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Afghanistan

tavyred

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One man's 'politically motivated huffing and puffing and the “something must be done” merchants' is another's Parliamentary committee system set up and appointed across the party political spectrum with the express purpose of being able to hold the Government to scrutiny.

There certainly woudn't be easy solutions for a man who can't even answer the question "when did your holiday start?" when the overriding poser is 'what was the advice given and when was it given?'.

Timelines are important (particularly for those who ran out of time and are now at the mercy of the Taliban).

It seems we are now in an age when promises become the deed and accountability stops at 'how dare you ask me that?'
I watched the session yesterday and Raab readily acknowledged the rightful scrutiny of the parliamentary committee and they his willingness to appear before them, what he didn’t engage with was the partisan politicking around his holibobs and when they started, especially when he has (so he says) already put into the pubic domain the dates concerned.
The overriding advice given was that Kabul would not fall to the Taliban this year. It was wrong, and to use that awful phrase.........we are, where we are. 🤷🏼‍♂️
 

DB9

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........we are, where we are. 🤷🏼‍♂️
And this is the narrative being used, Let's move on now, My only problem with this is that it's not finished as in all didn't get out, I think the committee had every right to scrutinies Raab and yes party politics does come into it, As with all these committees, whoever they're questioning, Questions are asked in a polite, respectful manner, Unlike in the real world and at the end of it Raab is the FS and is deputy PM, They are in power and have to be held to account.
 

tavyred

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.......at the end of it Raab is the FS and is deputy PM, They are in power and have to be held to account.
He is being held to account.
That doesn’t mean however those holding those in power to account can ignore the quite obvious realities on the ground or avoid the accusation that they are politicking for reasons of political bias.
It would appear that Shadow FS Lisa Nandy wants Raab to resign, yet her mate Biden she praises for being totally consistent in his approach to Afghanistan. 🤷‍♂️
Even you as someone minded to put equal blame on the U.K. as the US can see the quite obvious political bias in that standpoint?
 

DB9

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He is being held to account.
That doesn’t mean however those holding those in power to account can ignore the quite obvious realities on the ground or avoid the accusation that they are politicking for reasons of political bias.
It would appear that Shadow FS Lisa Nandy wants Raab to resign, yet her mate Biden she praises for being totally consistent in his approach to Afghanistan. 🤷‍♂️
Even you as someone minded to put equal blame on the U.K. as the US can see the quite obvious political bias in that standpoint?
This is why imo Ms Nandy is not the best shadow FS and glad she didn't make leader too. I do blame the US & UK equally for their handling, It was so obvious what would happen, Even on here we knew and we're no experts. As for Raab being asked to resign, I don't think there has been that "Smoking Gun" moment yet, He hasn't done himself any favours in the way he seems (To me) very dismissive of the way he handled things, Maybe a reshuffle might send him somewhere else?
 

tavyred

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This is why imo Ms Nandy is not the best shadow FS and glad she didn't make leader too. I do blame the US & UK equally for their handling, It was so obvious what would happen, Even on here we knew and we're no experts. As for Raab being asked to resign, I don't think there has been that "Smoking Gun" moment yet, He hasn't done himself any favours in the way he seems (To me) very dismissive of the way he handled things, Maybe a reshuffle might send him somewhere else?
You predicted the fall of Kabul before Biden’s planned exit date of the 31st August?
 

DB9

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You predicted the fall of Kabul before Biden’s planned exit date of the 31st August?
You could see at least a month before the Taliban were making huge swathes and Afghan forces were fleeing, It doesn't take a genius Kabul was going to fall especially when the US (Biden?) Stopped air support.
 

tavyred

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You could see at least a month before the Taliban were making huge swathes and Afghan forces were fleeing, It doesn't take a genius Kabul was going to fall especially when the US (Biden?) Stopped air support.
I'm impressed, you second guessed the entire intelligence community of the US and indeed its allies.
 

Mr Jinx

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I'm impressed, you second guessed the entire intelligence community of the US and indeed its allies.
In fairness though, it doesn't take a wizard to have foreseen what eventually transpired.

Emily Thornberry was calling it last year. I rest my case.
 
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fred binneys head

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I heard an article on Radio 4 a couple of weeks ago, interviewing someone who was saying Kabul would fall much quicker than the UK and US military were saying it would. The organisations saying that the Taliban would saunter over to Kabul sometime in 2022 were the same ones who were certain there was WMD in Iraq and that Saddam Hussein had got rocket launching equipment disguised as kebab stalls, that could fire rockets to reach the UK from Baghdad.
 

tavyred

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In fairness though, it doesn't take a wizard to have foreseen what eventually transpired.
There are things that are obvious with the benefit of hindsight after the event and in this case there are decisions made at the time factoring in the best available intelligence.
Col. Tim Collins had it right the other day when he commented on the negativity surrounding the Afghanistan situation in the UK.
He distilled the problem down to two things, a catastrophic failure in leadership by the US militarily and politically and a MSM in the U.K. desperate to blame the U.K. government for it in whole or in part.
 
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