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Post by maurinsky on Aug 25, 2021 7:11:39 GMT -5
I wish we had never started this war. I keep reading articles criticizing the evacuation, but what else should we have done?
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Post by Eli on Aug 25, 2021 11:02:54 GMT -5
I'm really conflicted about all of this. I definitely think it was way past time to leave, but I also can't understand why provisions weren't put in place to get people out of there before all hell broke loose. Did they not realize how many American citizens and Afghani nationals who assisted the U.S. gov't were still in the country and would need to get out? Did US Gov provide means of leaving before this and people are glossing over that part?
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Post by Inky on Aug 25, 2021 14:49:01 GMT -5
I'm really conflicted about all of this. I definitely think it was way past time to leave, but I also can't understand why provisions weren't put in place to get people out of there before all hell broke loose. Did they not realize how many American citizens and Afghani nationals who assisted the U.S. gov't were still in the country and would need to get out? Did US Gov provide means of leaving before this and people are glossing over that part? We're saying the same thing here in Canada.
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Post by justthinking on Aug 25, 2021 14:56:58 GMT -5
People had 20 months notice this was going to happen. US citizens living there really have little excuse for not having left during that time. Afghan citizens who worked for the US had to go through a special visa process. With covid making a mess of the medical clearance process, it was taking 400+ days for visas to be processed. Moving the date from May (the original agreement) to August allowed more visas to be processed but I feel like the system was unnecessarily complex.
Also, with there already being one extension granted, there is no guarantee the Taliban were going to also extend their part of the agreement, which was to not fire on American troops. We were in a fish-or-cut-bait moment. Either enough troops needed to return to Afghanistan to make our forces there strong enough to stay, or the small crew left needed to be brought home too. Leaving that small a force past the end of the agreement would have made them sitting ducks.
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Post by Peanut on Aug 25, 2021 15:51:59 GMT -5
People had 20 months notice this was going to happen. US citizens living there really have little excuse for not having left during that time. On May 15, following countless prompts, nudges, and urgings, the US Embassy published this Security Alert. af.usembassy.gov/security-alert-may-15-2021/
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Post by alicechalmers on Aug 25, 2021 19:56:29 GMT -5
^ This. I do not understand why any American citizens are left in Afghanistan, if not by choice. What.are.they.doing.there?
While I think there are things that could have been done better, this is a fuckup two decades in the making. It's not like Biden just walked in, created this massive disaster from scratch.
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Post by justthinking on Aug 25, 2021 21:14:47 GMT -5
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Post by Eli on Aug 26, 2021 9:41:29 GMT -5
We had a local family that was stranded as well. They went in the beginning of July to visit family, so well after the time people were being told to leave. Senator Gillibrand intervened and got them out, but the petty side of me wanted to ask of they were planning on North Korea for next summer.
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Post by coachgrrl on Aug 26, 2021 11:16:26 GMT -5
It was going to be a clusterfuck no matter when they did it. I’m just happy Biden pulled the plug
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Post by villanelle on Aug 26, 2021 18:51:59 GMT -5
While I imagine it is still not a decision I'd have made with young children in tow, other stories report that they went to go visit family, figuring it may well be the last time they would ever be able to see them. So it wasn't just a random "vacation". My emotions in the last week have run the gamut. I'm sad, I'm angry, I'm frustrated (sometimes directed at the Afghanis). Two miles from my house, there are literally thousands of Afghanis arriving with nothing but the clothes on their back. There is so, so much need, and they are the fortunate ones. I think it was long past time for us to leave, but I also believe there had to be a better way that this. For starters, months ago there should have been an clear, firm announcement from dept of state that any American not currently in Afghanistan would likely be on their own to get out. If there was a way, they should have shut down travel to Afghanistan for US passport holders. And months ago they should have removed all but the most essential personnel. And any SIV applicants or SIV-elligible applicants should have been told to apply immediately, with those applications being given high priority. And sure, some of this might not have been fully realistic, but certainly somethings could and should have been done. I know there was some supposed hope that we'd keep the embassy open, but even a few weeks ago that seemed like a pipe dream.
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Post by puddleglum on Sept 10, 2021 6:43:29 GMT -5
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Post by marianparoo on Sept 10, 2021 12:16:45 GMT -5
Long time no hear.. I'm hoping to hear that they are fighting back in Texas and Florida.
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