Biden Strands 15,000 Americans Behind Enemy Lines

[score_keeper]

Biden says as many as 15,000 Americans looking to flee Afghanistan

U.S. troops may remain in Afghanistan beyond a Aug. 31 deadline to make sure all Americans are out, the president says.

As many as 15,000 American citizens may remain inside Afghanistan, struggling to get out, days after the Asian nation fell to control of Taliban terrorists, President Biden said Wednesday.

Also looking to flee are tens of thousands of Afghan citizens who fought alongside or aided U.S. troops over the past two decades – and now fear retribution from the terrorist organization now wielding power in the country, The Associated Press reported.

Well, as long as our soldiers 'may remain' in Afghanistan then everything is okay. I bet Traitor-in-Chief Biden thought they voted for Trump.

What a piece of un-American shit Biden is.

 

[Bud_Spencer]

That we now have more troops in Afghanistan than we did at the inauguration is proof that Joe's "plan" is a cock-up of the first order. Why were the civilians not evacuated first?

 

[phrodeau]

That we now have more troops in Afghanistan than we did at the inauguration is proof that Joe's "plan" is a cock-up of the first order. Why were the civilians not evacuated first?

American citizens were given opportunities and resources to help them leave months ago, and many did leave. The ones who remain are those who chose to remain.

If the US military had rounded them up and forced them to leave, you’d be singing a different tune.

 

[Bud_Spencer]

American citizens were given opportunities and resources to help them leave months ago, and many did leave. The ones who remain are those who chose to remain.

If the US military had rounded them up and forced them to leave, you’d be singing a different tune.

At some point, removal is mandatory or you're left there to fend for yourself. The fact that Dementia Joe is sending in thousands of Marines is a tacit admission that this option was never made to the civilians there.

 

[score_keeper]

At some point, removal is mandatory or you're left there to fend for yourself. The fact that Dementia Joe is sending in thousands of Marines is a tacit admission that this option was never made to the civilians there.

Biden had no plan, no strategy, other than, 'How can it not go my way, no matter what I do?'

 

[Bud_Spencer]

Biden had no plan, no strategy, other than, 'How can it not go my way, no matter what I do?'

Joe has always been an idiot, now he's an idiot with a military.

 

[Rightguide]

At some point, removal is mandatory or you're left there to fend for yourself. The fact that Dementia Joe is sending in thousands of Marines is a tacit admission that this option was never made to the civilians there.

There now are more soldiers in Afghanistan than there were when Biden took office. Right now before the Taliban settle in, he should pour in a maximum show of force. Bring in Ranger regiments to seize outlying airports like Bagram Airfield and open escape corridors for trapped Americans and others. Tell the Taliban leaders their families and home villages will pay the price if any Americans are harmed, and make it stick. Time to get mean.

 

[Buscando]

I think we've gotta ask a coupla questions here

First of all, who are these Americans, and how and why are they in Afghanistan to begin with?

Some of the first who come to mind are all the civilians hired as "security" personnel by outfits like Blackwater, with guys like Eric Prince becoming billionaires off the U.S. government contracts - and getting caught numerous times with his hands in the cookie jar, along with the corrupt locals he was piecing off. All at your expense and mine. And of course he was just one such contractor.

Then there are/were all the freelance mercenaries who went on their own to soak up their own boatloads of the cash flowing through the whole corrupt enterprise.

Add in all the other contractors of all types who went there of their own free will to cash in by whatever means they could.

All these people went there knowing full well what a colossally corrupt clusterfuck it was, right from the beginning. We've had 20 years of ample coverage of it all, which we know doesn't even scratch the surface. Now that the curtain has collapsed, we see all those, including the high-ranking officers, present and retired, who were so happy to support the illusion in the interest of their careers, now coming out to grab their camera time and sound bytes with hand-wringing and sad faces as they tell us now how the whole thing was never, ever going to be "won" in the first place, or at any time since. That it was in fact impossible from the very beginning, and never got anything but worse.

