US strikes deal w/ Taliban to remove troops from Afghanistan (1 Viewer)

[Heathen]

Surprised I didn't see it posted anywhere. And to preface -- I know there are too many contextual complexities to name regarding this.

Props to this administration for pushing to get this done. Endless war shouldn't be what American citizens view as 'normal'.

This would be a huge win for Americans and Afghanis if this works out as planned:

Afghan conflict: US and Taliban sign deal to end 18-year war

President Trump says it is "time after all these years to bring our people back home".

www.bbc.com

The US and Nato allies have agreed to withdraw all troops within 14 months if the militants uphold the deal.

President Trump said it had been a "long and hard journey" in Afghanistan. "It's time after all these years to bring our people back home," he said.

Talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban are due to follow.

Under the agreement, the militants also agreed not to allow al-Qaeda or any other extremist group to operate in the areas they control.

 

[DaveXA]

How do you know how long it would take to overrun South Korea? I've heard it would be just as fast. Afghanistan is not the only place terrorists can train, but we were there, and had neutralized that threat. The others terrorist havens have never organized a large attack against us.

You do realize SK has their own standing military and would defend their country from the north? So no, what you're proposing would not happen in a few months, much less a few days.

 

[Lapaz]

The license is not relevant at all. It was a sarcastic comment. The 911 Saudi Arabian and Egyptian terrorists didn't train anywhere in Asia of Africa, they trained right here in the good ol' U.S.A. No amount of soldiers anywhere in the ME would have prevented it.

And no, Israel is not a red herring at all. Are you one of those "they hate us because of our freedom" people?

I think the 911 terrorists trained in Afghanistan, traveled here, boarded planes, hijacked them, and flew them into targets they planned to attack. If you know something about an Islamic training ground in the U.S., you should share that with the CIA, and our media would be interested.

 

[DaveXA]

How do you know it wouldn't happen in SK? I think the NK military is much bigger than the SK military. Size doesn't make might, but I've read that SK would be blown away very fast without us there.

Lol, you have no clue what you're talking about. I'll just leave it at that.

 

[porculator]

The same thing will happen if we leave South Korea, Iraq, and Syria. Europe probably would survive, but Russia would take territory. It didn't have to happen. We should've stayed long term. Perhaps we shouldn't have ever gone in, but we were there, and it was currently costing very little money and lives. All of the past money spent and lives lost were effectively wasted.

It isn't just wasteful- we effectively armed the enemy. Afghan forces can't just flip the killswitch on their U.S. provided weapons as the Taliban overruns them.

It was a botched pullout based on nothing but emotion and symbolism. There was no reason to make a big scene over being out of the country on the 9/11 anniversary. Even if the reasoning was to score political points it was a terrible miscalculation, since Afghanistan doesn't move the needle for anyone.

 

[Lapaz]

You do realize SK has their own standing military and would defend their country from the north? So no, what you're proposing would not happen in a few months, much less a few days.

Yes SK has a military, but the NK military is more than twice as large.

North Korea vs South Korea | Comparison military strength

Korean and Korean armed forces comparison. Here you can graphically compare chosen parameters

armedforces.eu

I believe it is likely that SK would beat NK or at least fight to a stalemate even without us, however I think if we had left SK after 20 years, it would be part of NK today.

 

[Lapaz]

Lol, you have no clue what you're talking about. I'll just leave it at that.

SK may be able to beat NK today, but I don't think they would've beaten NK if we had left 20 years after the Korean war.

 

[Kerry Won Ohio]

Should we leave South Korea, since we know North Korea would take over in a day or 2? Should we leave Europe, since we know that would embolden Russia to try to take over territory in NATO countries? Should we leave Iraq and Syria, since we know the Syrian government would take over, and Iraq would collapse? The answer to all of those is no, even though those are costing us much more than Afghanistan was costing us.

Will terrorists probably have havens in Afghanistan to plot against the West? The answer is very likely yes. Will it be harder and more expensive to deal with them? The answer is probably yes.

