Leaving the wretches
The Washington Post reports that the troops are leaving tons of refuse in their wake as they rush for the exits in Afghanistan – most of it is broken crap, intentionally broken so that the electronics can’t be used for bombs.. The Afghans seem to be upset that they can’t get serviceable big screen TVs to dress up their mud huts;
That policy has produced more scrap metal than Afghanistan has ever seen. It has also led to frustration among Afghans, who feel as if they’re being robbed of items like flat-panel televisions and armored vehicles that they could use or sell — no small thing in a country where the average annual income hovers at just over $500.
In a nation nicknamed the “graveyard of empires,” foreign forces are remembered for what they leave behind. In the 1840s, the British left forts that still stand today. In the 1980s, the Russians left tanks, trucks and aircraft strewn about the country. The United States is leaving heaps of mattresses, barbed wire and shipping containers in scrap yards near its shrinking bases.
“This is America’s dustbin,” said Sufi Khan, a trader standing in the middle of an immense scrap yard outside Bagram Airfield, the U.S. military’s sprawling headquarters for eastern Afghanistan.
Yeah, well, tough. If you want a big screen TV, ask Hamid Karzai if he won’t give you some of his retirement fund – that’s where your wealth went.
Some of the Afghans can’t wait for us to leave. Old Trooper sends a link from Reuters which tells of an Afghan special forces commander who looted his team after he sent them off on the town and then he defected to the local enemy fighters;
Monsif Khan, who raided the supplies of his 20-man team in Kunar’s capital Asadabad over the Eid al-Adha religious holiday, is the first special forces commander to switch sides, joining the Hezb-e-Islami organisation.
“He sent some of his comrades on leave and paid others to go out sightseeing, and then escaped with up to 30 guns, night-vision goggles, binoculars and a Humvee,” said Shuja ul-Mulkh Jalala, the governor of Kunar.
Zubair Sediqi, a spokesman for Hezb-e-Islami, confirmed that Khan had joined the group, saying he had brought 15 guns and high-tech equipment.
So good riddance, Monsif, I hope you choke on your defection.
And to end this bit of good news, if you think our withdrawal from the region will bring a measure of peace to the area, some American Muslims on the Haj in Saudi Arabia were accosted by thugs when the thugs stumbled into their tent and discovered they were Americans and Shi’ites to boot;
During the attack, the men reportedly shouted “Our [holy pilgrimage] will be complete once we have killed you, ripped out your hearts and eaten them, and [then] raped your women.”
[…]
The Americans fled the tent area, which the Saudi government had specifically designated for American and European pilgrims. During the escape, many of the group, almost entirely U.S. citizens and mostly hailing from Dearborn, Michigan suffered bruises (in one case, due to an attempted strangulation), concussions, broken bones, and black eyes.
Victims of the attack reported that nearby police refused to take action, and in some cases were openly laughing at the attack. The Americans approached other officers, including one described as a “lieutenant with stars on his shoulder pads.” They reported the attack and showed police video footage of the attack taken on cell phones.
They just can’t help being savages even when their own are the only ones left to beat up on. I guess all we can do is make sure they have enough weapons and ammunition to wipe each other out.
Category: Terror War
“…all we can do is make sure they have enough weapons and ammunition to wipe each other out.”
Now there’s a thought.
Say, could we ship that well-known garbage scow, plus the islands of garbage floating around the Pacific and Atlantic, over there? Plenty of room there, you know.
I walked away from this understanding that Dearborne Michigan needs to send more representatives….
I get it, get out, but leave your cool stuff. We shouldn’t leave one rock piled on top the other in that shithole.
with regards to the beat down during the haj, same shit, different day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Mosque_Seizure
Send in the syphilitic goats.
It was rumoured in Nam that the SOF fellas would leave behind special ammo that exploded in the chamber of rifles or when you pulled the pin on a grenade. Maybe EOD or Engeers could rig some artty shells the same SOF way. Just athrought from a evil non-believer. Joe
Bags of unprocessed sewage that rupture into geysers when opened. 🙂
Can we drop used shoes on them on the way out, please?