So then, riddle me this: If you made your choice to go off into someone else's centuries-old civil war, in a Muslim country, with 95% of the populace in complete illiteracy, a centuries-old history of constant internal wars and complete political corruption and resulting instability; a country long-since named "The Graveyard of Empires," so that you could pull down grand theft money while the party lasted, would you not take immediate steps to make damn sure you had a bugout plan and the cash to finance it when the inevitable collapse came? Or would you just be so greedy that you'd keep raking every cent available and rely on someone else to bail you out - at their peril and expense?

I believe that only those who have actually been in that part of the world for any length of time will understand why this has all come about, and that the end, when it finally came, was spelled out before the beginning. It was never going to go any other way. Three prior presidents kicked this can down the road because they lacked the political will, personal character and common decency to end it. I'm neither an R or a D, but I am proud of Joe Biden for finally stepping up to do what absolutely had to be done, especially knowing that it couldn't have ended any way but the way it is. Christ, give the guy his props.

 

[KeithD]

American citizens were given opportunities and resources to help them leave months ago, and many did leave. The ones who remain are those who chose to remain.

To be fair, most of them are government or government contractors and the government was determining when they could/should leave. Most of the in-country families for those people have already left.

It's hard to know how many other Americans are there/have been there.

 

[phrodeau]

Interesting that Fox News calls the Taliban terrorists. That means Trump negotiated with terrorists, something he swore he’d never do.

 

[Buscando]

To be fair, most of them are government or government contractors and the government was determining when they could/should leave. Most of the in-country families for those people have already left.

It's hard to know how many other Americans are there/have been there.

Thank you. Yes, "...government or government contractors..." That means that they made a choice to remain, since they were not military personnel.

Contractors or employees of contractors would likely suffer some penalties for leaving prior to their agreements, but when we see the now-obvious alternative, what does that tell us about their choices? We all know that working overseas, especially in high-risk areas, pays some big dividends, and that's why people do it. It is, however, a gamble, isn't it, and that's where gamblers go wrong; not knowing when to fold 'em and walk away - while you still can.

So ask yourself now if you're willing to sacrifice your life or the life of a family member or close friend to get one of those people out of there. Why should the consequences of their bad choices be inflicted upon others who have no responsibility for them? They are not innocent victims.

“Sooner or later, everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences.” ~Robert Louis Stevenson

 

[icanhelp1]

Biden had no plan, no strategy, other than, 'How can it not go my way, no matter what I do?'

He pulled the military out so he could take full credit and show up Trump. He owns it all by himself. A Boy Scout would have the wherewithal to evacuate civilians before a full withdrawal of troops.

 

[KeithD]

So ask yourself now if you're willing to sacrifice your life or the life of a family member or close friend to get one of those people out of there. Why should the consequences of their bad choices be inflicted upon others who have no responsibility for them? They are not innocent victims.

I don't have to imagine it. I was directly involved in that, in Cambodia and Vietnam, and later in Lebanon. In one facet, these were people and their families who were contracted to my own service, and, yes, there wasn't second thought about doing what we could to pull them out. It wasn't just altruism or the contract we had with them, it was a look to the future. If we didn't uphold our pledge to them, how would we get locals to work for us in this capacity in the future? That's an issue today and here in Afghanistan.

When it came to someone else's contractors, we usually didn't have a choice. Our own government said to try to get them out, and so we did. Others who made their own decisions, outside of service to U.S. government needs, who got themselves stuck there, especially those going in after they were told not to and were told we couldn't protect them if they did? My attitude was to wish them "good luck" from a distance. However, we never really got that choice either. We were always directed by our own government to try to get them out. In Lebanon, we mounted rescue operations and lost people in trying to get stubborn folks out who had traveled there after they were told that the U.S. government couldn't protect them there.

 

[phrodeau]

He pulled the military out so he could take full credit and show up Trump. He owns it all by himself. A Boy Scout would have the wherewithal to evacuate civilians before a full withdrawal of troops.

How would your Boy Scout go about evacuating people who don’t want to evacuate?

 

[icanhelp1]

Thank you. Yes, "...government or government contractors..." That means that they made a choice to remain, since they were not military personnel.

Contractors or employees of contractors would likely suffer some penalties for leaving prior to their agreements, but when we see the now-obvious alternative, what does that tell us about their choices? We all know that working overseas, especially in high-risk areas, pays some big dividends, and that's why people do it. It is, however, a gamble, isn't it, and that's where gamblers go wrong; not knowing when to fold 'em and walk away - while you still can.

