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

  1. #61
    Quote Originally Posted by showpan View Post
    8,600 troops to remain is NOT leaving...lol

    Lead Inspector General for Operation Freedom’s Sentinel I Quarterly Report to the United States Congress I January 1, 2020 - Mach 31, 2020
    OCO

    0
    PRINT | E-MAIL
    May 15, 2020 —
    Publicly Released: May 19, 2020

    This Lead Inspector General (Lead IG) report to the United States Congress on Operation Freedom’s Sentinel (OFS) is the 20th quarterly report detailing the overseas contingency operation. The report summarizes significant events involving OFS and describes completed, ongoing, and planned Lead IG and partner agency oversight work. This report covers the period from January 1, 2020, through March 31, 2020.

    Although U.S. and Taliban representatives signed an agreement on February 29 as a first step toward ending the conflict, a number of events occurred that raised questions over whether the peace process would take place. Taliban violence continued at high levels, even during a negotiated weeklong reduction in violence that led to the agreement’s signing. The Taliban limited violence against coalition forces but increased attacks against the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) during this period. The Taliban escalated violence further after signing the agreement. U.S. forces defended the ANDSF against the Taliban. U.S. officials stated the Taliban must reduce violence as a necessary condition for continued U.S. reduction in forces and that remaining high levels of violence could jeopardize the U.S.-Taliban agreement. Even still, the United States began to reduce its forces in Afghanistan from roughly 13,000 to 8,600.

    A political impasse that happened after the Afghan Independent Election Commission (IEC) announced the September presidential election results also complicated the peace process. The IEC declared incumbent president Ashraf Ghani the winner of the election over his challenger, former Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah. Abdullah immediately disputed the results, claiming ballot fraud. After the quarter ended, the Taliban and the Afghan government made little progress toward commencing the intra-Afghan talks, which were required under the U.S.-Taliban agreement, partly due to the political dysfunction.

    The coronavirus disease–2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic caused further problems throughout the country, as the Taliban continued attacks despite international pleas for a ceasefire on humanitarian grounds. Global humanitarian organization and Afghan government representatives assessed that COVID-19 would severely strain the Afghan healthcare system and economy, potentially infect millions, place millions deeper into poverty, and cause roughly 110,000 deaths. U.S. and coalition forces briefly paused efforts to train, advise, and assist Afghan forces because of COVID-19 but resumed some of these efforts through telephone, e-mail, and other means.

    During the quarter, the Lead IG agencies issued two reports relating to OFS. The investigative branches of the Lead IG agencies and their partner agencies coordinated on 97 open investigations, involving allegations of procurement and grant fraud, corruption, computer intrusions, and human trafficking.

    Operation Freedom’s Sentinel began on January 1, 2015. U.S. forces conduct two complementary missions under OFS: 1) counterterrorism operations against al Qaeda, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-Khorasan, and their affiliates in Afghanistan; and 2) training, advising, and assisting the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces through the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission.

    Section 8L of the Inspector General Act of 1978 provides a mandate for the three Lead IG agencies—the Department of Defense OIG, Department of State OIG, and U.S. Agency for International Development OIG—to work together to develop and carry out joint, comprehensive, and strategic oversight. Each IG retains statutory independence, but together they apply their extensive regional experience and in-depth institutional knowledge to conduct whole-of-government oversight of these overseas contingency operations.


    Related Documents
    LEAD INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR OPERATION FREEDOM'S SENTINEL.PDF

    LEAD INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR OPERATION FREEDOM'S SENTINEL ONE PAGE OVERVIEW.PDF

    https://www.dodig.mil/In-the-Spotlig...-report-to-th/
    They are going to leave, Trump and his representatives have said they will leave whether the Afghans make peace or not and the Afghans are moving towards peace.
    The OPINION of this INSPECTOR GENERAL is meaningless, he has no power.
    Quote Originally Posted by vita3 View Post
    Sword smith should be banned

    Too essential of a subject to BS
    Then maybe you should be banned.
    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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  3. #62
    "Even still, the United States began to reduce its forces in Afghanistan from roughly 13,000 to 8,600."

