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Thread: And so it begins, U.S. troops start to withdraw from Afghanistan

  1. #1

    And so it begins, U.S. troops start to withdraw from Afghanistan

    Hardly a week has passed since the conditional peace treaty between the U.S. and the Taliban, and American troops are already leaving the country.
    Despite evidence that the Taliban have resumed attacks on Afghan government forces, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper has given the order for the United States to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.s.
    Esper, speaking to the media on Monday, said that the troop withdrawal order to Army Gen. Scott Miller, the commander of U.S. forces in Kabul, is in keeping with the peace deal with the Taliban. The peace deal calls for an American troop reduction to begin within 10 days of the deal’s signing.
    “My instructions to the commander [were]: ‘Let’s get moving, let’s show our full faith and effort to do that,'” Esper said in Washington with the Joint Chiefs General Milley also in attendance. “I’ve said on many occasions that I’m comfortable we can still conduct all the missions we need to conduct [with] 8,600 [troops].”
    The Americans are to cut 4,000 troops in Afghanistan within the first 135 days according to the terms of the deal. There are currently 13,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan; the remaining 8,600 would leave within 14 months.

    More at: https://sofrep.com/news/and-so-it-be...m-afghanistan/
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

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  3. #2
    Bold move to start to reducee the Afghan surge he had sent in 2017.

    PSA: Taliban peace deal reduces troop levels to start of Trump presidency


    18,000+ troops he surged to mideast in late 2019 will still be there by end of his first term.

    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    “My instructions to the commander [were]: ‘Let’s get moving, let’s show our full faith and effort to do that,'” Esper said in Washington with the Joint Chiefs General Milley also in attendance. “I’ve said on many occasions that I’m comfortable we can still conduct all the missions we need to conduct [with] 8,600 [troops].”
    Perhaps it should also be added to PRs soundbites that will be cited in 2020 election rallies, what was net gain of the 2017 surge and lives/limbs/treasure lost ?
    So as long as admission of mistake is not celeberated as some 'success story', it's encouraging sign for future surges planning.

    Stats Show Trump’s Afghanistan Surge Has Failed

  4. #3
    Let me know when he actually gets back to square zero

    You hype him way too much swordsm

  5. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by vita3 View Post
    Let me know when he actually gets back to square zero

    You hype him way too much swordsm
    Pretty much my position, when we're out I'll give credit where credit is due. Until then there's always a good chance of something happening to cause another escalation.
    "The Patriarch"

  6. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Origanalist View Post
    Pretty much my position, when we're out I'll give credit where credit is due. Until then there's always a good chance of something happening to cause another escalation.
    Still won't hurt to give our full support in favor of the withdrawal.

  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by specsaregood View Post
    Still won't hurt to give our full support in favor of the withdrawal.
    Absolutely not. Hurray for starting and finish the job!
    "The Patriarch"

  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by specsaregood View Post
    Still won't hurt to give our full support in favor of the withdrawal.
    Dude,,we have been screaming "Withdraw" for years..

    Empty Promises and vague and misleading reports and not backed up by factual movement.

    There should be round the clock airlifts till they are gone. and that done long ago.

    I ain't seen it happen.. Despite what the Lying Clown in Chief says.
    Liberty is lost through complacency and a subservient mindset. When we accept or even welcome automobile checkpoints, random searches, mandatory identification cards, and paramilitary police in our streets, we have lost a vital part of our American heritage. America was born of protest, revolution, and mistrust of government. Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for long.
    Ron Paul 2004

    Registered Ron Paul supporter # 2202
    It's all about Freedom

  9. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by pcosmar View Post
    Dude,,we have been screaming "Withdraw" for years..

    Empty Promises and vague and misleading reports and not backed up by factual movement.

    There should be round the clock airlifts till they are gone. and that done long ago.

    I ain't seen it happen.. Despite what the Lying Clown in Chief says.
    I will believe a withdraw when i see it happen these war mongers, interventionists arent letting it happen so easily. Afghanistan's president should have just done the right thing and just release the POW like how the Taliban asked for it in the deal.

    The Afghanistan's president is a fool if he believes that his side and west will be winning securing part of Afghanistan that Taliban have taken we had being in their for 20 years doing the same thing and what had we achieved in these military operations agaisnt them?
    Nothing.

