Der Spiegel: Afghan diplomats defecting as US withdrawal approaches
Preston sends us a link from German publication, Der Spiegel, in which they notice that Afghan diplomats seem to be defecting to the nations in which they are posted;
A total of 105 Afghan diplomats were meant to report for duty at the Foreign Ministry in Kabul on Saturday. They were being rotated out of their foreign postings as scheduled, and it was time to return to headquarters. Yet just five of them have resurfaced. The others have apparently remained in the countries where they had been posted, among them several employees of the Afghan Embassy in Berlin.
I believe the phrase is “rats leaving a sinking ship”.
“They are hoping that there is more clarity about the future of our country by that point [the 2014 Presidential elections],” said an employee of the ministry. “I feel as though there has been an exodus. No one wants to return to Afghanistan,” said the employee, who added that they couldn’t be faulted for wanting to stay away from”the situation in the country.”
What a selfish bunch of morons. Apparently the “best and the brightest” of the country don’t give a tiny rat’s ass about the future of Afghanistan, so why should we sacrifice our own best and brightest so they can lay about in European parlors sipping wine.
Category: Terror War
It’s going to be Vietnam all over again. Same thing happened there. The one’s who spent the war lining their pockets with US dollars were out in a f@cking hurry.
they’ll soon be opening liquor stores in LA alongside the former Vietnamese generals stores.
I wonder if when Kabul is about to be over run we’ll see Afgani pilots load their families into their planes and helicopters and flee to third countries?
@2-And nail coloring salons.
The “best and brightest” will end up with their heads on spikes after we leave. Anybody with a single independent, half-educated thought will die violently when the Taliban comes back into power, and they know it.
Color me shocked.
The key word here is Nationalism. You can not teach nationalism to a people mired in tribalism, religious sectarianism, and clyptocracy. Look at Syria. It is only a country when it is ruled by a bloody dictator. When the dictator looses even a slight bit of power the various factions start pushing back. They fight him and each other. Or take the former Soviet Union. It took only a few days for the Republics to revolt against Moscow once the Soviet boot came off their necks. The Taliban was overthrown not by the US, but by Tribal warlords using American air power. This situation will continue for ever. The country will devolve into a set of tribal enclaves until they run out of ammo, and that will be some time yet. I say get out, and stay out. If the Taliban tries to export its Islamic balderdash, nuke the whole place. No great loss to civilization.
Yeah I don’t blame the intellectuals and moderates for not wanting to learn about the negative impact of beheading. The ignorant masses will do whatever they are told, by whomever they are ruled. They’ve been ignorant serf/peasant class members for 2000 years not likely to become educated and independent thinkers any time soon….
So we started out with a sh1thole ruled by the Taliban, we got 2250 Americans killed in Afghanistan and we are now going to leave and the Taliban will take the nation back…
Seems to me we should generate a more useful strategic plan when we go back in a dozen years to knock the Taliban down again…of course the reduction in force that will take place when the troops get back means some of the people with experience and useful knowledge won’t be heard because they won’t be in the service anymore….at least we didn’t invest 14 years and 58,000 lives figuring out our politicians don’t have a f#cking clue about how to use the military to achieve a strategic policy initiative.
No surprise in this. I just wondered how long it would take.
Regrettable actions yet shows a well-developed sense of self-preservation. I’m just surprised so many (5) returned.
@9 – Any bet Afghanistan will be in total chaos by mid-2016, if not sooner?
Can’t say I much blame them, Jonn. I sure as hell wouldn’t want to live under the Taliban.
Maybe the educated few in Afghanistan have studied history(VietNam) and figure that they won’t repeat it?
@13-UpNorth, And yet they are repeating it-as in Vietnamization. As stated above, can’t blame them, but, like in Vietnam, they can’t rely on their own countrymen to make things right? Then why bother? The same situation exists in mexico ( and everywhere south of it). We’re going to have to lock it down tight-and I’m not being facetious. We’ll need all our troops back home just to protect our borders.
What, you expect them to die for Karzai? Hah! Don’t expect honor and sacrifice from those you bribe off. You can’t buy loyalty. They were in for the money from the start.
@15-TeePee, No I expect them to fight (and die if necessary) for the freedom of their people (including that sock puppet Karzai). From which totalitarian system do you come?
Brit, @14, not where I was going, but you’re correct. I was going for, the educated few, who have studied history, don’t want to be left on the ground as the last few helicopters leave Kabul and Kandahar, and the Taliban begins their version of “re-education”, which will involve beheadings.
UpNorth-That’s what gets me. We sacrifice our youth for an end that doesn’t justify the cost. Round and round we go.
@16 TeePee? Hah, that’s the best you got? Hilarious. Born and raised in America so I don’t know what you’re trying to imply there. They don’t fight for their country numbsuckle, we already kicked those guys out and put in our own. So now we leave and they leave to. Fuck em, should’ve never gave those greedy bastards a dime.
@19-Juvenile, C;mon, kid. This is a site devoted to outing phonies. Do you really want to be exposed as a punk? A lotta people much more valuable than you have given their lives and/or futures for the benefit of your country. Go back to playing Dungeons and Dragons (or whatever) and leave us alone.
@19-Unaware, You better get to bed before Mom catches you with your laptop under the sheets-of it is your laptop you’re “working” on.
Hey now, I play D&D even when deployed. You’d be amazed how funny a game can get out here.
In Q-West an Apache mechanic tackled a native that had wondered over the berm into our area. I guess the poor sap thought that the dice on the gaming table we built were actual gemstones because he was trying to steal our dice.
He was lucky to be alive when they picked him up from us.
@15 – to paraphrase, an honest politician is one who stays bought.
@21 Brit – Now you have folks on two threads wondering if you are drinking your Earl Grey, or smoking it?