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[US Foreign Policy] A Generation of War

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Posts

  • JaysonFourJaysonFour Classy Monster Kitteh Registered User regular
    Kaputa wrote: »
    Viskod wrote: »
    Uh.... What?


    Donald Trump: Unbeknownst to almost everyone, the major Taliban leaders and, separately, the President of Afghanistan, were going to secretly meet with me at Camp David on Sunday. They were coming to the United States tonight. Unfortunately, in order to build false leverage, they admitted to..
    ....an attack in Kabul that killed one of our great great soldiers, and 11 other people. I immediately cancelled the meeting and called off peace negotiations. What kind of people would kill so many in order to seemingly strengthen their bargaining position? They didn’t, they....
    ....only made it worse! If they cannot agree to a ceasefire during these very important peace talks, and would even kill 12 innocent people, then they probably don’t have the power to negotiate a meaningful agreement anyway. How many more decades are they willing to fight?

    Well... not "unbeknownst" anymore. What the hell. Sure. Yeah, people in glass bargaining houses that are dumb as fuck about bargaining shouldn't be throwing any stones.
    Wait, so is he canceling the negotiation process as a whole? Because of the 7382nd Taliban attack on Kabul? I don't get it.

    Negotiations fell through on something, anything, and he had to make sure everyone knew it wasn't his fault and how strong and good of a dealmaker he was.

    Donald- as someone who played phalla/mafia for years (and not very well), rule #1 of negotiating anything? Know when to keep your fucking mouth shut, and don't fucking announce to the world you've been talking with people just to try to make yourself look good. It means everyone knows you can't be trusted with any sensitive information- or that you'll sell out everyone else in your team to make sure you still win.

    steam_sig.png
    I can has cheezburger, yes?
  • monikermoniker Registered User regular
    Taramoor wrote: »
    By all accounts Trump hates Camp David.

    I doubt any meeting was scheduled.

    Yeah if he scheduled a summit it would be somewhere he owned so he could profit off of it.

    And have its name on the treaty.

  • XantomasXantomas Registered User regular
    How many more decades are they willing to fight, Trump asks? All of them, probably. Sure as shit more decades than Trump would.

  • monikermoniker Registered User regular
    Xantomas wrote: »
    How many more decades are they willing to fight, Trump asks? All of them, probably. Sure as shit more decades than Trump would.

    The thing about occupying a country is, the other people actually live there.

  • JuliusJulius Captain of Serenity on my shipRegistered User regular
    JaysonFour wrote: »
    Kaputa wrote: »
    Viskod wrote: »
    Uh.... What?


    Donald Trump: Unbeknownst to almost everyone, the major Taliban leaders and, separately, the President of Afghanistan, were going to secretly meet with me at Camp David on Sunday. They were coming to the United States tonight. Unfortunately, in order to build false leverage, they admitted to..
    ....an attack in Kabul that killed one of our great great soldiers, and 11 other people. I immediately cancelled the meeting and called off peace negotiations. What kind of people would kill so many in order to seemingly strengthen their bargaining position? They didn’t, they....
    ....only made it worse! If they cannot agree to a ceasefire during these very important peace talks, and would even kill 12 innocent people, then they probably don’t have the power to negotiate a meaningful agreement anyway. How many more decades are they willing to fight?

    Well... not "unbeknownst" anymore. What the hell. Sure. Yeah, people in glass bargaining houses that are dumb as fuck about bargaining shouldn't be throwing any stones.
    Wait, so is he canceling the negotiation process as a whole? Because of the 7382nd Taliban attack on Kabul? I don't get it.

    Negotiations fell through on something, anything, and he had to make sure everyone knew it wasn't his fault and how strong and good of a dealmaker he was.

    It's possible he purposefully cancelled because he or someone else didn't actually want to meet. Trump hasn't shown any real interest in the situation before, but there are certainly parties in the GOP that want to just continue the whole thing. I know his style is ridiculous, but don't attribute to incompetence what can also be explained by malice.

  • KrieghundKrieghund Registered User regular
    So does Trump not know that combatants still fight through peace negotiations? Nothing stops until there is a deal, Mr. Dealmaker.

  • JuliusJulius Captain of Serenity on my shipRegistered User regular
    i mean, given how long these things can take it is likely that things got started during Obama's term. And you got a president that will just instinctively kill anything that makes Obama look good, and a Republican Party that only slightly less instinctively kills those things.

  • OneAngryPossumOneAngryPossum Registered User regular
    edited September 2019
    He also just hates traveling because it’s hard and means he doesn’t get to watch as much news.