    Afghanistan's president looks like a puppet for the MC/DS who thinks the west could stay longer. For what though? till shift happens?
    Last edited by AngryCanadian; 03-05-2020 at 10:28 AM.



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  11. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by AngryCanadian View Post
    I will believe a withdraw when i see it happen these war mongers,
    Dude..the "Taliban" are the Legitimate Government of that country.

    They will not accept an American Puppet Govt any more than they would a Russian Puppet..
    Liberty is lost through complacency and a subservient mindset. When we accept or even welcome automobile checkpoints, random searches, mandatory identification cards, and paramilitary police in our streets, we have lost a vital part of our American heritage. America was born of protest, revolution, and mistrust of government. Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for long.
    Ron Paul 2004

    Registered Ron Paul supporter # 2202
    It's all about Freedom

  12. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by pcosmar View Post
    Dude..the "Taliban" are the Legitimate Government of that country.

    They will not accept an American Puppet Govt any more than they would a Russian Puppet..
    Indeed you are right about that one, not mention the Taliban are the same forces and fighters which had driven out the soviet union/Russian troops in the 80s. They were the mujahideen fighters which the west armed and supported agaisnt a moderate Russian backed government in afghanistan who gave women rights among other issues.

    Its kinda of ironic seeing the west being defeated by the very thing they created and armed.

    "But they are just moderate rebels"

  13. #11
    "He's talkin' to his gut like it's a person!!" -me
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  14. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by pcosmar View Post
    Dude,,we have been screaming "Withdraw" for years..

    Empty Promises and vague and misleading reports and not backed up by factual movement.

    There should be round the clock airlifts till they are gone. and that done long ago.

    I ain't seen it happen.. Despite what the Lying Clown in Chief says.
    yes, yes, dude, I get it. The thread is about the order to begin withdrawing having been given. I have NOTHING negative to say about that; I see no reason to give anything but positive reinforcement. If it doesn't happen, then I'll go back to bitching and moaning like the rest of you.
    Last edited by specsaregood; 03-05-2020 at 10:50 AM.

  15. #13

    Exclamation Neo-conned again

    Quote Originally Posted by pcosmar View Post
    Dude..the "Taliban" are the Legitimate Government of that country.

    They will not accept an American Puppet Govt any more than they would a Russian Puppet..
    The US neocons are still propping up their puppets in the ME.



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  16. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by enhanced_deficit View Post
    Bold move to start to reducee the Afghan surge he had sent in 2017.

    PSA: Taliban peace deal reduces troop levels to start of Trump presidency


    18,000+ troops he surged to mideast in late 2019 will still be there by end of his first term.



    Perhaps it should also be added to PRs soundbites that will be cited in 2020 election rallies, what was net gain of the 2017 surge and lives/limbs/treasure lost ?
    So as long as admission of mistake is not celeberated as some 'success story', it's encouraging sign for future surges planning.

    Stats Show Trump’s Afghanistan Surge Has Failed
    the remaining 8,600 would leave within 14 months.
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  17. #15
    Yet another pre-celebration
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    Pinochet is the model
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    Liberty preserving authoritarianism.
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  18. #16
    I am gonna party like its 1999 .
    Do something Danke



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  20. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by specsaregood View Post
    yes, yes, dude, I get it. The thread is about the order to begin withdrawing having been given. I have NOTHING negative to say about that; I see no reason to give anything but positive reinforcement. If it doesn't happen, then I'll go back to bitching and moaning like the rest of you.
    And how many times has that order been given,,only to be ignored of rescinded??..

    I HAVE HEARD THIS $HIT BEFORE..

    It still smells like $hit.
    Liberty is lost through complacency and a subservient mindset. When we accept or even welcome automobile checkpoints, random searches, mandatory identification cards, and paramilitary police in our streets, we have lost a vital part of our American heritage. America was born of protest, revolution, and mistrust of government. Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for long.
    Ron Paul 2004

    Registered Ron Paul supporter # 2202
    It's all about Freedom

  21. #18
    Won't be satisfied until every soldier in that region comes home.
    "Perhaps one of the most important accomplishments of my administration is minding my own business."

    Calvin Coolidge

  22. #19
    The Taliban's spokesman in Qatar, Suhail Shaheen, said in a tweet after the U.S. strike on Wednesday that the insurgent group had implemented "all parts of the agreement one after the other to prevent escalation."