    Which is just the first phase.
    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

  4. #63
    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.

    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

  5. #64
    Quote Originally Posted by vita3 View Post
    Sword smith should be banned

    Too essential of a subject to BS
    Defense Department officials are reportedly planning to brief President Donald Trump on several options to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan, including one to pull them out before the 2020 US presidential election in November.

    Senior officials familiar with the plans said multiple options with varying timelines will soon be presented to the president, according to a New York Times report published Tuesday.

    The US previously committed to pulling out 3,400 troops by July, and all of them by May 2021, if certain conditions were met.

    Speaking to media at the Rose Garden on Tuesday, Trump addressed concerns about another withdrawal.

    "We're there 19 years ... yeah, I think that's enough," Trump said of the US's war in Afghanistan. "We can always go back if we want to."

    Trump added that he did not have a specific date in mind for a potential US withdrawal, and claimed he wanted it "over a period of time but as soon as reasonable."

    More at: https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-milita...005534242.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



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  7. #65
    The Afghan government released hundreds of Taliban prisoners Tuesday, its single largest prisoner release since the U.S. and the Taliban signed a peace deal earlier this year that spells out an exchange of detainees between the warring sides.

    The government announced it would release 900 Taliban prisoners as a three-day cease-fire with the insurgents draws to an end. The Taliban had called for the truce during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

    There were expectations that the prisoner release could lead to new reductions in violence, and Taliban officials were considering an extension of the cease-fire, a senior Taliban figure confirmed to The Associated Press.

    “If these developments, like the announcement of prisoner releases, continues, it is possible to move forward with decisions like extending the brief cease-fire and to move in a positive direction with some minor issues," the Taliban official said.

    The prisoners were being released from Bagram prison, where the U.S. still maintains a major military base north of Kabul, and from Pul-e-Charkhi prison on the eastern edge of the Afghan capital.

    By late afternoon, the AP witnessed scores of men pouring out of the Bagram compound, presumably released prisoners. It wasn't immediately possible to verify their numbers or whether they were all Taliban members. They were transported on six buses parked outside the prison.

    An official at Bagram said 525 men were to be released but he spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.

    No number was given for how many prisoners would be released from Pul-e-Charkhi.

    In a tweet late Tuesday, Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen in Doha said the insurgent group planned to release “a remarkable number” of government prisoners. He called the Afghan government's release of 900 “good progress.”

    Javid Faisal, a national security spokesman in Kabul, urged the Taliban to extend the cease-fire and said the government would release 900 prisoners Tuesday. That would bring to 2,000 the number of Taliban prisoners released so far under the U.S.-Taliban deal. The Taliban say they have released 240 captives.

    However, the Taliban have yet to confirm whether those released so far by the government were among the 5,000 names the insurgents had given U.S. negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad, the architect of the Feb. 29 deal.

    A second Taliban official told the AP that those released so far were on the Taliban list, including the uncle of Taliban chief Hibatullah Akhundzada.

    More at: https://news.yahoo.com/afghan-govt-f...105008189.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

  8. #66
    “Reportedly planning”

    Pathetic.

    If troops ever come home from endless war in Afghanistan I’ll be loudest one cheering, until then it’s all propaganda

  9. #67
    President Donnell is Hillary on steroids.

    Trump: I Can and Will Start Wars Whenever I Please

    President Donald Trump’s May 6 veto of a Senate resolution that would have required him to seek congressional approval for any further military confrontations with Iran demonstrates that, despite his occasional feints toward scaling back foreign intervention, Trump is as much a warmonger as anyone else in Washington. Worse still, his explanation for his veto indicates that he believes presidents have unlimited authority to launch wars, contrary to clear constitutional language.

    “The question of whether United States forces should be engaged in armed conflict against Iran should only be made following a full briefing to Congress and the American public of the issues at stake, a public debate in Congress, and a congressional vote as contemplated by the Constitution,” reads the resolution. It directs Trump to remove U.S. troops from any hostilities with Iran within 30 days and not to order any further attacks “unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or a specific authorization for use of military force.” It does, however, reserve to Trump the right to respond to an “imminent attack.”

