pull it off ?

Not to disagree but I think saying the US Military lost Afghanistan is a bit off from the truth. The US Military should have been one part of the solution if you look at instruments of national power and how we can leverage those instruments to achieve victory. Afghanistan was an insurgency where the Afghan government / Coalition was in a struggle with the Taliban and other state / non-state actors to win the support of the populace. I know Afghanistan did not end as we would have wanted but I do beleive blaming the US Military for the failure is doing a disservice to all those from not only the US but our partners who served. You also need to understand no matter how hard we worked or cared as a nation we cannot want it more than those we are trying to assist.

 

[Ray B]

I think there would be more support in the US for the Ukraine if the Ukraine didn't display such contempt of the US.

 

[spike.t]

Wonder if this will stir it up in zim at all.....

 

[Jfet]

You also need to understand no matter how hard we worked or cared as a nation we cannot want it more than those we are trying to assist.

The Taliban and North Vietnamese as a whole wanted it more. The South Koreans and right now the Ukrainians want to win. You made a great point!

 

[Red Leg]

I think there would be more support in the US for the Ukraine if the Ukraine didn't display such contempt of the US.

I am unaware of any examples of that. Could you elaborate?

Zelensky, his government, and his military leadership have been regularly and repeatedly very vocal and very genuine in their gratitude to this country and NATO for the support they are receiving.

 

[Major Bonkers]

This from 'The Conservative Woman' website:

Another Clinton aide’s suspicious death

THE suspicious death of the Clinton White House Deputy Counsel Vince Foster is apparently but the first of a long such list among those who were in the circle of people that included Bill and Hillary Clinton, LifeSite News reports. Now, the former Clinton aide who signed Jeffrey Epstein into the White House multiple times and was found dead in 2022 with a gunshot wound to his chest, an extension cord tied around his neck and attached to a tree, has similarly been determined to be a suicide, despite no sign of the weapon that killed him. Umm.

 

[Pheroze]

Wonder if this will stir it up in zim at all.....

View attachment 521244

This news organization is very good. I like how they report on things.

 

[Dragan N.]

Not to disagree but I think saying the US Military lost Afghanistan is a bit off from the truth. The US Military should have been one part of the solution if you look at instruments of national power and how we can leverage those instruments to achieve victory. Afghanistan was an insurgency where the Afghan government / Coalition was in a struggle with the Taliban and other state / non-state actors to win the support of the populace. I know Afghanistan did not end as we would have wanted but I do beleive blaming the US Military for the failure is doing a disservice to all those from not only the US but our partners who served. You also need to understand no matter how hard we worked or cared as a nation we cannot want it more than those we are trying to assist.

I did not say the US military lost Afghanistan I said that it failed to defeat the Taliban insurgency, even at the height of the surge. Given that 100,000 NATO soldiers could not defeat the Taliban insurgency, I merely stated that it was absurd to think that the Afghan army could do it on its own. So leaving all that military hardware for the Afghan army to fight the Taliban was kind of pointless. Once the US withdrew from Afghanistan, I would say it was pretty obvious that it was a matter of time before the Afghan government collapsed.

Now obviously the American military was not defeated militarily in Afghanistan. America lost the Afghan War for political reasons.

 

[Ray B]

I'm wondering about the Ukraine army's uniforms and rank structure. Is the president a civilian? If he has a military rank, does the dress uniform for that rank consist of green tee shirt and utility pants? If the president is a civilian, is it normal for the leader of the country to attend meetings in "Western" attire? Or is it the president's flamboyant method of presenting drama?
As to his presentation- it may have been a matter of subjective translation- but phrasing a request for billions of dollars as a demand and that it's USA's duty while offering nothing to mitigate concerns of misuse seems to me to be reeking with arrogance.
Given Bidet's responses a reasonable person would wonder what side deals are involved at USA expense. Since neither party had the courage to address the issues, that leaves the entire subject up to speculation.

 

[Rocked and Loaded]

Good morning. The reason I brought up the post is that I made the mistake of watching the news and observed Former President Trump at a political rally. He went in for what seemed a very long time about “Abandoning “ our hardware in Afghanistan and leaving it for the enemy as one of Biden’s many mistakes. We’ve heard it over and over again.
Now I dislike Joe Biden for many many reasons however this isn’t something new. We’ve done it several times.

I think it’s a little different in that our objective in Afghanistan was to prevent Al Queda and other Islamist terror groups from being able to launch another attack on American soil post 9/11.

Leaving weapons there that could fall into the hands of the very terrorist groups we intended to suppress is a blunder on the administration’s part.

Another thing is the sheer volume of gear left in Afghanistan and that nothing was done to destroy it after it became clear that the Afghan army had folded. I don’t think we could have launched air strikes into Vietnam to blow up gear we had left behind since we had already pulled out of the country militarily.

 

[Red Leg]

I'm wondering about the Ukraine army's uniforms and rank structure. Is the president a civilian? If he has a military rank, does the dress uniform for that rank consist of green tee shirt and utility pants? If the president is a civilian, is it normal for the leader of the country to attend meetings in "Western" attire? Or is it the president's flamboyant method of presenting drama?
As to his presentation- it may have been a matter of subjective translation- but phrasing a request for billions of dollars as a demand and that it's USA's duty while offering nothing to mitigate concerns of misuse seems to me to be reeking with arrogance.
Given Bidet's responses a reasonable person would wonder what side deals are involved at USA expense. Since neither party had the courage to address the issues, that leaves the entire subject up to speculation.

So you do not believe he dresses appropriately? I am fairly sure he is dressing in elements of a combat uniform to send a message to his people - not you or me. Winston Churchill often wore a uniform or a one piece smock that was vaguely military. Like Zelensky, he saw it as both practical and a demonstration of his commitment to the war effort.

Zelensky has indeed expressed his hope that the United States would continue to lead the effort to provide a free people the means to defend themselves. It is a leadership role only the United States can provide against a foe like Russia.

Prior to the war Ukraine did indeed suffer from many of the same maladies as Russia with respect to corruption. With a desire to join the EU, Ukraine had embarked on an effort before the invasion to address that situation. Subsequent to the invasion, that effort has increased dramatically with the firings of numerous officials over the last several months. Eventual EU membership will depend on the success of those measures. Even if the anti-corruption effort is successful, will wealthy individuals continue to wield disproportionate power? I would imagine so. But I would note neither Bill Gates nor Elon Musk is Ukrainian.

While I can't speak to all aid, Ukraine has cooperated fully with DOD inspection and accountability teams. Can we account for every bullet? Of course not, battlefields are messy places, but there is no equivalency to the materiel that we left behind in Afghanistan. It is those weapons, and specialized equipment such as thermal and night vision capability that ought to be keeping us awake at night.

Side deals? Please explain to me what that would look like with respect to any military material that has been provided.