Posts by fulltimestudent

112

Afghanistan-Kabul falls to Taliban - U.S. Embassy staff evacuated by helicopter

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

in a scene reminiscent of the fall of saigon, the usa embassy staff have been evacuated by helicopter.. for a third time in asia ( a fourth, if you count usa supported chiang kai shek's defeat in mainland china) usa supported forces have been defeated.

more than 1 trillion dollars wasted and a huge deathtoll (both sides) afghanistan is back to where it started,.

will the taliban behave differently this time ?

fulltimestudent

Quote: "The Taliban now hold the keys to an untouched trillion-dollar trove of minerals including some that could power the world's transition to renewable energies, but Afghanistan has long struggled to tap its vast deposits. ... And Afghanistan sits on a huge reserve of lithium that has not been tapped to this day," said Guillaume Pitron, author of the book "The Rare Metals War. Afghanistan is also home to rare earths that are used in the clean energy sector: Neodymium, praseodymium and dysprosium. The country's untapped mineral riches have been estimated at $1 trillion by the USGS."

Could that be the reason why China, which many people call 'the factory of the world,' would be interested in Afghanistan?

Of course, that may be the main reason. The same article quotes "Ryan Hass, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution think tank. Hass, writes:

"While Chinese leaders are "not enthusiastic" about the Taliban takeover, "they will not allow principle to stand in the way of pragmatism, Beijing's lack of development at its major investment in the Mes Aynak copper mine demonstrates its willingness to exercise patience in pursuit of return on investment."

But, there are other possible reasons. All nations, want good relationships with nations with which they share borders. As China's Asian rail and highway network continues to expand across Asia, Afghanistan could be an important link in extending that network to Africa, where China is already building rail links. (The border region China shares with Pakistan is too mountainous for a rail link, although China-Pakistan co-operation has built an excellent highway through the region

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTyV2BR8ruo

And (surprise, surprise) the new government in Afghanistan may like to have the same development in Afghanistan,

The link to The Economic Times of India article.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/taliban-inherit-untapped-1-trillion-trove-of-minerals/articleshow/85551041.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

13

YHWH's Magnificent Killing Machine

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

the remains of what may be one of the largest pterosaur's yet found have been discovered in outback queensland.

the palaeontologists that have been examining the discovery describe it as having been a fearsome beast, with a spear -like mouth and a 7 metre wingspan.. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-10/dragon-like-pterosaur-outback-queensland-identified-named/100361038.

for more on australian dinosaurs see this video (also included in the above news story).. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6dquboi_qi&t=36s.

fulltimestudent

And, unexpectedly, perhaps animals that do not appear to be (to humans) monsters, also hunt and kill other animals.

Your cuddly pet cat, let loose at night to rove and kill (even though, it's well fed by you) birds and other little animals, is one example.

And, here's another one - a total surprise:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbgb7e8PoT4

Do you think that bloody minded old YHWH, programmed these little birds to allow the hungry tortise to find nutrition.

112

Afghanistan-Kabul falls to Taliban - U.S. Embassy staff evacuated by helicopter

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

in a scene reminiscent of the fall of saigon, the usa embassy staff have been evacuated by helicopter.. for a third time in asia ( a fourth, if you count usa supported chiang kai shek's defeat in mainland china) usa supported forces have been defeated.

more than 1 trillion dollars wasted and a huge deathtoll (both sides) afghanistan is back to where it started,.

will the taliban behave differently this time ?

fulltimestudent

1. Edit note: Too much of a hurry this afternoon! And can no longer edit, so please note that the line, "the British to gain their consent for a Chinese army to fight in negotiations."

Should read. "the British to gain their consent for a Chinese army to fight in Burma."

The same problems emerged when the topic of the Burma Road was discussed. The Brits did not like the idea of a road between China and Burma.

----------------------

Re the Japanese experience with the ROC army, a great film was made in the PRC and released last year, called "The Eight Hundred, " it honoured (I think that's the best word) the fight by some Republic of China soldiers holed up in a Shanghai building surrounded by Japanese troops,

Here's part of that film. (The whole film is likely available on Youtube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yV2AvzHYfg8

China lost some 14,000,000 (some argue that it was more) people fighting the Japanese, Only the Russians lost more, one estimate is 27,000,000,

112

Afghanistan-Kabul falls to Taliban - U.S. Embassy staff evacuated by helicopter

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

in a scene reminiscent of the fall of saigon, the usa embassy staff have been evacuated by helicopter.. for a third time in asia ( a fourth, if you count usa supported chiang kai shek's defeat in mainland china) usa supported forces have been defeated.

more than 1 trillion dollars wasted and a huge deathtoll (both sides) afghanistan is back to where it started,.

will the taliban behave differently this time ?

fulltimestudent

Rivergang,

Thnx mate for that interesting detail concerning the Chindit exploits in Burma.

