The Era of Biden

[Hanarchy Montanarchy]

you are the one backpedalling and moving goal posts, Captain Projection

My initial position was that it wasn't a mistake to invade Afghanistan

it was debatable at the time whether AQ was even still in country

Operation Mountain Thrust pretty much determined that they had fled, into Pakistan

after that, the mission creeped into nation building under NATO command

Having another airbase close to Pakistan is another excellent reason we should not have withdrawn from Afghanistan.

Damn.... my position just gets stronger and stronger.

[Martin Hash]

Whoa, whoa, whoa ... guys ... just an Afghanistan discussion.
We can't ban all opposing voices on account of them being authoritarian and not wind up with a critical dose of hypocrisy dripping from ourselves, eh?

it's a private forum, Marty can ban who he pleases, he can ban me if likes

I just advocate for consistency

Monte, Grumpy & Hanarchy are the same, ban them all if you are banning Monte

fair is fair

Hanny’s aware that he’s an authoritarian but I don’t think Monty’s admitted it to himself. Farmer’s certainly no authoritarian.

[Smitty-48]

My initial position was that it wasn't a mistake to invade Afghanistan

it was debatable at the time whether AQ was even still in country

Operation Mountain Thrust pretty much determined that they had fled, into Pakistan

after that, the mission creeped into nation building under NATO command

Having another airbase close to Pakistan is another excellent reason we should not have withdrawn from Afghanistan.

Damn.... my position just gets stronger and stronger.

the airbase is provided by the British at Diego Garcia Island

the arm of decision is strategic airpower, B-1, B-2, B-52

[Smitty-48]

Whoa, whoa, whoa ... guys ... just an Afghanistan discussion.
We can't ban all opposing voices on account of them being authoritarian and not wind up with a critical dose of hypocrisy dripping from ourselves, eh?

it's a private forum, Marty can ban who he pleases, he can ban me if likes

I just advocate for consistency

Monte, Grumpy & Hanarchy are the same, ban them all if you are banning Monte

fair is fair

Hanny’s aware that he’s an authoritarian but I don’t think Monty’s admitted it to himself. Farmer’s certainly no authoritarian.

distinction without a difference, they are all Democrat sympathizers

don't invoke fighting to me, if you are going to waffle about shit

[StCapps]

My initial position was that it wasn't a mistake to invade Afghanistan

it was debatable at the time whether AQ was even still in country

Operation Mountain Thrust pretty much determined that they had fled, into Pakistan

after that, the mission creeped into nation building under NATO command

Having another airbase close to Pakistan is another excellent reason we should not have withdrawn from Afghanistan.

Damn.... my position just gets stronger and stronger.

they can strike just fine from the sea

if they need air bases, they already have plenty nearby to do just that

Afghanistan is redundant af, totally superfluous

your position gets weaker and weaker

[DBTrek]

it's a private forum, Marty can ban who he pleases, he can ban me if likes

I just advocate for consistency

Monte, Grumpy & Hanarchy are the same, ban them all if you are banning Monte

fair is fair

Of course he can.
As Chris Rock says "You can drive with your feet, if you want to".
But can and should are different beasts.

Anyway, just my $0.02. Not like it's a democracy or anything.

As far as Afghanistan goes - I like the idea of leaving an area once the mission is complete. If you go to topple Saddam and Saddam has been hung - time to go. If you went to level terrorist camps and kill Osama Bin Laden, and the camps are gone and OBL is dead, time to go. Why is that controversial?

These cats acting like we don't have troops in Japan, Korea, and Singapore.
We're in the region, guys.
Do we have to be in every damn country in the region?
Nah.

The Afghans know we can plop out butts down on their godforsaken rocky opium farms at any time, and just take the shit over.
We can do it with 10k troops there. We can do it with zero troops there.
So what's the point of paying for a permanent tripwire that can only be triggered at your enemies leisure?
Why give your opponents an easy way to decide where and when you'll be drawn into the next conflict.

Let's just chill back here at home - and go forth to kick ass at our own discretion and leisure.

[Smitty-48]

Of course he can.

he's not going to get me to fight for anything, when he is invoking a centre

if he is invoking a centre, abiding that shit, then there is nothing to fight for there

if you want fighters to follow you, you have to pick a side and take a hard line

[Hanarchy Montanarchy]

it's a private forum, Marty can ban who he pleases, he can ban me if likes

I just advocate for consistency

Monte, Grumpy & Hanarchy are the same, ban them all if you are banning Monte

fair is fair

Hanny’s aware that he’s an authoritarian but I don’t think Monty’s admitted it to himself. Farmer’s certainly no authoritarian.

distinction without a difference, they are all Democrat sympathizers

don't invoke fighting to me, if you are going to waffle about shit

Hold on one damn minute, since when is arguing to stay in Afghanistan a Democratic position?

I'm the sum'bitch arguing that the current Democrat fucked it all up, and would also argue that the LAST Democrat started fucking it all up by announcing to the Taliban that our main objective was to leave Afghanistan.

Remember when the Iraq army got rolled, and then we went in with a relatively small force multiplier and booted ISIS the fuck out? ISIS did not have any hope that they could outlast us there. When Obama gave his 'surge' speech at West Point he essentially signaled to the Taliban (and the AQ in either Pakistan or Afghanistan) that they just needed to wait us out.

Call me an authoritarian, a neocon, a neolib, or a fascist - but on this topic I will not be accused of being a Democrat sympathizer.

[Martin Hash]

Of course he can.

he's not going to get me to fight for anything, when he is invoking a centre

if he is invoking a centre, abiding that shit, then there is nothing to fight for there

I clearly heard Farmer say he’s on our side. Monty is clearly on the other side. Hanny’s a Fascist which will end up being our side, as you’ve said.

[Smitty-48]

Call me an authoritarian, a neocon, a neolib, or a fascist - but on this topic I will not be accused of being a Democrat sympathizer.

I'm just hanging out, shooting the breeze

but you, Grumpy & Monte should be banned together, or not banned at all

I'm nothing if not fair