    Taliban commander Salih Khan in Helmand, meanwhile, told CBS News' Sami Yousafzai that the deal with the U.S. could "vanish" if American forces continue targeting Taliban fighters. He said he was awaiting further word from the group's leadership, but that he had already received orders to resume attacking Afghan forces — but not foreign troops.
    "Now we are happy to resume attacking U.S. forces as well, if our leaders order" it, he said.
    Another Taliban representative in Qatar, Salam Hanafi, told fellow leaders of the group in a message forwarded to CBS News' Yousafzai later Wednesday that the Taliban did not consider the American airstrike a violation of the deal signed over the weekend. Hanafi said that under the deal U.S. forces can still defend their Afghan allies from attacking Taliban militants, "just on the spot" of the initial attack.
    He said as long as American troops do not pursue or carry out targeted strikes against the insurgents elsewhere, retaliation was essentially fair game.
    "If [the] USA did not add this condition, then [the] Afghan government would collapse, instead of in 14 months, in 14 days," Hanafi boasted. The group has long been dismissive of the Afghan government, and insisted on carrying out negotiations for the agreement signed in Doha with U.S. diplomats, not Afghan government officials.

    More at: https://news.yahoo.com/4-days-u-sign...043139325.html
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  23. #20
    President Donald Trump has pushed his military and national security advisers in recent days to pull all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan amid concerns about a major coronavirus outbreak in the war-torn country, according to two current and one former senior U.S. officials.

    Trump complains almost daily that U.S. troops are still in Afghanistan and are now vulnerable to the pandemic, the officials said. His renewed push to withdraw all of them has been spurred by the convergence of his concern that coronavirus poses a force protection issue for thousands of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and his impatience with the halting progress of his peace deal with the Taliban, the officials said.

    The U.S. military is in the midst of a drawdown in Afghanistan already. In early March it began decreasing its total footprint from more than 12,000 to 8,600 over 135 days. But troops have been leaving the country faster than originally planned, according to two U.S. defense officials, and the U.S. is now on track to beat the original deadline.

    "U.S. Forces Afghanistan continues to draw down force levels and expects to be at 8,600 U.S. troops in 135 days (mid-July) in accordance with the U.S.-Taliban agreement. USFOR-A remains committed to supporting our Afghan partners throughout the process and maintains the capabilities and authorities necessary to accomplish our objectives," said Lt. Col. Thomas Campbell, a Pentagon spokesperson.

    Trump, who campaigned in 2016 with a promise to end wars like the one in Afghanistan, has frequently expressed frustration with progress there since his early days in office. But the recent political stalemate combined with the COVID-19 pandemic has reinvigorated his impatience.

    "He is itching to get out. He's pushing the Pentagon on it," the former official said.

    More at: https://news.yahoo.com/trump-pushes-...150000743.html
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  24. #21
    A bitter feud between Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his rival Abdullah Abdullah appeared closer to resolution Friday after Abdullah said the two men had moved forward in talks.

    "We have made progress in negotiations & reached tentative agreement on a range of principles. Work on details is underway to finalize the agreement," Abdullah said on Twitter.

    Abdullah previously served as Afghanistan's "chief executive" under a power-sharing deal with Ghani, but lost that post following last year's presidential elections that Ghani won amid claims of fraud.

    Instead of accepting defeat, Abdullah proclaimed himself president, a title he uses to this day, though the international community only recognises Ghani.

    The dispute has proved a huge distraction for Afghanistan at a terrible time, with the coronavirus crisis worsening daily and the Taliban stepping up attacks despite a deal they signed with the US in February.

    "We hope to finalize the political agreement at the earliest so that we can pay undivided attention to tackling COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring a just, dignified & lasting peace, & confronting the security & economic challenges in a spirit of national unity & solidarity," Abdullah tweeted.

    Ghani's office did not immediately comment.

    Speaking on condition of anonymity, an Aghan official told AFP that Abdullah has made a multi-pronged proposal to Ghani.

    The offer would see Abdullah appointed to lead eventual peace talks with the Taliban while also getting a 50-percent share of the government including several high-ranking positions for his allies.

    More at: https://news.yahoo.com/afghan-presid...131016016.html
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  25. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    President Donald Trump has pushed his military and national security advisers in recent days to pull all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan amid concerns about a major coronavirus outbreak in the war-torn country, according to two current and one former senior U.S. officials.