    Edit: Unless it’s at his property, where he gets to do what he wants and grift.

    Just saying, he cancels trips for the slightest reason. That he would treat peace talks in Afghanistan with the same seriousness as Denmark not talking to him about selling Greenland wouldn’t be a surprise.

    OneAngryPossum on
  • GoumindongGoumindong Registered User regular
    Taramoor wrote: »
    By all accounts Trump hates Camp David.

    I doubt any meeting was scheduled.

    Taliban would not go to a trump property if the meetings were supposed to be secret. I also doubt trump would want them there. I would say that state or military would also prevent it but they clearly have no pull in this admin.

    If there was to be a meeting it probably was at camp david. Still kinda skeptical there was one though

    wbBv3fj.png
  • KaputaKaputa Registered User regular
    edited September 2019
    NYT reports that there was indeed a meeting, but that it's cancellation was (surprise) not due to the latest Kabul attack, which Trump appears to be using as an excuse. Which makes sense, since there was nothing unique about this attack that should have led to a cancellation in negotiations.
    Even as President Trump blamed a recent Taliban attack for his decision to call off nearly yearlong negotiations with the insurgents, officials suggested on Sunday it had more to do with the Taliban’s resistance to the American terms for a peace deal.

    Talks that once seemed on the verge of a breakthrough had hit a wall over how the deal should be finalized and announced, they said.

    Kind of dumb from the sounds of it. The major issues had been hammered out but the announcement of the deal was the main sticking point? I can't help but think there's more to the story.

    The article concludes by stating that the Afghan elections will proceed as planned and that the high levels of violence will continue (or escalate).

    Disappointing. Maybe it was a long shot, but as reporting had grown more optimistic over the last several months I had started to hope that we might actually see an end to American involvement in the forever war, if not an end to the war itself.

    Kaputa on
  • ViskodViskod Registered User regular
    So he had to make an excuse for a thing no one even knew was going on.

  • KaputaKaputa Registered User regular
    edited September 2019
    Viskod wrote: »
    So he had to make an excuse for a thing no one even knew was going on.
    Well, we didn't know about the planned Camp David meeting, but we knew of the broader peace negotiations, and Trump is apparently using this as an excuse to cancel those too.

    Meanwhile, last week's death toll in the conflict is probably around five hundred (counting civilian, government, and Taliban deaths)...

    Kaputa on
  • Commander ZoomCommander Zoom Registered User regular
    Kaputa wrote: »
    Kind of dumb from the sounds of it. The major issues had been hammered out but the announcement of the deal was the main sticking point? I can't help but think there's more to the story.

    "Trump wins in Afghanistan (suck it Obama), most awesome dealmaker ever, crying Taliban beg to surrender!"
    "uh, no."

  • TaramoorTaramoor Storyteller Registered User regular
    When it says the talks broke down not over the deal itself but over how it should be finalized and announced why does my head immediately go to “Trump wanted to announce the deal and take sole credit, and when somebody said they could share credit he torpedoed the entire thing”.

  • DevoutlyApatheticDevoutlyApathetic Registered User regular
    I thing I saw mentioned else where....look at the date today. They wanted to announce in a couple days.

    They wanted to make a deal with the Taliban on 9/11.

    They can't even avoid hypocrisy in their Jingoism.

    Nod. Get treat. PSN: Quippish
  • Commander ZoomCommander Zoom Registered User regular
    What better day for Trump to announce that he's won the War on Terror?
    :rotate:

  • DocDoc Registered User, ClubPA regular
    Taramoor wrote: »
    When it says the talks broke down not over the deal itself but over how it should be finalized and announced why does my head immediately go to “Trump wanted to announce the deal and take sole credit, and when somebody said they could share credit he torpedoed the entire thing”.

    I don't know, though. The biggest hurdle is the unwillingness of the Taliban to accept the current government of Afghanistan as legitimate. They won't participate in any official dialogs with them. Even Trump's tweet that he was meeting with them specifies that the meetings with each party were separate. I don't see any indication that there was a deal to resolve this issue, and without that it's a non-starter.

  • XantomasXantomas Registered User regular
    Having the Taliban at Camp David on American soil during the week of 9/11 seems like a really really really bad idea. Would Trumpers ignore even that kind of crassness? Is nothing sacred to them at all anymore?

  • IncenjucarIncenjucar VChatter Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    Xantomas wrote: »
    Having the Taliban at Camp David on American soil during the week of 9/11 seems like a really really really bad idea. Would Trumpers ignore even that kind of crassness? Is nothing sacred to them at all anymore?

    Trump is sacred to them.

