reedak
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 1, 2014
- Messages
- 728
1. Last night in Kabul, the United States ended 20 years of war in Afghanistan. The longest war in American history. We completed one of the biggest airlifts in history with more than 120,000 people evacuated to safety. That number is more than double what most experts thought were possible. No nation, no nation has ever done anything like it in all of history. Only the United States had the capacity and the will and ability to do it, and we did it today.
The extraordinary success of this mission was due to the incredible skill, bravery and selfless courage of the United States military and our diplomats and intelligence professionals....
The fundamental obligation of a president, in my opinion, is to defend and protect America. Not against threats of 2001, but against the threats of 2021 and tomorrow. That is the guiding principle behind my decisions about Afghanistan....
And here is the critical thing to understand: The world is changing. We’re engaged in a serious competition with China. We’re dealing with the challenges on multiple fronts with Russia. We’re confronted with cyberattacks and nuclear proliferation. We have to shore up American competitiveness to meet these new challenges and the competition for the 21st century. And we can do both: fight terrorism, and take on new threats that are here now and will continue to be here in the future. And there’s nothing China or Russia would rather have, would want more in this competition, than the United States to be bogged down another decade in Afghanistan....
We’ve been a nation too long at war. If you’re 20 years old today, you’ve never known an America at peace...
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/31/us/politics/transcript-biden-speech-afghanistan.html
2. In ancient Rome, an important victory on the battlefield was usually celebrated in a spectacular celebration parade (called the Roman triumph). The triumphal procession entered the city of Rome through the porta triumphalis or the triumphal gate (like the Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile of France). In the procession were enslaved prisoners of war, marching in chains. Particularly notable enemies, such as the enemy leader, would be made more conspicuous during the procession, usually culminating in the traditional Roman method of death by strangulation at the end of the triumph.
Despite Biden's claim of “extraordinary success" of withdrawal from Afghanistan, there is no "American triumph" through the streets of Washington, D.C. Some people, however, may point out that a triumphal procession (to "Make America Great Again (MAGA)") is too old-fashioned.
The modern and American way of celebrating a victory is to ride off into the sunset like a cowboy hero after vanquishing the evildoers, as in the closing scenes of many western films that were so popular from the 1930s. However, Cowboy Sam did not ride off into the sunset of Afghanistan this time. Instead, the world was shown a poignant picture of the very last American soldier to leave the Afghan soil (seen through night vision) as he got on the very last military transport plane that flew out on the final flight at 3:29pm Washington time on Tuesday (31 August 2021), or one minute before midnight in Kabul.
Shortly after the departure of the last US troops, the Taliban leaders and their followers entered the airport, firing weapons and fireworks into the skies above Kabul and calling it independence day in celebration of their victory over the US occupation forces and allied troops.
Grimmer still were the pictures showing the transfer of remains ceremony conducted at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on August 29 when the plane carrying the remains of 13 fallen service members arrived home for their funerals.
3. Like the Vietnam War, there is absolutely no way for America to get out of the Afghan quagmire with honour and dignity. It is beyond one's comprehension why the White House incumbent walks all the way into his predecessor’s trap so obediently. He and other Democrats should have deplored Trump's disgraceful peace deal with the Taliban as far back as March 2020. Why should the White House incumbent accept the fate of being "locked" into a timeline by his predecessor for troop withdrawal?
As I have pointed out in an earlier post, the White House incumbent could easily get out of the "terrible situation" by renegotiating with the Taliban to reschedule the troop withdrawal for May 1st 2025. By then, the next president will most likely be a Republican follower or family member of the "Me First" ex-president or even Trump himself!
Major General Christopher Donahue, 52, was the last soldier to leave Kabul. He boarded the final U.S. Air Force flight out of Afghanistan, at one minute before midnight on Monday
President Joe Biden watches as a Navy carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Navy Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak, 22, of Berlin Heights, Ohio, Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Additional Reference:
https://www.the-sun.com/news/3570929/afghanistan-last-soldier-taliban-celebrates-us-withdrawal-war/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...0-year-Army-veteran-final-American-board.html
https://www.iwebwire.com/politics/b...e-13-us-soldiers-killed-in-the-kabul-bombing/
https://www.kawc.org/post/biden-looking-remains-13-service-members-killed-kabul-return-home
https://www.businessinsider.com/us-military-left-behind-millions-of-things-at-key-base-2021-7
https://time.com/5794643/trumps-disgraceful-peace-deal-taliban/
https://sevenhillshistory.home.blog/2019/03/01/roman-triumphs/
https://www.worldhistory.org/Roman_Triumph/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_de_Triomphe
https://www.houseofpolitics.com/thr...e-in-his-great-game-with-his-successor.20689/
The extraordinary success of this mission was due to the incredible skill, bravery and selfless courage of the United States military and our diplomats and intelligence professionals....
