The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it.
The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday at noon.
Today’s question:
QUESTION: Do you think the U.S. should have pulled out of Afghanistan when we did, or do you think we should have waited until we were sure the Afghan government could handle the Taliban?
Talk about it….
Yes, but we should of had a better plan. Looks like Jackass Joe screwed things up one again.
Biden May Produce a Taliban Victory in Afghanistan
WSJ Opinion: By The Editorial Board
Aug. 12, 2021 7:55 pm ET
Former Defense Secretary Bob Gates famously wrote that President Biden has been on the wrong side of every major foreign-policy issue in his long career. The world is getting another example as Mr. Biden’s hell-bent, ill-planned withdrawal from Afghanistan is turning into a strategic defeat and moral debacle.
This is horrible! The casualties and the blood to come and now the refugee crisis of 400,000 desperate people at risk of being exterminated by the Taliban.
All because of idiot Biden /Harris! The blood is on their hands! We have Afghan neighbors who are so upset over this so I’m helping convey their anger and worry with this posting.
Trump set the date for the pull out. If he had been re-elected what makes you think he would not keep his promise. Having said that l hate what the Taliban is doing.
We’ll never know what Trump would have done, Hanne. You people need to get over it! We do know, however, what Biden is doing. Hate what Biden is doing. You elected him.
Sorry Hanne, Trump had a different plan and you don’t know how it would’ve turned out.
You can’t compare this with something that didn’t happen.
This is Biden’s screw up… he owns it, as do the rest of you who voted for him!
(Biden is a blithering idiot, we told you so)
Oh! I almost forgot….
I tuned into your favorite guy, Tom Sullivan today on 1530 AM radio.
He talked at length about what’s happening in Afghanistan, and verbally ripped old man Biden a new one, absolutely tore him to kitten scraps!
I hope you were listening.
Pull out too slow and you might get into trouble. Pull out too fast and you might get hurt. Looks like we managed to do both on this one. FUBAR all the way.
I had a girlfriend that used to say that exact same thing.
Maybe she was foreign relations expert like Joe.
I had a girlfriend who used to say “Hey Cowboy… gitty up or gitty off”
LoL! She was a good sport.
@ JJ ~ Saw this & thought of you.
https://tinyurl.com/4tvc6yfr
Sleepy Joe knows what’s good for the country – let it go; keep moving, nothing to see here.
Biden needs to be impeached because of this and all the destruction he’s bringing to our country. Gas prices doubling, increasing inflation, with economy begin to falter and crime everywhere. Impeach impeach impeach!
But the stock market is up. Homes sales are going through the roof. Selling a used car, top dollar being paid. People are taking their usual vacations. Personally, I haven’t had a vacation in over 25 years. Too much to do at home. And that’s where I find joy.
Crime has existed for years, just not instant reporting. And a constant reminder on Twitter, etc.
Can’t believe it has been 50 years since Charles Manson and the senseless murders he helped create. Sorry he died peacefully, unlike the way his victims died.
And Safeway has a bucket of fried chicken today for five dollars.
Don’t hate me because I try to look at the positive. But I know you will. And I’m okay with that. It’s your prerogative.
And if gas is soooo expensive, why are there so many RVs on the roads?
Step away from your news for a moment, and go for a walk and smell the roses. Some are still in bloom.
Enjoy it while it lasts JJ.
We haven’t seen the full effects nor ful prices of the gas costs and all the inflation.
Those gas casing motorhomes will soon be parked and people have to live in them. This is another every -12-year housing bubble…. We won’t be able to bank on it after another year
And regarding the stock market I would watch out too. It was reported that the husbands of Dianne Feinstein and Nancy Pelosi have been selling off large quantities of stock. Looks like they see something in the future that’s not so rosy. And they have inside information.
Hey JJ – sounds like you’re describing life under capitalism. Work hard and enjoy the fruits of your labor. One problem though – that’s not what Dementia Joe and his puppet masters are all about. Are you prepared to divide everything you’ve worked for to create equity? Crime isn’t a problem until your lovely home, of 25 years, is burglarized…. and no police to help b/c they’ve been defunded – sorry 🙁. I’m glad you’re happy. I’m happy too. And I want my children and grandchildren to have the kind of life and opportunities that I’ve had. Which is why Joe et al are scaring the crap out of me. Yes, continue to smell the roses and enjoy life but please pay attention to what’s happening.
@ JJ
Helen Keller, is that you?
+1
but please impeach nancy then the ho and finally the ventriaquest dummy
Speaking of equity, does anyone here believe our Billionaires and top Demofascist Royalty will toss their wealth into the kitty?