  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    Xantomas wrote: »
    Having the Taliban at Camp David on American soil during the week of 9/11 seems like a really really really bad idea. Would Trumpers ignore even that kind of crassness? Is nothing sacred to them at all anymore?

    They wouldn't care. I mean Trump has hundreds of examples of moral and political failings that his supporters excoriate others for, but hand wave trump.

    Like he could have had the Taliban announce on 9/11 that they defeated america with this treaty and his supporters would be all "only Trump could do this." In a positive tone.

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • GONG-00GONG-00 Registered User regular
    What better day for Trump to announce that he's won the War on Terror?
    :rotate:

    The Afghan Government should totally assume Trump will abandon them to the mercy of the Taliban for that red hat sized moniker in time for 2020.

    Black lives matter.
    Law and Order ≠ Justice
    ACNH Island Isla Cero: DA-3082-2045-4142
    Captain of the SES Comptroller of the State
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  • NSDFRandNSDFRand FloridaRegistered User regular
    GONG-00 wrote: »
    What better day for Trump to announce that he's won the War on Terror?
    :rotate:

    The Afghan Government should totally assume Trump will abandon them to the mercy of the Taliban for that red hat sized moniker in time for 2020.

    So are you in favor of continuing OEF?

    Because anything short of a continuing US and ISAF presence is going to mean abandoning Kabul to the Taliban. And it would still mean abandoning Kabul to the Taliban if it happened ten years ago or ten years from now.

  • IncenjucarIncenjucar VChatter Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    Preacher wrote: »
    Xantomas wrote: »
    Having the Taliban at Camp David on American soil during the week of 9/11 seems like a really really really bad idea. Would Trumpers ignore even that kind of crassness? Is nothing sacred to them at all anymore?

    They wouldn't care. I mean Trump has hundreds of examples of moral and political failings that his supporters excoriate others for, but hand wave trump.

    Like he could have had the Taliban announce on 9/11 that they defeated america with this treaty and his supporters would be all "only Trump could do this." In a positive tone.

    Anything that they would otherwise be an obvious issue is rationalized as part of a secret plan. Trump is a religion.

  • see317see317 Registered User regular
    Preacher wrote: »
    Xantomas wrote: »
    Having the Taliban at Camp David on American soil during the week of 9/11 seems like a really really really bad idea. Would Trumpers ignore even that kind of crassness? Is nothing sacred to them at all anymore?

    They wouldn't care. I mean Trump has hundreds of examples of moral and political failings that his supporters excoriate others for, but hand wave trump.

    Like he could have had the Taliban announce on 9/11 that they defeated america with this treaty and his supporters would be all "only Trump could do this." In a positive tone.

    To be fair, they wouldn't be wrong.
    I mean, I'm pretty sure that most people would be saying very much the same thing.

    They'd just be saying it in an entirely different tones of voice.

  • GONG-00GONG-00 Registered User regular
    NSDFRand wrote: »
    GONG-00 wrote: »
    What better day for Trump to announce that he's won the War on Terror?
    :rotate:

    The Afghan Government should totally assume Trump will abandon them to the mercy of the Taliban for that red hat sized moniker in time for 2020.

    So are you in favor of continuing OEF?

    Because anything short of a continuing US and ISAF presence is going to mean abandoning Kabul to the Taliban. And it would still mean abandoning Kabul to the Taliban if it happened ten years ago or ten years from now.

    At a simpler level, I sorta loathe the US being Lucy with the support football that reliably pulls it from the local Charlie Brown when it suits American interests. There is still some lingering idealism in me that feels we should honor our agreements and promises. At a more complex level, perhaps Kabul being the latest in a long line of abandoned allies might discourage local cooperation and make future adventurism less attractive.

    Black lives matter.
    Law and Order ≠ Justice
    ACNH Island Isla Cero: DA-3082-2045-4142
    Captain of the SES Comptroller of the State
    xu257gunns6e.png
  • MrMisterMrMister Jesus dying on the cross in pain? Morally better than us. One has to go "all in".Registered User regular
    GONG-00 wrote: »
    NSDFRand wrote: »
    GONG-00 wrote: »
    What better day for Trump to announce that he's won the War on Terror?
    :rotate:

    The Afghan Government should totally assume Trump will abandon them to the mercy of the Taliban for that red hat sized moniker in time for 2020.

    So are you in favor of continuing OEF?

    Because anything short of a continuing US and ISAF presence is going to mean abandoning Kabul to the Taliban. And it would still mean abandoning Kabul to the Taliban if it happened ten years ago or ten years from now.