    In short, the measure simply restates the Constitution’s war requirements, to wit: (1) The United States may not engage in offensive military action absent a congressional declaration of war (the resolution actually weakens this a bit, allowing for a generic “authorization”), and (2) the president is in charge of prosecuting a war once Congress declares it.

    But to Trump, who swore an oath to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution,” it is “a very insulting resolution,” as he put it in a statement explaining his veto. As far as he is concerned, it was a purely political move “by Democrats as part of a strategy to win an election on November 3 by dividing the Republican Party.” Moreover, “The few Republicans who voted for it played right into their hands.”

    That argument has more holes than a piece of Swiss cheese.

    To begin with, the senator who introduced it, Virginia’s Tim Kaine, while a liberal Democrat, has consistently pushed for similar measures since joining the Senate in 2013, at which time the Democrat Barack Obama was president.

    Next, the resolution wasn’t just dreamed up out of the blue. It was occasioned by Trump’s assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in January, which precipitated retaliatory strikes on U.S. forces in Iraq. As the resolution explains, Congress wanted to assert its constitutional prerogative in order to ensure that American lives were not put unnecessarily at risk.

    As to Republican votes helping Democrats, if voting to uphold the Constitution plays into the opposing party’s hands, so be it. Principle should always — if you’ll pardon the expression — trump politics.

    In a statement following the veto, Kaine said, “Last year, in President Trump’s State of the Union remarks, he said: ‘Great nations do not fight endless wars.’ But instead of following through on his word, President Trump vetoed legislation that would help avoid unnecessary war in the Middle East.”

    Apparently, Trump isn’t as keen on making America great again as his rhetoric suggests. In fact, the remainder of his veto statement indicates quite the opposite. He demands, and believes he already has, unrestrained authority to take military action whenever and wherever he pleases.

    Trump claims that the resolution was “based on misunderstandings of facts and law.” The only allegedly incorrect fact he mentions is the existence of open hostilities between the United States and Iran, but that’s merely a reflection of the time when the measure was drafted. Besides, the two countries are still not exactly at peace with each other, thanks in part to the president.

    https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/...ever-i-please/
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    You only show up to attack Trump when he is wrong
    Make America the Land of the Free & the Home of the Brave again

  10. #68
    In other news, Trump administration currently briefing President on plans to Lock Her Up and Build The Wall, prior to November election. Unnamed sources declined to share details but said "Sooooooon."
    Last edited by devil21; 05-27-2020 at 02:01 PM.
    "Let it not be said that we did nothing."-Ron Paul

    "We have set them on the hobby-horse of an idea about the absorption of individuality by the symbolic unit of COLLECTIVISM. They have never yet and they never will have the sense to reflect that this hobby-horse is a manifest violation of the most important law of nature, which has established from the very creation of the world one unit unlike another and precisely for the purpose of instituting individuality."- A Quote From Some Old Book

  11. #69
    Is the great orange president still negotiating with the Taliban to get permission for the troops to come home?

  12. #70
    Taliban just got hundreds of prisoners back from one of our bases.

    You know that will probably produce casualties & something terrible down the line.

  13. #71
    Quote Originally Posted by dean.engelhardt View Post
    Is the great orange president still negotiating with the Taliban to get permission for the troops to come home?
    Nope, we are leaving, try reading the posts.
    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

  14. #72
    Quote Originally Posted by vita3 View Post
    Taliban just got hundreds of prisoners back from one of our bases.

    You know that will probably produce casualties & something terrible down the line.
    You complain when the Afghans aren't moving towards peace even though Trump says we are leaving whether they do or not and now you complain when they move towards peace which makes it harder for Neocons to try and make him keep the troops there.

    You don't care about leaving Afghanistan, you just want to hate Trump.
    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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  16. #73
    Quote Originally Posted by vita3 View Post
    “Reportedly planning”

    Pathetic.