    Trump complains almost daily that U.S. troops are still in Afghanistan and are now vulnerable to the pandemic, the officials said. His renewed push to withdraw all of them has been spurred by the convergence of his concern that coronavirus poses a force protection issue for thousands of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and his impatience with the halting progress of his peace deal with the Taliban, the officials said.

    The U.S. military is in the midst of a drawdown in Afghanistan already. In early March it began decreasing its total footprint from more than 12,000 to 8,600 over 135 days. But troops have been leaving the country faster than originally planned, according to two U.S. defense officials, and the U.S. is now on track to beat the original deadline.

    "U.S. Forces Afghanistan continues to draw down force levels and expects to be at 8,600 U.S. troops in 135 days (mid-July) in accordance with the U.S.-Taliban agreement. USFOR-A remains committed to supporting our Afghan partners throughout the process and maintains the capabilities and authorities necessary to accomplish our objectives," said Lt. Col. Thomas Campbell, a Pentagon spokesperson.

    Trump, who campaigned in 2016 with a promise to end wars like the one in Afghanistan, has frequently expressed frustration with progress there since his early days in office. But the recent political stalemate combined with the COVID-19 pandemic has reinvigorated his impatience.

    "He is itching to get out. He's pushing the Pentagon on it," the former official said.

    More at: https://news.yahoo.com/trump-pushes-...150000743.html
    Why does Trump need to push military and national security advisers to pull all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan? Doesn't he know the President controls troop movements and can bring them home at any time?

    Don't you know that?

  26. #23
    Still there with more troops than when he took initial position of commander in chief...

  27. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by tebowlives View Post
    Why does Trump need to push military and national security advisers to pull all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan? Doesn't he know the President controls troop movements and can bring them home at any time?

    Don't you know that?
    Politics, he has to be able to say that the experts agree with him.
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment



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  29. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by vita3 View Post
    Still there with more troops than when he took initial position of commander in chief...
    We are leaving completely and we are ahead of schedule.
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  30. #26
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    We are leaving completely and we are ahead of schedule.
    Im March he said 14 months. So thats May 2021. Now because of the Corona virus it's stepped up?

    "The accord states that the US will, assuming the Taliban lives up to its end of the deal, cut the number of American troops in Afghanistan to 8,600 in the first 135 days."

    Let me guess, Capt No Policy will fall for a staged Gas attack again.

    The could be withdrawal has nothing to do with being un Constitutional so we need to pullout. Not about exposing our troops needlessly while not protecting our borders, but because of a virus. I'll take it, but I wont believe it til it happens.

  31. #27
    With violence surging in Afghanistan, and its government still deeply at odds with the Taliban, the Trump administration said Friday that a withdrawal of U.S. troops from the nation's longest war was still on track.

    The administration's special envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, said "challenges" were blocking progress on a U.S.-Taliban agreement signed earlier this year that was meant to clear the way for U.S. forces to leave. But he said both sides remained interested in ending a conflict that has gone on for decades.

    Khalilzad said a horrific attack Tuesday on a maternity ward in Kabul that left newborn babies, their mothers and pregnant women dead, was the work of an offshoot of Islamic State and not the Taliban, the militant group that does not recognize the Afghan government. The Taliban has denied responsibility, but the Afghanistan government — which was not part of the withdrawal agreement — remains skeptical.

    At the Pentagon on Friday, spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said the U.S. is proceeding with plans to reduce its troop count in Afghanistan to 8,600, from roughly 12,000, by early summer.

    “We’re still moving forward with the force reduction levels that we’re committed to,” he said. “We expect to meet that.”

    More at: https://news.yahoo.com/troop-withdra...100232479.html
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  32. #28
    Talk talk talk. That’s it.

  33. #29
    So, how much longer until this is officially fake news?
    On Trump:
    How conservative Republicans can continue to support this arrogant imposter—the man who brags about inflicting the world with the Covid mark of the beast; the man who said, “Take the guns first, go through due process second”; and the man who deliberately played and then set up Stewart Rhodes (of course, Stewart was all too eager to be Trump’s patsy) for an 18-year prison sentence—is truly beyond my comprehension.” Chuck Baldwin

  34. #30
    Fourteen months from now? But they're going to be out by July 26th! I know because Trump and his shylls told me so!

    http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...aw+afghanistan
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    We believe our lying eyes...

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