@JJ
Those RVs are hidden homeless who have been purged from their homes due to inability to work or other issues created by the left and/or the pandemic lockdowns.
Go to SF State by the lake, the whole road is completely infested with hidden homeless in RVs. It was never, ever like that, it was a clean area completely free of blight. Now it is covered in blight!
Everything is getting worse. It is less safe than ever. You cannot speak your mind on many issues without committing professional suicide.
Dark days ahead.
Throw The Book…
It seems like it is all bureaucracy and no mission…
I’ve used several “I told you so”s this year already, here’s just one more.
But, the real plan is the Dem war machine chomping on the trigger for a full scale invasion. This is just the first step into getting the public’s approval, through causing a problem, letting everyone see the casualties, then everyone screaming “yes” let’s go help these people we put in this situation in the first place.
Old hat. Wag the dog, here we come again.
The “Dem war machine”? It was HW Bush that invaded Afghanistan (and Iraq).
Also, the U.S. spent $1 TRILLION tax payer money in Afghanistan over the years. This money should have been spent here in American. The Afghans should have took advantage of that money to better defend themselves. It looks like they want to keep getting the money, but not fight.
… .not now or how we did – we needed to make sure Afghans wouldn’t be overrun. We signed their death warrant now. Taliban are executing surrendering Afghan soldiers. Biden was asked about it by a live media session and he just turned around and walked away without taking questions. Our allies are surely taking note that we’ll do the same…. Next – Taiwan and the South China Sea to China, and Ukraine to Russia…. we have no leadership in Washington… Biden wants to spend his time protecting Newsom instead of focusing on national and foreign policy issues… I’m more than disappointed 🙁
So many soldiers died in Afghanistan during Obama years … I pray he’s not coming back for more
“Obama years”. Again, it was HW Bush that sent troops to Afghanistan allegedly to get Bin Laden. What Obama did was actually get Bin Laden.
The Afghans need to settle their own issues.
Sadly, if you look at the numbers more soldiers died under Obama than Bush
Just while we are keeping our facts straight the troop withdrawal was approved and negotiated by then President Trump.
Trump had wanted us out of all this foreign medling. He did not set a date like Joe Biden did 9/11 2021, the 20 year anniversary of the attacks. And like Trump, said you don’t let the enemy know an exact date or method like did Biden the boob did.
Folks, he’s only been in office 7 months and we’ve yet to see the resulting damage he’s affected, let alone what he’s going to do in the future. He does need to be impeached!
Joe did it to counter Trumps actions. Period. The guy is a moron. He doesn’t have a clue about what’s he’s done and what will happen. Get ready for an increase in terrorism in the Middle East, throughout the world and here in the US.
By pulling out, Biden is creating a breeding ground for terrorists. Consequently, Afghan refugees will be leaving their homeland, which will create more illegal immigration not only to the US, but other countries as well.
We’ve spent 20 years in Afghanistan, and have nothing to show for it, It was not a thought out plan. There was never a plan to defeat the Taliban, we pushed the terrorists into hiding, bide their time, only to come back out fighting.
The Afghan women will suffer, the Taliban will take away the few rights they have.
All the money we spent on a 20-year war, would have been better spent right here in the US. Then there’s the cost of lives, American troops, as well as civilians.
Over the past 40 years, we’ve been involved in the Middle East, and nothing has changed. Trump was starting to make progress, bringing several Middle Eastern countries to sign a peace deal with Israel.
Bottom line, we never should have involved ourselves in the Middle East. If we left them alone, they would not have hated us they way they do, and they would have left us alone.
Our leaders keep saying we should not be the worlds’ police force, but we keep policing the world anyway. One of our problems is we believe western culture is the best way of life, and we cannot understand that some countries want to be left alone to live their backward lives as they see fit.
Spot on!
As I recall, the original mission in Afghanistan was to eliminate al Qaeda ( a foreign presence) and not to rid the country of the Taliban (a native presence). The original mission was accomplished. The Taliban were terrorizing their own people but they were not targeting Americans until we started fighting them.
Bad Nombre
Bingo.
Afghanistan is a tribal country and currently the Taliban is running the show. And in a few years it will be somebody else. Western societies do not understand tribalism. Just ask the British and Soviets about there Afghan experience. There is a reason that Afghanistan is known as the “Nation Killer”.
There is a cost to deploy/maintain troops and weapons in battles. I am not sure if the US get any return for fighting overseas. But I am sure we as taxpayers foot the bills. That being said, I think we should pull out cuz we could spend the money elsewhere. In addition, if we where there then the citizens just depend ours finest warriors to fight for them because the citizens are too chickens too fight for theirs freedom.