    If troops ever come home from endless war in Afghanistan I’ll be loudest one cheering, until then it’s all propaganda
    They ARE leaving, right now.
    You won't cheer, you'll come up with some new complaint.
    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. #74
    https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/...12405784162304

    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

  18. #75
    Why are you ignoring post about 4th infant deploying BACK into Afghanistan?

    Of course so ill cheer Trump brings them all home, but it looks like BS & salesmanship.

  19. #76
    Quote Originally Posted by vita3 View Post
    Why are you ignoring post about 4th infant deploying BACK into Afghanistan?

    Of course so ill cheer Trump brings them all home, but it looks like BS & salesmanship.
    Because it's normal to rotate units, the withdrawal is not all at once but a reduction until they are all gone, you won't see no new deployments until near the very end but there will be less troops deploying than leaving.
    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

  20. #77
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    Because it's normal to rotate units,
    Double speak for ,,We ain't gone Yet..
    Still there years later..

    It never gets any less stupid dragging it out.
    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. #78
    Quote Originally Posted by pcosmar View Post
    Double speak for ,,We ain't gone Yet..
    Still there years later..

    It never gets any less stupid dragging it out.
    They are leaving faster than any are rotated in and they will all be gone by early next year or maybe even before November.
    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

  22. #79
    “Maybe even November”

    NOTED.

  23. #80
    Quote Originally Posted by vita3 View Post
    “Maybe even November”

    NOTED.
    Nov. 2...

    vita3: "YOU SAID THEY WOULD BE GONE BY NOVEMBER!!!"


    There's my prediction.
    "He's talkin' to his gut like it's a person!!" -me
    "dumpster diving isn't professional." - angelatc
    "You don't need a medical degree to spot obvious bullshit, that's actually a separate skill." -Scott Adams
    "When you are divided, and angry, and controlled, you target those 'different' from you, not those responsible [controllers]" -Q

    "Each of us must choose which course of action we should take: education, conventional political action, or even peaceful civil disobedience to bring about necessary changes. But let it not be said that we did nothing." - Ron Paul

    "Paul said "the wave of the future" is a coalition of anti-authoritarian progressive Democrats and libertarian Republicans in Congress opposed to domestic surveillance, opposed to starting new wars and in favor of ending the so-called War on Drugs."



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  25. #81
    i hope Sword is correct in prediction

  26. #82
    Quote Originally Posted by vita3 View Post
    i hope Sword is correct in prediction
    The US military withdrawal from Afghanistan is considerably ahead of schedule, an official told AFP on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump reiterated calls for the Pentagon to bring troops home.

    Under a deal the US signed with the Taliban in February, the Pentagon was to bring troop levels down from about 12,000 to 8,600 by mid-July, before withdrawing all forces by May 2021.

    But a senior US defence official said the troop number was already at approximately 8,500, as commanders accelerate the withdrawal over fears of the coronavirus.

    "The drawdown was accelerated due to COVID-19 precautions," the official told AFP, noting that the departure of anyone with health concerns or over a certain age was being prioritised.

    Trump told reporters Tuesday the US force level was "down to 7,000-some-odd soldiers right now".

    Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Campbell said in a statement the US was adhering to its agreement with the Taliban.

    Further drawdowns would come "after the US government assesses the security environment and the Taliban's compliance with the agreement", he added.

    The Afghan government meanwhile said it would continue with the release of Taliban prisoners that had been agreed in the US deal with the insurgents and is seen as key to kickstarting long-delayed peace talks.

    On Tuesday, the Afghan military freed about 1,000 Taliban inmates, mostly from Bagram jail near Kabul, as part of a pledge to release up to 2,000 insurgents in response to the Taliban-led ceasefire.

    A senior Taliban member told AFP that in return, the insurgents planned to free up to 100 Afghan security force members as early as Thursday.

    Top Afghan officials have demanded the Taliban extend the ceasefire and offered to reciprocate.

    "If the Taliban are ready to extend the ceasefire, we are ready to continue the ceasefire too," National Security Council spokesman Javid Faisal said Tuesday.