    At a simpler level, I sorta loathe the US being Lucy with the support football that reliably pulls it from the local Charlie Brown when it suits American interests. There is still some lingering idealism in me that feels we should honor our agreements and promises. At a more complex level, perhaps Kabul being the latest in a long line of abandoned allies might discourage local cooperation and make future adventurism less attractive.

    At the very least we should admit as refugees and resettle however many (hundreds of thousands of?) people were known cooperators with us and will face reprisals after we leave. Like, a better job of what we half-did after Vietnam, where we helicoptered a few people off embassies and let in some others but refugees were still lingering in camps in SE Asia for decades after we left.

    My guess is that we probably won't, tho.

  • LovelyLovely Registered User regular
    Hahaha, this country didn't even help the interpreters from Iraq that assisted us. A quick google search tells me that apparently this has only gotten worse under the Trump regime. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/only-2-iraqi-translators-who-worked-u-s-troops-got-n1035661

    sig.gif
  • MorganVMorganV Registered User regular
    Welp, today is full of unsurprising, but still hard to believe it's real, news that Trump is massively unfit for office.

    https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/10/politics/donald-trump-foreign-spies-skeptical/index.html

    Some highlights.
    - Trump is reported to say that America shouldn't spy on other countries, as it could "undermine his personal relationships with their leaders".
    - Trump is reported to not think foreign intelligence sources are credibile.
    - A high level asset was yanked from Moscow, because after Trump's meeting with the Russians in the Oval Office, and general mishandling of information, they felt he could be compromised.

    At what point do the intelligence communities start realizing the "support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same" means standing up publicly against this fuckknuckle?

    This isn't partisanship. If Pence or Cruz or Jeb was President, I'd fucking hate it, but I firmly believe they're just assholes, not traitorous ones.

    This guy? No. By incompetence, ignorance and/or malice, he's in league with enemies of the nation, and opposed to the national good, for his own benefit.

  • GaddezGaddez Registered User regular
    MorganV wrote: »
    Welp, today is full of unsurprising, but still hard to believe it's real, news that Trump is massively unfit for office.

    https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/10/politics/donald-trump-foreign-spies-skeptical/index.html

    Some highlights.
    - Trump is reported to say that America shouldn't spy on other countries, as it could "undermine his personal relationships with their leaders".
    - Trump is reported to not think foreign intelligence sources are credibile.
    - A high level asset was yanked from Moscow, because after Trump's meeting with the Russians in the Oval Office, and general mishandling of information, they felt he could be compromised.

    At what point do the intelligence communities start realizing the "support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same" means standing up publicly against this fuckknuckle?

    This isn't partisanship. If Pence or Cruz or Jeb was President, I'd fucking hate it, but I firmly believe they're just assholes, not traitorous ones.

    This guy? No. By incompetence, ignorance and/or malice, he's in league with enemies of the nation, and opposed to the national good, for his own benefit.

    Part of the problem is that this idiot can obliterate them with the full support of the law if they go public with how utterly incompetent he is WRT to spycraft so unless they're willing to go full Coup they're kind of screwed.

  • Senna1Senna1 Registered User regular
    Gaddez wrote: »
    MorganV wrote: »
    Welp, today is full of unsurprising, but still hard to believe it's real, news that Trump is massively unfit for office.

    https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/10/politics/donald-trump-foreign-spies-skeptical/index.html

    Some highlights.
    - Trump is reported to say that America shouldn't spy on other countries, as it could "undermine his personal relationships with their leaders".
    - Trump is reported to not think foreign intelligence sources are credibile.
    - A high level asset was yanked from Moscow, because after Trump's meeting with the Russians in the Oval Office, and general mishandling of information, they felt he could be compromised.

    At what point do the intelligence communities start realizing the "support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same" means standing up publicly against this fuckknuckle?

    This isn't partisanship. If Pence or Cruz or Jeb was President, I'd fucking hate it, but I firmly believe they're just assholes, not traitorous ones.

    This guy? No. By incompetence, ignorance and/or malice, he's in league with enemies of the nation, and opposed to the national good, for his own benefit.

    Part of the problem is that this idiot can obliterate them with the full support of the law if they go public with how utterly incompetent he is WRT to spycraft so unless they're willing to go full Coup they're kind of screwed.
    There were rumors/reports that Trump had revealed classified information at this meeting immediately after it happened. We're just now learning that, yes, that basically definitely happened, and yes, there was real fallout from it.

    The problem, as always, isn't that we don't know how negligent Trump is. It's that he has a 90% approval rating with Republicans regardless. They don't care about this stuff. As long as he stokes their populist culture war rhetoric, they'll follow him to and through the gates of hell. There simply is no factual revelation at this point that will cause them to drop their support of him. It's no longer a party, it's a personality cult.