Also, fascinating to me was the reference to a captured Japanese document that referred to the Republic of China as being the most effective fighters they had to deal with. You may be interested in the negotiations that Lt.General Stillwell, whom Roosevelt had appointed to be in charge of the Allied war in East Asia, had with the British to gain their consent for a Chinese army to fight in negotiations. You can find that in Barbara Tuchman's book, Stillwell and the American Experience in China. 1911-1945 .

112

Afghanistan-Kabul falls to Taliban - U.S. Embassy staff evacuated by helicopter

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

in a scene reminiscent of the fall of saigon, the usa embassy staff have been evacuated by helicopter.. for a third time in asia ( a fourth, if you count usa supported chiang kai shek's defeat in mainland china) usa supported forces have been defeated.

more than 1 trillion dollars wasted and a huge deathtoll (both sides) afghanistan is back to where it started,.

will the taliban behave differently this time ?

fulltimestudent

A poster claimed - "Diverging a little now, but the matter of WWII has been raised by other, so a few comments about that are appropriate. The fact is, during the early stages of the war against Japan, none of the Western allies fought particularly well. (Jungle warfare was something that had previously been hardly thought of, and only the Japanese were in any way prepared for it). The debacle at the British "fortress" of Singapore is well known, and the ease with which the Japanese over ran all European territories in South East Asia quickly led to them gaining the reputation of being supermen."

Generally true, but in connection with the highlighted claim, there was one notable exception, and that was the British colony of Burma. Wingate's* campaign held the Japanese Army back, and likely saved India. The other area where the Japanese were held was China. The ROK army, despite many weaknesses and failures, did slow the Japanese advance.

The Western Alliance, can be said to have failed to learn the lessons of history, In the 1904-5 Russo-Japanese war, the Japanese Navy destroyed two Russian fleets, the second one by simply lying in wait and ambushing the Russian fleet, a tactic they also used in the Pearl Harbour attack. But, interestingly, its's arguable that the Japanese had seen the French use the "surprise attack' that began (in a way) the Sino-French 'war' in the 1880's.

The newly purchased southern fleet of Imperial China's navy was at anchor off Mawei (near Fuzhou). A French fleet sailed into the same harbour and anchored (as they had the right to do, according to the terms of various treaty's the Chinese had been forced to sign). At an agreed signal, the French fleet opened fire on the Chinese fleet, sinking 9 ships within an hour. No doubt, the Japanese government learned the lesson of that attack. i.e. that It's OK to make surprise attacks without first declaring war.

*Major General Orde Charles Wingate, DSO & Two Bars (26 February 1903 – 24 March 1944) was a senior British Army officer known for his creation of the Chindit deep-penetration missions in Japanese-held territory during the Burma Campaign of the Second World War.

Wingate was an exponent of unconventional military thinking and the value of surprise tactics. Assigned to Mandatory Palestine, he became a supporter of Zionism, and set up a joint British-Jewish counter-insurgency unit. Under the patronage of the area commander Archibald Wavell, Wingate was given increasing latitude to put his ideas into practice during the Second World War. He created units in Abyssinia and Burma. - Wikipedia

112

Afghanistan-Kabul falls to Taliban - U.S. Embassy staff evacuated by helicopter

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

in a scene reminiscent of the fall of saigon, the usa embassy staff have been evacuated by helicopter.. for a third time in asia ( a fourth, if you count usa supported chiang kai shek's defeat in mainland china) usa supported forces have been defeated.

more than 1 trillion dollars wasted and a huge deathtoll (both sides) afghanistan is back to where it started,.

will the taliban behave differently this time ?

fulltimestudent

Conflicting stories out of Afghanistan. I've seen images suggesting that Taliban soldiers are preventing Afghanis reaching the airport.

And then, this story in India's Economic Times"

Quote: "But the Taliban fighters outside the Indian embassy weren't there to extract revenge, but rather to escort them to Kabul airport, where a military aircraft was on standby to evacuate them after New Delhi decided to shut its mission.

As the first of nearly two dozen vehicles drove out of the embassy late on Monday, some of the fighters waved and smiled at the passengers -- an AFP correspondent among them.
One guided them towards the street leading out of the city's green zone ..

Afghanistan-Kabul falls to Taliban - U.S. Embassy staff evacuated by helicopter

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

in a scene reminiscent of the fall of saigon, the usa embassy staff have been evacuated by helicopter.. for a third time in asia ( a fourth, if you count usa supported chiang kai shek's defeat in mainland china) usa supported forces have been defeated.

more than 1 trillion dollars wasted and a huge deathtoll (both sides) afghanistan is back to where it started,.

will the taliban behave differently this time ?

fulltimestudent

The Irony in the Afghan Developments.