So ask yourself now if you're willing to sacrifice your life or the life of a family member or close friend to get one of those people out of there. Why should the consequences of their bad choices be inflicted upon others who have no responsibility for them? They are not innocent victims.

“Sooner or later, everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences.” ~Robert Louis Stevenson

And maybe, just maybe you’re I’ll informed. Maybe school teachers, doctors, nurses and an assortment of special aid’s and religious people.

 

[KeithD]

He pulled the military out so he could take full credit and show up Trump. He owns it all by himself. A Boy Scout would have the wherewithal to evacuate civilians before a full withdrawal of troops.

Bullshit. Biden long worked for a withdrawal and was dealt a very bad hand in getting this done--by The Trump Administration. I've already posted that I'm not impressed with what he did with the hand he was dealt. You can take your Big Lie propaganda agenda on this and shove it where the sun don't shine. We're now getting the background on the lengths Stephen Miller went to to make getting our human assets out of the country as difficult as it is. A year of that is on the Trump administration, while seven months of it is on the Biden administration. Yes, they should have gotten the special visa pipeline reopened. But they didn't close it--Trump, through Stephen Miller, closed it.

 

[icanhelp1]

Bullshit. Biden long worked for a withdrawal and was dealt a very bad hand in getting this done--by The Trump Administration. I've already posted that I'm not impressed with what he did with the hand he was dealt. You can take your Big Lie propaganda agenda on this and shove it where the sun don't shine. We're now getting the background on the lengths Stephen Miller went to to make getting our human assets out of the country as difficult as it is. A year of that is on the Trump administration, while seven months of it is on the Biden administration. Yes, they should have gotten the special visa pipeline reopened. But they didn't close it--Trump, through Stephen Miller, closed it.

There is no doubt the SIV program was a cumbersome program partially because it lacked a top level supervisor to coordinate different offices and to facilitate synergies and continuity within the system, within the department. There are nuances to why the Trump SIV program took a negative spin. Every time Trump attempted to control migration from muslim countries that had a background in terrorism he was chastised and sued by the left for being a xenophobe. Trump had to fight Pelosi and Schumer at every turn. He also had to fight tooth and nail for control of our southern border. Miller took the fight on right or wrong because we lost control of immigration policy. I blame that on congress for failure to act on sensible immigration policy.

Biden could have E/Od an expedited version of the special immigrant visa program but he didn't act either. He pulled the military out and left everyone behind. What the fuck was he thinking was going to happen when all security was evacuated. That was fucking dumb.

There's enough blame to go around.

We need to understand that there is a big difference between refugee status and afghans who worked with americans as interpreters and other ancillary positions. Biden's complete lack of control over our southern border doesn't help, his policies are allowing people across borders by the millions, thank God the courts slapped his peepee re-initiating Trump's wait in Mexico policy.

Personally, I think leaving Afghanistan at this late stage was a mistake. INHO

 

[Ramone45]

So is this a hostage situation now? The Taliban won. Why would detain Americans trying to leave their shit hole country?

 

[Buscando]

I don't have to imagine it. I was directly involved in that, in Cambodia and Vietnam, and later in Lebanon. In one facet, these were people and their families who were contracted to my own service, and, yes, there wasn't second thought about doing what we could to pull them out. It wasn't just altruism or the contract we had with them, it was a look to the future. If we didn't uphold our pledge to them, how would we get locals to work for us in this capacity in the future? That's an issue today and here in Afghanistan.

When it came to someone else's contractors, we usually didn't have a choice. Our own government said to try to get them out, and so we did. Others who made their own decisions, outside of service to U.S. government needs, who got themselves stuck there, especially those going in after they were told not to and were told we couldn't protect them if they did? My attitude was to wish them "good luck" from a distance. However, we never really got that choice either. We were always directed by our own government to try to get them out. In Lebanon, we mounted rescue operations and lost people in trying to get stubborn folks out who had traveled there after they were told that the U.S. government couldn't protect them there.

I had some thoughts I wanted to share, but to avoid hijacking the thread here, I took the liberty of sending you a PM.
Thank your for your own cogent contributions. I do respect them, even if I don't agree across the board.