    Rational conservatives who look at something like this and think, "my god... what is happening? This is wrong..." peeled off a LONG time ago. Trump told us all himself he built a base of support that would let him stand in the street and shoot someone without consequence, and at this point I fully believe him on that.

  • GaddezGaddez Registered User regular
    You forgot the icing on the cake Senna1: Trump is also allowing himself to be super easily manipulated by a former spy from a rival nation.

  • MarathonMarathon Registered User regular
    The idea that Trump feels that foreign leaders being his friend is more important than actual intel is pretty wild, and I wish I was surprised.

  • TaramoorTaramoor Storyteller Registered User regular


    Coo-coo ca-choo. The walrus just found out he’s fired.

  • CouscousCouscous Registered User regular
    It took way too long for that to happen.

    I figure it took so long because Trump does not like firing people.

  • TraceTrace GNU Terry Pratchett; GNU Gus; GNU Carrie Fisher; GNU Adam We Registered User regular
    Taramoor wrote: »


    Coo-coo ca-choo. The walrus just found out he’s fired.

    Wonder what Bolton said 'no' too?

  • monikermoniker Registered User regular
    edited September 2019
    Senna1 wrote: »
    Gaddez wrote: »
    MorganV wrote: »
    Welp, today is full of unsurprising, but still hard to believe it's real, news that Trump is massively unfit for office.

    https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/10/politics/donald-trump-foreign-spies-skeptical/index.html

    Some highlights.
    - Trump is reported to say that America shouldn't spy on other countries, as it could "undermine his personal relationships with their leaders".
    - Trump is reported to not think foreign intelligence sources are credibile.
    - A high level asset was yanked from Moscow, because after Trump's meeting with the Russians in the Oval Office, and general mishandling of information, they felt he could be compromised.

    At what point do the intelligence communities start realizing the "support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same" means standing up publicly against this fuckknuckle?

    This isn't partisanship. If Pence or Cruz or Jeb was President, I'd fucking hate it, but I firmly believe they're just assholes, not traitorous ones.

    This guy? No. By incompetence, ignorance and/or malice, he's in league with enemies of the nation, and opposed to the national good, for his own benefit.

    Part of the problem is that this idiot can obliterate them with the full support of the law if they go public with how utterly incompetent he is WRT to spycraft so unless they're willing to go full Coup they're kind of screwed.
    There were rumors/reports that Trump had revealed classified information at this meeting immediately after it happened. We're just now learning that, yes, that basically definitely happened, and yes, there was real fallout from it.

    The problem, as always, isn't that we don't know how negligent Trump is. It's that he has a 90% approval rating with Republicans regardless. They don't care about this stuff. As long as he stokes their populist culture war rhetoric, they'll follow him to and through the gates of hell. There simply is no factual revelation at this point that will cause them to drop their support of him. It's no longer a party, it's a personality cult.

    Rational conservatives who look at something like this and think, "my god... what is happening? This is wrong..." peeled off a LONG time ago. Trump told us all himself he built a base of support that would let him stand in the street and shoot someone without consequence, and at this point I fully believe him on that.

    They never cared about this stuff. Just ask Valerie Plame. (who is now running for Congress)

    moniker on
  • TaramoorTaramoor Storyteller Registered User regular
    edited September 2019
    Couscous wrote: »
    It took way too long for that to happen.

    I figure it took so long because Trump does not like firing people.

    Bolton is one of the few who wouldn’t just resign. This may well be his last chance to nuke the Middle East and you’d have to drag him kicking and screaming away from the big button

    Taramoor on
  • Mild ConfusionMild Confusion Smash All Things Registered User regular
    Good.

    Now let’s get rid of Miller and then at least Trump’s destruction of the US will calm to your average torrent instead of our current raging sharknado.

    steam_sig.png

    Battlenet ID: MildC#11186 - If I'm in the game, send me an invite at anytime and I'll play.
  • CouscousCouscous Registered User regular
    Trace wrote: »
    Taramoor wrote: »


    Coo-coo ca-choo. The walrus just found out he’s fired.

    Wonder what Bolton said 'no' too?

    It is Bolton and Trump so anything from not having over all state secrets to Russia to nuking Iran.

  • KruiteKruite Registered User regular
    Good.

    Now let’s get rid of Miller and then at least Trump’s destruction of the US will calm to your average torrent instead of our current raging sharknado.

    I will continue to be uncomfortable with the long term effects of the Trump Admin on foreign policy as long as Pompeo is in power

This discussion has been closed.