    The future of talks with the insurgents "depends on the Taliban's next move", he added.

    The prisoner swap is part of a US-Taliban deal, which excluded the Afghan government, that stipulates Kabul would release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners and the militants would free about 1,000 national security personnel.

    Kabul had already freed about 1,000 Taliban inmates before the ceasefire, while the insurgents had released about 300 government captives.

    More at: https://news.yahoo.com/us-troop-pull...132219311.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

  27. #83
    How does India feel about our “withdrawal “ ?

  28. #84
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    Nope, we are leaving, try reading the posts.
    Do you mean this:

    8,600 troops to remain is NOT leaving...lol
    Bottom line is we lost the war (we could not win) and letting the Taliban dictate what happens with our troops. We don't have soldiers there we have prisoners.
    Last edited by dean.engelhardt; 05-28-2020 at 05:58 AM.

  29. #85
    Quote Originally Posted by dean.engelhardt View Post
    Do you mean this:



    Bottom line is we lost the war (we could not win) and letting the Taliban dictate what happens with our troops. We don't have soldiers there we have prisoners.
    Poppy field guards and mining corporation guards.
    "Let it not be said that we did nothing."-Ron Paul

    "We have set them on the hobby-horse of an idea about the absorption of individuality by the symbolic unit of COLLECTIVISM. They have never yet and they never will have the sense to reflect that this hobby-horse is a manifest violation of the most important law of nature, which has established from the very creation of the world one unit unlike another and precisely for the purpose of instituting individuality."- A Quote From Some Old Book

  30. #86
    Quote Originally Posted by devil21 View Post
    Poppy field guards and mining corporation guards.
    Don't forget the oil field guards.
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    We believe our lying eyes...

  31. #87
    Quote Originally Posted by dean.engelhardt View Post
    Do you mean this:



    Bottom line is we lost the war (we could not win) and letting the Taliban dictate what happens with our troops. We don't have soldiers there we have prisoners.
    Try reading.

    8,600 are not going to remain.

    We are already below that number and they will ALL leave.
    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. #88
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    The US military withdrawal from Afghanistan is considerably ahead of schedule, an official told AFP on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump reiterated calls for the Pentagon to bring troops home.

    Under a deal the US signed with the Taliban in February, the Pentagon was to bring troop levels down from about 12,000 to 8,600 by mid-July, before withdrawing all forces by May 2021.

    But a senior US defence official said the troop number was already at approximately 8,500, as commanders accelerate the withdrawal over fears of the coronavirus.

    "The drawdown was accelerated due to COVID-19 precautions," the official told AFP, noting that the departure of anyone with health concerns or over a certain age was being prioritised.

    Trump told reporters Tuesday the US force level was "down to 7,000-some-odd soldiers right now".

    Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Campbell said in a statement the US was adhering to its agreement with the Taliban.

    Further drawdowns would come "after the US government assesses the security environment and the Taliban's compliance with the agreement", he added.

    The Afghan government meanwhile said it would continue with the release of Taliban prisoners that had been agreed in the US deal with the insurgents and is seen as key to kickstarting long-delayed peace talks.

    On Tuesday, the Afghan military freed about 1,000 Taliban inmates, mostly from Bagram jail near Kabul, as part of a pledge to release up to 2,000 insurgents in response to the Taliban-led ceasefire.

    A senior Taliban member told AFP that in return, the insurgents planned to free up to 100 Afghan security force members as early as Thursday.

    Top Afghan officials have demanded the Taliban extend the ceasefire and offered to reciprocate.

    "If the Taliban are ready to extend the ceasefire, we are ready to continue the ceasefire too," National Security Council spokesman Javid Faisal said Tuesday.

    The future of talks with the insurgents "depends on the Taliban's next move", he added.

    The prisoner swap is part of a US-Taliban deal, which excluded the Afghan government, that stipulates Kabul would release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners and the militants would free about 1,000 national security personnel.

    Kabul had already freed about 1,000 Taliban inmates before the ceasefire, while the insurgents had released about 300 government captives.