North Korea would NOT defeat South Korea in a war, especially not in a day or two. That is silly talk. North Korea might have initial success, but they would not be able to sustain it. They don't have the fuel nor the economic resources for a sustained conflict with South Korea.

The South Korean government is not hopelessly corrupt like the Afghan government. Plus, S. Korea has a 550,000 full-time, highly motivated army that is actually paid by the government, unlike the poor Afghan army. In addition, South Koreans want absolutely nothing to do with communism. They know North Korea is a failed state and they would fight to their dying breath against them.

If I was an Afghan, I wouldn't fight for their worthless government, either.

 

[Lapaz]

I can't think of any large attack against the U.S. that was organized in Afghanistan. Which large attack are you referring to?

911 was planned by Al Queda in Afghanistan.

 

[Lapaz]

North Korea would NOT defeat South Korea in a war, especially not in a day or two. That is silly talk. North Korea might have initial success, but they would not be able to sustain it. They don't have the fuel nor the economic resources for a sustained conflict with South Korea.

The South Korean government is not hopelessly corrupt like the Afghan government. Plus, S. Korea has a 550,000 full-time, highly motivated army that is actually paid by the government, unlike the poor Afghan army. In addition, South Koreans want absolutely nothing to do with communism. They know North Korea is a failed state and they would fight to their dying breath against them.

If I was an Afghan, I wouldn't fight for their worthless government, either.

SK was just as vulnerable 20 years after the Korean was as Afghanistan is today.

 

[Kerry Won Ohio]

911 was planned by Al Queda in Afghanistan.

Yes, and if bin Laden had not been hiding in Afghanistan, he just would have hidden somewhere else.

Or are you forgetting how Pakistan protected bin Laden for several years AFTER 9/11?

 

[CoolBrees]

@Lapaz -

The 9/11 terrorists went to pilot training in Texas and the east coast (I forget where).

This is well documented. All of the hijackers were here legally and trained at airfields in the US.

Again this is documented and proven fact.

 

[SystemShock]

I think the 911 terrorists trained in Afghanistan, traveled here, boarded planes, hijacked them, and flew them into targets they planned to attack.

And you are completely wrong.

If you know something about an Islamic training ground in the U.S., you should share that with the CIA, and our media would be interested.

I don't know anything about training grounds in the U.S., but it is on record that the 9/11 terrorists got flight training in Florida, Arizona, and California; and most likely Saudi Arabia too.

 

[Lapaz]

@Lapaz -

The 9/11 terrorists went to pilot training in Texas and the east coast (I forget where).

This is well documented. All of the hijackers were here legally and trained at airfields in the US.

Again this is documented and proven fact.

Point taken. Was this plotted in Afghanistan?

 

[Kerry Won Ohio]

SK was just as vulnerable 20 years after the Korean was as Afghanistan is today.

Not even close.

 

[Lapaz]

And you are completely wrong.

I don't know anything about training grounds in the U.S., but it is on record that the 9/11 terrorists got flight training in Florida, Arizona, and California; and most likely Saudi Arabia too.

What were those terrorists havens in Afghanistan doing?

 

[DaveXA]

And you are completely wrong.

I don't know anything about training grounds in the U.S., but it is on record that the 9/11 terrorists got flight training in Florida, Arizona, and California; and most likely Saudi Arabia too.

I want to say they got combat and other training elsewhere (don't recall where exactly), but got their flight training here. So it's both.

I'm not sure why it matters where it happened though.

 

[Lapaz]

Not even close.

History of South Korea - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Sixth Republic (1987–present)[edit]​

The Sixth Republic was established in 1987 and remains the current polity of South Korea.

The point is that we gave up on Afghanistan too soon, and it wasn't costing us much to stay.

 

[SystemShock]

911 was planned by Al Queda in Afghanistan.

You have no idea where the attack was planned. You are just assuming it was in Afghanistan. And even if it were, who exactly are troops going to prevent planning?