Yes…but not like this. Terrible exit plan, look who’s in charge what did you expect
Buchser?
This Country needs to take care of itself and keep out of other countries wars.You can’t stop people who have been fighting centuries.Keep the money and the lives of our military here in this country to keep it safe and the borders closed.Make America great and safe because we are headed in the wrong direction with the current administration.
It appears many Afghans like their old time religion. We should have pulled out because like Viet Nam we didn’t go into win. However Joe not knowing that the Taliban would take over in weeks shows he and the pentagon are not firing on eight cylinders. We left armament and people there. There is no excuse for that. Then he has to ask the Taliban for mercy. It doesn’t get any worse. Seems to me we don’t know how to handle this type of war.
Ricardoh
Please ready up on Afghan history or speak to a local Afghan (there are many in Concord) There is a reason Afghanistan is known as a “Nation Killer”. Just ask the British and Soviets. In particular the Soviets as it was the beginning of their end. The Bush Jr admin started the war, a war we could never win because NOBODY in that administration ever read the history of Afghanistan or had a clue about Afghan tribalism
.
Not enough information on what the withdrawal strategy/process plan held closely by the State Department, Pentagon, Joint Chiefs, and White House.
.
This administration however consistently demonstrates a lack of anticipating the likely outcomes like with extended unemployment benefits causing able-bodied workers not to go back to work.
.
Predictable = avoidable.
Biden did not have to honor any withdrawal agreement, That is an outright lie. Biden could have nullified the agreement at any time as the Taliban has been violating it for months now !
“As intra-Afghan negotiations progress, the United States will watch the Taliban’s actions closely to judge whether their efforts towards peace are in good faith,” then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper said during a visit to Kabul on the day the agreement was signed. “Should the Taliban fail to honor their commitments, they will forfeit their chance to sit with fellow Afghans and deliberate on the future of their country. Moreover, the United States would not hesitate to nullify the agreement.”
The scary thing is that Biden might try to Wag the Dog. Would they try to 25th Amendment him if he did?
Yes, a long time ago.
Things started going down hill after Bush’s “Axis of Evil” speech.
@ Bad Nombre ~ I don’t quite understand…. could you enlighten me further?
@Dr. Jellyfinger,
That speech signaled the point that we decided to expand from a focused program of retribution to address 9-11 into a widescale campaign of going after anyone and everyone with which we held a grudge. In the process we burned a lot of bridges and squandered a lot of potential regional cooperation.
Oh, you mean the war on terror…. I understand.
Should not have gone in the first place, but Americans have a short term memory, and before you know it we are back meddling.
McCain said 100 years and we snickered. Private contractors are still there, someone needs to protect all that heroin. Billions wasted, hundreds of thousands dead and we are no safer now than when we started. America has become a myth of what we used to be.
Should we have been there in the first place?
I didn’t support going into Iraq but Afghanistan was a “yes”. Al Qaeda had to be routed from Afghanistan. Nation building and the rest of the mission creep was a mistake.
It is my belief that the US should have never stepped foot in that country.
We should have learned from prior conflicts that this was a losing battle.
Even the Russians learned the hard way as it is called their Viet Nam.
I also think the main reason for trying to take over the country is due to opium production and the money. It has nothing to due with religion.
Finally , if these people are not willing to fight and die for their freedom then they deserve what comes to them.
LIVE FREE OR DIE.
“dotty” person
You are correct for the most part. Not sure about the opium angle.
The big issue with Afghanistan is that it is a tribal nation. Something we and the rest of the western world will never understand. If you read up on Afghan history or speak to any local Afghan they will tell you that for centuries the tribes have fought each other for control. Control of the country changes on a regular basis. For now it is the Taliban but eventually it will be another tribal faction that takes over.
There is no amount of time that could have prepared the Afghan government the ability to stand up to the Taliban. The Taliban are relentless and can’t ever be trusted and should never be trusted. Only a complete annihilation of the Taliban could have prevented their resurgence and that is basically impossible to achieve.
This is lookimg alot like the fall of Saigon
Exactly. I just watched a PBS news story with interviews of supposed experts, and if you had replaced the city and military group names with Vietnamese names, it would have sounded exactly like a story from 1975, including one government official completely denying reality and an expert saying the US needs to increase air strikes.
Actually I should say air strikes and not increase air strikes since the last US strikes were in 1973.
The Taliban are super healthy.
We should never have went into Afghanistan except to hunt down high valued targets. By establishing bases the U.S. became an occupying force. Providing military/economic aid should have been our only policy. Afghanistan will fall shortly. Trump/Biden could see the writing on the wall. How are things working out in Iraq and Libya?