The fundamental obligation of a president, in my opinion, is to defend and protect America. Not against threats of 2001, but against the threats of 2021 and tomorrow. That is the guiding principle behind my decisions about Afghanistan....
And here is the critical thing to understand: The world is changing. We’re engaged in a serious competition with China. We’re dealing with the challenges on multiple fronts with Russia. We’re confronted with cyberattacks and nuclear proliferation. We have to shore up American competitiveness to meet these new challenges and the competition for the 21st century. And we can do both: fight terrorism, and take on new threats that are here now and will continue to be here in the future. And there’s nothing China or Russia would rather have, would want more in this competition, than the United States to be bogged down another decade in Afghanistan....
We’ve been a nation too long at war. If you’re 20 years old today, you’ve never known an America at peace...
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/31/us/politics/transcript-biden-speech-afghanistan.html
2. In ancient Rome, an important victory on the battlefield was usually celebrated in a spectacular celebration parade (called the Roman triumph). The triumphal procession entered the city of Rome through the porta triumphalis or the triumphal gate (like the Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile of France). In the procession were enslaved prisoners of war, marching in chains. Particularly notable enemies, such as the enemy leader, would be made more conspicuous during the procession, usually culminating in the traditional Roman method of death by strangulation at the end of the triumph.
Despite Biden's claim of “extraordinary success" of withdrawal from Afghanistan, there is no "American triumph" through the streets of Washington, D.C. Some people, however, may point out that a triumphal procession (to "Make America Great Again (MAGA)") is too old-fashioned.
The modern and American way of celebrating a victory is to ride off into the sunset like a cowboy hero after vanquishing the evildoers, as in the closing scenes of many western films that were so popular from the 1930s. However, Cowboy Sam did not ride off into the sunset of Afghanistan this time. Instead, the world was shown a poignant picture of the very last American soldier to leave the Afghan soil (seen through night vision) as he got on the very last military transport plane that flew out on the final flight at 3:29pm Washington time on Tuesday (31 August 2021), or one minute before midnight in Kabul.
Shortly after the departure of the last US troops, the Taliban leaders and their followers entered the airport, firing weapons and fireworks into the skies above Kabul and calling it independence day in celebration of their victory over the US occupation forces and allied troops.
Grimmer still were the pictures showing the transfer of remains ceremony conducted at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on August 29 when the plane carrying the remains of 13 fallen service members arrived home for their funerals.
3. Like the Vietnam War, there is absolutely no way for America to get out of the Afghan quagmire with honour and dignity. It is beyond one's comprehension why the White House incumbent walks all the way into his predecessor’s trap so obediently. He and other Democrats should have deplored Trump's disgraceful peace deal with the Taliban as far back as March 2020. Why should the White House incumbent accept the fate of being "locked" into a timeline by his predecessor for troop withdrawal?
As I have pointed out in an earlier post, the White House incumbent could easily get out of the "terrible situation" by renegotiating with the Taliban to reschedule the troop withdrawal for May 1st 2025. By then, the next president will most likely be a Republican follower or family member of the "Me First" ex-president or even Trump himself!
Major General Christopher Donahue, 52, was the last soldier to leave Kabul. He boarded the final U.S. Air Force flight out of Afghanistan, at one minute before midnight on Monday
President Joe Biden watches as a Navy carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Navy Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak, 22, of Berlin Heights, Ohio, Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Additional Reference:
https://www.the-sun.com/news/3570929/afghanistan-last-soldier-taliban-celebrates-us-withdrawal-war/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...0-year-Army-veteran-final-American-board.html
https://www.iwebwire.com/politics/b...e-13-us-soldiers-killed-in-the-kabul-bombing/
https://www.kawc.org/post/biden-looking-remains-13-service-members-killed-kabul-return-home
https://www.businessinsider.com/us-military-left-behind-millions-of-things-at-key-base-2021-7
https://time.com/5794643/trumps-disgraceful-peace-deal-taliban/
https://sevenhillshistory.home.blog/2019/03/01/roman-triumphs/
https://www.worldhistory.org/Roman_Triumph/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_de_Triomphe
https://www.houseofpolitics.com/thr...e-in-his-great-game-with-his-successor.20689/
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