The similarity of the USA's flight from Saigon has already been noted. But the New York Times saw another ironical situation, recalling this image of the last Russian forces leaving Afghanistan. The story has a video of Afghan army units fleeing across the bridge in retreat from Taliban forces.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/16/world/middleeast/afghanistan-taliban-soviet-friendship-bridge.html?smid=fb-share&fbclid=IwAR0pkLua4uzty6653vFwwN87dZzu5akZiG8Lt_40TJMT55OWq-l0ruPdo_Y

112

Afghanistan-Kabul falls to Taliban - U.S. Embassy staff evacuated by helicopter

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

in a scene reminiscent of the fall of saigon, the usa embassy staff have been evacuated by helicopter.. for a third time in asia ( a fourth, if you count usa supported chiang kai shek's defeat in mainland china) usa supported forces have been defeated.

more than 1 trillion dollars wasted and a huge deathtoll (both sides) afghanistan is back to where it started,.

will the taliban behave differently this time ?

fulltimestudent

All kinds of info is now appearing in my FB feed and some of it's useful (acurate?) some not!

But. among it all this list of American equipment taken over by the Taliban is amazing, This list, has been ade by a contributor to Oryx, this Oryx is not the Cambridge University's conservation journal named Oryx, but has a twitter page (https://twitter.com/oryxspioenkop/status/1427345382011547651?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet) .

We don't know yet, what policies the new Taliban government will have, but just imagine - more than 300,000 (the number of soldiers in the former Afghani National Army) hand-guns, rifles and sub-machine gun type weapons floating around the world, available to radical groups (and, possibly, criminal groups, what could be the copnsequences?

So here's a link to the list compiled on Oryx: https://www.oryxspioenkop.com/2021/06/disaster-at-hand-documenting-afghan.html

112

Afghanistan-Kabul falls to Taliban - U.S. Embassy staff evacuated by helicopter

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

in a scene reminiscent of the fall of saigon, the usa embassy staff have been evacuated by helicopter.. for a third time in asia ( a fourth, if you count usa supported chiang kai shek's defeat in mainland china) usa supported forces have been defeated.

more than 1 trillion dollars wasted and a huge deathtoll (both sides) afghanistan is back to where it started,.

will the taliban behave differently this time ?

fulltimestudent

So what's next for these poor damned people?

Australia's ABC writer, Stan Grant attempts to detail the history of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-16/taliban-afghanistan-kabul-seize-power-humanitarian-disaster/100380582

112

Afghanistan-Kabul falls to Taliban - U.S. Embassy staff evacuated by helicopter

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

in a scene reminiscent of the fall of saigon, the usa embassy staff have been evacuated by helicopter.. for a third time in asia ( a fourth, if you count usa supported chiang kai shek's defeat in mainland china) usa supported forces have been defeated.

more than 1 trillion dollars wasted and a huge deathtoll (both sides) afghanistan is back to where it started,.

will the taliban behave differently this time ?

fulltimestudent

Rocketman, There are more details in this Straits Times (A Singapore newspaper-also government owned).

Quoted (in Part):

"The swift offensive has resulted in mass surrenders, captured helicopters and millions of dollars of US-supplied equipment paraded by the Taleban on grainy cellphone videos. In some cities, heavy fighting had been under way for weeks on their outskirts, but the Taleban ultimately overtook their defensive lines and then walked in with little or no resistance."

"How the Afghan military came to disintegrate first became apparent not last week but months ago, in an accumulation of losses that started even before President Joe Biden's announcement that the US would withdraw by Sept 11.

It began with individual outposts in rural areas where starving and ammunition-depleted soldiers and police units were surrounded by Taleban fighters and promised safe passage if they surrendered and left behind their equipment, slowly giving the insurgents more and more control of roads, then entire districts.As positions collapsed, the complaint was almost always the same: There was no air support or they had run out of supplies and food. "

"These shortfalls can be traced to numerous issues that sprung from the West's insistence on building a fully modern military with all the logistical and supply complexities one requires, and which has proved unsustainable without the US and its Nato allies."

More at: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/afghan-military-was-built-over-20-years-how-did-it-collapse-so-quickly

And, there's more similar info. One things clear - the 'West' just doesn't get it. By which I mean that 'West,' seems to consistently fail to understand how ordinary Asians may 'see' the world.

If you wanted to follow that theme through, you may find Pankaj Mishra's book, From the Ruins of Empire: The Revolt Against the West and the Re-making of Asia, helpful.

The Nations that form NATO and the USA have all attempted to create empires out of Asian nations and somehow all seem to think they are still in charge.