I understand what you're saying but I guess I just don't see it having worked that way. I just figure if we'd waited longer people would have delayed pulling everyone out because "there's still time" and folks would have built schedules assuming they had more time. The end result would still be a madhouse but just X days/weeks/months later. We all hope that any evacuation will be women and children first, single file with a smile but my dim view of human nature says plenty of people would still wait until it's too late (like hurricanes and fires because bad things won't happen) and then there'd be a panic once the true danger sunk in.
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Leaving Vietnam vs AFG
- Thread starter jmcquate
- Start date
We are talking about phrogs and 60As here so not exactly cutting edge stuff. Very different than the Iranians getting then brand new cutting edge F-14s.
Maybe true, but a horrible optic for those that are paying attention and care. Here's a thought, how about some high-res Predator footage of some JDAM strikes on the aircraft and hangars before we started the withdrawal?
I suspect there's some backroom deal to get more people out after today- although I'd have loved to have seen the same thing.
Hahaha…. You’re assuming a lot of the Clueless in Chief….
Name one thing done with competence? Or a plan?
Covid
Vaccination
Economy
Inflation
Energy…..
I'm sure it was discussed but I wonder what led to the no? Maybe wasn't worth cost of the JDAM? or maybe there were diplomatic issues about bombing stuff that was the ANAs or in violation of treaty with the Taliban? I obviously have no idea as to what drove the decision.
A few helicopters isn’t a big deal. I’m not worried about the secrets of the mighty Blackhawk falling into the hands of some illiterate dipshits
This phone call happened on July 23rd. Think about what the public was told after this.
“In much of the call, Biden focused on what he called the Afghan government’s “perception” problem. “I need not tell you the perception around the world and in parts of Afghanistan, I believe, is that things are not going well in terms of the fight against the Taliban,” Biden said. “And there is a need, whether it is true or not, there is a need to project a different picture.””
www.reuters.com
“In much of the call, Biden focused on what he called the Afghan government’s “perception” problem. “I need not tell you the perception around the world and in parts of Afghanistan, I believe, is that things are not going well in terms of the fight against the Taliban,” Biden said. “And there is a need, whether it is true or not, there is a need to project a different picture.””
Exclusive: Before Afghan collapse, Biden pressed Ghani to ‘change perception’
In the last call between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Afghanistan counterpart before the Taliban seized control of the country, the leaders discussed military aid, political strategy and messaging tactics, but neither Biden nor Ashraf Ghani appeared aware of or prepared for the immediate...
In my opinion, it’s all the small arms that’s the biggest loss!
As a gun guy, I have a technical curiosity about whether the M16/M4 system can be maintained by a non-industrial force - that lacks a structure of training and maintenance rigor - or will these weapons go to the scrap heap and the users migrate back to the AK.
POTUS had an alternative plan. In the last eight weeks he said repeatedly, in public, that he would leave no one behind in Afghanistan. Seven days ago he said, before blaming the HKIA disaster on Trump and the Afghan military "I am president of the United States of America, and the buck stops with me,..." He put Jake Sullivan and Susan Rice in his cabinet. I'm sure he considered their wise council. The same two people who advised Hillary Clinton on Benghazi.
I don't think the maintenance needs are nearly as rigorous as the early versions. It's pretty well known to keep them clean and oiled- an adequate cleaning kit comes with the gun and I'm sure we left behind enough CLP to last until, well... until the next great world power shift.
I doubt there's a shortage of either Stoner's rifle or Mikhail's in that place, probably plenty of both to go around.
Yeah they should have removed (or just erased) the compass correction card instead!
The legend of the legendarily unreliable AR platform is in large part due to the absolutely criminal rollout during Vietnam where the beancounters refused to listen to the engineers, i.e. replacing the powder in the issue cartridge with one that fouled more, refusing to even issue cleaning gear at the individual level, refusing to chrome the bore, and so on. I mean, I get it that a DI rifle shits where it eats to some degree, but if you just clean out the bolt carrier every so often, it'll probably run. They're backwoods fundamentalist hicks, but I think we can agree based on how shit went down that we probably killed all the dumb ones.
And I'm sure the AK has an advantage in some degree, but I also think the whole genre of "look how much abuse this AK can take" YouTube videos are largely bourgeois posers abusing a perfectly good rifle. I certainly would never put any of my Kalashnikovs through that shit.