    More at: https://news.yahoo.com/us-troop-pull...132219311.html
    Bump for those who can't read.
    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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  34. #89
    Bump for those who wake up in a new world every morning--or just want us to wake up in a new world every morning.

    Dateline January 26, 2019:
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    Taliban officials said U.S. negotiators on Saturday agreed a draft peace deal setting out the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan within 18 months, potentially ending the United States' longest war.The details of the draft were given to Reuters by Taliban sources at the end of six days of talks with U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in Qatar aimed at ending the war, more than 17 years since American-led forces invaded Afghanistan.
    It stipulates that troops would leave within 18 months of the agreement being signed.
    While no joint statement was issued, Khalilzad tweeted later that the talks had made "significant progress" and would resume shortly, adding that he planned to travel to Afghanistan to meet government officials.
    "Meetings here (in Qatar) were more productive than they have been in the past. We have made significant progress on vital issues," he wrote, adding that numerous issues still needed work.
    "Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed and everything must include an intra-Afghan dialogue and comprehensive ceasefire," he said in the tweets.
    A U.S. State Department spokesperson declined further comment.
    A Taliban statement issued later also noted progress on troop withdrawal and other issues but said more negotiations and internal consultations were required.
    "The policy of the Islamic Emirate during talks was very clear -- until the issue of withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan is agreed upon, progress in other issues is impossible," said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, using another name the group calls itself.


    More at: https://news.yahoo.com/round-u-talib...123829256.html
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    We believe our lying eyes...

  35. #90
    Quote Originally Posted by acptulsa View Post
    Bump for those who wake up in a new world every morning--or just want us to wake up in a new world every morning.

    Dateline January 26, 2019:
    The deal wasn't finalized at the time.
    It was a DRAFT agreement.

    It has since been finalized and the withdrawal is AHEAD OF SCHEDULE.

    But I guess Orange Man is now bad for getting us out of Afghanistan?


    Read it and weep:

    The US military withdrawal from Afghanistan is considerably ahead of schedule, an official told AFP on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump reiterated calls for the Pentagon to bring troops home.

    Under a deal the US signed with the Taliban in February, the Pentagon was to bring troop levels down from about 12,000 to 8,600 by mid-July, before withdrawing all forces by May 2021.

    But a senior US defence official said the troop number was already at approximately 8,500, as commanders accelerate the withdrawal over fears of the coronavirus.

    "The drawdown was accelerated due to COVID-19 precautions," the official told AFP, noting that the departure of anyone with health concerns or over a certain age was being prioritised.

    Trump told reporters Tuesday the US force level was "down to 7,000-some-odd soldiers right now".

    Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Campbell said in a statement the US was adhering to its agreement with the Taliban.

    Further drawdowns would come "after the US government assesses the security environment and the Taliban's compliance with the agreement", he added.

    The Afghan government meanwhile said it would continue with the release of Taliban prisoners that had been agreed in the US deal with the insurgents and is seen as key to kickstarting long-delayed peace talks.

    On Tuesday, the Afghan military freed about 1,000 Taliban inmates, mostly from Bagram jail near Kabul, as part of a pledge to release up to 2,000 insurgents in response to the Taliban-led ceasefire.

    A senior Taliban member told AFP that in return, the insurgents planned to free up to 100 Afghan security force members as early as Thursday.

    Top Afghan officials have demanded the Taliban extend the ceasefire and offered to reciprocate.

    "If the Taliban are ready to extend the ceasefire, we are ready to continue the ceasefire too," National Security Council spokesman Javid Faisal said Tuesday.

    The future of talks with the insurgents "depends on the Taliban's next move", he added.

    The prisoner swap is part of a US-Taliban deal, which excluded the Afghan government, that stipulates Kabul would release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners and the militants would free about 1,000 national security personnel.

    Kabul had already freed about 1,000 Taliban inmates before the ceasefire, while the insurgents had released about 300 government captives.

    More at: https://news.yahoo.com/us-troop-pull...132219311.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

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