RIP: Gen. Colin Powell

[Dr Mordrid]

salute.jpg

​​​​https://www.npr.org/2021/10/18/10469...ate-dies-at-84

Colin Powell, a former secretary of state, dies at 84

Colin Powell, who served as secretary of state during the presidency of George W. Bush and led the first Gulf War as chairman of the Joint Chiefs, has died at age 84 of complications from COVID-19, his family confirmed.

Powell, the first African American to serve in both of those senior posts, died Monday morning. They said that "he was fully vaccinated," but it's not clear what other underlying health issues may have played a part in his death.

"We want to thank the medical staff at Walter Reed National Medical Center for their caring treatment," the family said in a*Facebook post. "We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American."
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[UtwigMU]

Should we have an aftermath thread on Afghanistan withdrawal and 20 years of 9/11. Can't really fathom how fast time flew by.

[Dr Mordrid]

Should we have an aftermath thread on Afghanistan withdrawal and 20 years of 9/11. Can't really fathom how fast time flew by.

What's unbelievable is how fast that botched withdrawal has changed the political landscape here;

the floor dropped out of Biden's polls, and his party is in very deep doo-doo (they even say so) on several other issues - but Afghanistan was the trigger.

People supported the withdrawal, but not the fustercluck.

[KRSESQ]

That cluster**** was all trumps making. He set an impossible to meet deadline all but guaranteeing things would go to shit.

Afghanistan wouldn't have ended any other way regardless. It was a cluster**** from the very beginning. The "Afghan Mission" was nothing more than a money pit for corrupt polititians of both parties and a feeding trough for defense contractors. It was never about "defeating terrorism." It was always about fattening wallets.

If we stayed in Afghanistan 100 years it wouldn't have ended any other way. There's a reason Afghanistan is called the "Empire Slayer."

[dZeus]

That cluster**** was all trumps making. He set an impossible to meet deadline all but guaranteeing things would go to shit.

Afghanistan wouldn't have ended any other way regardless. It was a cluster**** from the very beginning. The "Afghan Mission" was nothing more than a money pit for corrupt polititians of both parties and a feeding trough for defense contractors. It was never about "defeating terrorism." It was always about fattening wallets.

If we stayed in Afghanistan 100 years it wouldn't have ended any other way. There's a reason Afghanistan is called the "Empire Slayer."

Do you believe any other president or pres. candiidate with half a chance of winning the election would have been able to get the Afghan withdrawal decision through? I personally believe the US would have stayed at least another 5 years, as the 'war on terror' is extremely profitable.

[KRSESQ]

Do you believe any other president or pres. candiidate with half a chance of winning the election would have been able to get the Afghan withdrawal decision through? I personally believe the US would have stayed at least another 5 years, as the 'war on terror' is extremely profitable.

I bolded the important part that people always forget or never realize in the first place.

[dZeus]

I bolded the important part that people always forget or never realize in the first place.

And the same for the war on drugs. Fortunately, there seems to be a start of solid change for the better on that front.

[Dr Mordrid]

That cluster**** was all trumps making. He set an impossible to meet deadline all but guaranteeing things would go to shit.
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Biden had montha and his generals & his own partys advice to do most anything else but he didn't, then he lied about them not giving said advice. He also ignored our allies

And as POTUS Biden made the decision to close all airstrips except Kabul, leaving a nice ambush target for anyone wanting to blow people up.

Now he's paying the price and he's dragging his party down with him, and they aren't happy either..

https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/08/20/lessons-biden-afghanistan-withdrawal/

Lessons From Biden’s Very Bad Week

The U.S. president’s refusal to acknowledge error has dismayed supporters and European allies.

By Michael Hirsh, a senior correspondent at Foreign Policy.

Only a few months into his presidency, John F. Kennedy ordered the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba and promptly took full responsibility for that reckless adventure—even though the plans had been drawn up by the U.S. Department of Defense and CIA under his predecessor, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Moreover, Kennedy learned from his huge mistake, historians say, developing a wariness of military advice that would serve him well later on during the Cuban missile crisis.

U.S. President Joe Biden may have made the opposite mistake in Afghanistan, withdrawing too precipitously and shunning the advice of his generals and the CIA, as well as the counsel of U.S. allies. But unlike Kennedy, Biden has so far largely avoided taking responsibility for the Afghan debacle. That in turn has raised questions among supporters and U.S. allies about whether he’ll learn anything from it—or whether his approach to Afghanistan might set the tone for the remainder of his presidency.
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[Allies][...] complain that after Biden declared “America is back” in the global system and that he was going to erase the legacy of the unilateralist Trump by reconnecting with allies, he didn’t do so on Afghanistan. They were also dismayed that Biden claimed he had consulted with them about his withdrawal plans when in fact several key decisions such as the abrupt abandonment of Bagram Airfield in early July—which severely demoralized Afghan national troops—were made unilaterally.
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[Umfriend]

Orderly withdrawals without a peace agreement. I wonder how many there have been in history.

Anyway, the blamestorming is underway, guess that will never change. I have no doubt that had Trump won (for others: had the election not been stolen), it could just as well have turned into a flustercuck. Accidents happen. The only thing to learn, and the lesson has been given earlier, is that it is easy to destroy things and kill people, it is hard to shape the world and people to your liking.