I don’t think it really matters what Joe does.
Whatever he does Soros is behind the decision.
Soros wants to destroy our Republic.
The people we elect to represent our best interests have sold us out.
America should have learned by now to just bomb upstart S-hole countries like Afghanistan when they ask for it & not bother to occupy them, it’s a waste of lives, time & money.
When they misbehave just launch an air war for a week or two… then go home.
Eventually they will learn to not mess with us.
Exactly…now I don’t have to type it…
We should have never been there. It is obvious with all the time and money spent training the Afghan military that either we failed at training or they don’t mind the Taliban running the country. After 20 years the only thing that happened were thousands of American lives were lost. At the very most we should have walked away after 2-5 years. There is a reason that Afghanistan is known as a “nation killer” Just ask the British and Soviets.
Afghanistan is a “tribal” society. Something we don’t understand and the British and Soviets before us did not understand. There will always be a revolving door of who runs the country based on tribalism.
We need to stop invading countries trying to force our ways. It doesn’t work. Until we can take care of all our own at home we need to stop the stupidity of long useless wars.
And remember that Bin Laden was a member or the Saudi Royals. You know the royal family we seem to always cozy up to. The royals of the country that stirs the pot in the middle east constantly as they have the money to do so.
China: Hey Mr Biden, can you please get all you troops out of Afghanistan, so we can move in and get their precious natural resources?
Biden: Wait what … we have troops in Afghanistan!!!??? … Nobody tells me stuff man … Hey Pamela, take this one for action … I am gonna go to Camp David for the weekend … I am tired of all the commotion here lately … and can somebody please bring me a damn ice cream for Christmas sake … Jeez … Whose secret service agent’s wife do I need to grope to get my ice cream on time?
I do not think there is/was a right time to leave. I also think taliban has no reservations at doing whatever the heck they please, knowing that the current CIC is weak. Does that mean I think biden should do anything? I cannot say, I just do not know. But I do strongly believe that taliban (and russia and china and every other nefarious leader) knows that there is just no fight in biden (he saves any fighting for the regular citizen of America, and the occasional journalist), so there will be no consequences. Tenuous times for this Constitutional Republic.
Afghan Prime Minister/President Karzai has a brother is the #1 druglord in that region who hired Putin and his former USSR mercs to protect the heroin business. Now Karzai’s brother just opened a Walnut Creek eatery called De Afghanan in downtown.
Elderly Afghanistan men should stop the business of forcing young boys to dress up as girls then getting them drunk and forcing them to dance sexy before raping them.
“Should we have waited until we were sure the Afghan government could handle the Taliban?” Hahahahaha! That’s a good one, Mr Mayor!
We’ve been in Afghanistan almost 20 years, training their military, and they are giving up with barely a fight. How much longer should we stay to train them? Another 2, 5, 10? Another 20?
First, a few facts: On February 29, 2020, the Trump administration signed a peace agreement with the Taliban. The US agreed to pull all US and NATO troops out of Afghanistan by May 1, 2021, in exchange for the Taliban agreeing to not let Al-Qaeda operate in Taliban-controlled territories, to stop attacking American troops, and to negotiate with the Afghan government. The Trump administration had so little confidence in the Afghan government that they didn’t even bother to include them in the negotiations for the agreement. It was just between the US and the Taliban. The agreement was endorsed by China, Russia, Pakistan, and the UN Security Council. Biden pushed the withdrawal date out to September 11.
So let’s not pretend Trump would never have done this. He signed an agreement with the Taliban to do it, knowing full well what would happen when the US pulled out. Biden simply pushed the date out by a few months. What did Trump say when Biden said the US would be out by September? He said leaving Afghanistan is “a wonderful and positive thing to do”, only criticizing Biden for not sticking to the original May date.
We’ve been there for almost 20 years. It’s the longest American war. In the end, we’ve accomplished close to nothing. When we leave, it will go back to Taliban control, as it was when we decided to overthrow the government. Thousands of both Afghans and Americans have lost their lives and we’ve spent trillions of dollars on a war we could not win. The withdrawal is bloody and awful. What a disaster, especially for Afghan women. But it had to happen sooner or later, and the outcome was always going to be the same.
We should never have gone to war to overthrow the government. We should have bombed the living daylights out of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda and let it go at that. This war was a mistake from the very beginning.
We should’ve pulled out long ago and a U.N. Peacekeeping force put in place. I think we’ve poured enough money into that country and it’s up to them how to run, or defend, it. To the members of the Afghan community who question, very vocally, our decision to withdraw I say feel free to shoulder a weapon and go aid in the defense of your capitol city.