Joe, I heard stories of the same thing, not sure who did it but during the war they would diassemble rounds and put a bit of c-4 in them, leaving them where they would be sure to be picked up by the VC.
Some of you have noted in previous posts that AFG will merely return to it’s former state, as it was before October 2001, except now they have more stuff to barter with.
As for “peaceful” American Muslims being attacked during their Hadj, maybe now they’ll realize the religion they’re so inspired to practice isn’t so peaceful as it claims.
nuke it from orbit. the only way to be sure
Remember when the US military could wage war without flat screen TV’s? Pepperidge Farm does.
#6 and #9
Project ELDEST SON conducted by SOG against North Vietnamese Army ammunition supply points. It was also conducted under the names Project ITALIAN GREEN and POLE BEAN. It consisted of placing sabotaged 7.62x39mm, 12.7x108mm and 82mm mortar shells in enemy supply dumps which would then detonate in the weapon when fired. This would cause the enemy to distrust the quality of ammunition received from Chinese and North Vietnamese factories.
“In a nation nicknamed the ‘graveyard of empires,’ foreign forces are remembered for what they leave behind. In the 1840s, the British left forts that still stand today.”
The “graveyard of empires” bit is a total historical canard. It’s been more like a less successful “Poland of Asia.” True, the Afghans did rout the British the first go through; but, by 1842, the Brits had defeated every Afghan army sent against them. By 1880, they occupied enough of the country to get a British a veto over future Afghan foreign policy.
I’ve read stories from GIs that they would replace the fuze on a frag or Willy Pete grenade with one from a smoke canister, then letting them find it and frag themselves. I just wonder how true that is?
@11Stacy0311
Okay. This is an emotional moment for all of us. I know that. But let’s not make snap judgments, please. This is clearly an important species we’re dealing with, and I don’t think you or I or anybody has the right to arbitrarily exterminate them.
I was on the next to the last plane leaving Da Nang when the 101st Airborne left Viet Nam.
My Form 20 says I left Viet Nam on 21 February 1972, but I think that’s incorrect.
But, I really can’t recall exactly WHEN I left Viet Nam, although I do remember when I arrived in Viet Nam.
Ain’t that weird?
I had been there for two straight years (because I extended my one year tour twice), most of which was at Camp Eagle, in the 501st Signal Battalion of the 101st Airborne.
I was just a Specialist Four, E-4, so I was mystified at how things were being done.
We (the 101st Airborne) were leaving our communications equipment behind, intact, even though our technical manuals gave specific instructions on how to destroy our equipment, and we had plenty of time to do it.
Anyway, they transferred me down to Da Nang, to help clean and pack up M-16 rifles for shipment back to the “World”.
In retrospect, I reckon we left our equipment intact so the ARVN could use it, but of course, that ain’t what happened, was it?
Mox nix.
Xin loi.
JohnC–I’m not about to shed any tears for someone demanding a flat screen TV when they don’t have the fucking electricity to run it, and would gladly cut my throat for it while pretending to be my ally.
Screw ’em.
@14, I’ve read some history, too. It boils down to, in my humble estimation, WTF did we come to A-Stan? There’s nothing here worth a bucket of warm spit. Seeya bu-bye!
@13 NEVYAN:
I remember that.
We were ordered not to ever use captured AK-47s, but we were never told why.
Many guys preferred the AK-47 over the M-16.
In firefights, you could tell by the sound who was using AK-47s and who was using M-16s.
That’s why we were told never to use AK-47s, because we might get accidentally shot by our own men, thinking we were the enemy.
I think I saw that published in the “PACIFIC STARS AND STRIPES” newspaper.
The “PACIFIC STARS AND STRIPES” newspaper was also where the blanket order was published awarding the Republic of Viet Nam Cross of Gallantry with Palm Unit Award to EVERY soldier and marine who served in Viet Nam.
That order was later amended to include all of the military services.
@19 AW1ED:
I read somewhere that the REAL, unpublicized, reason we were in Afghanistan was because of a gas pipeline under construction, or some such thing.
But, if that were true, then why are we leaving?
18NHSparky Says:
So, I’m guessing you haven’t seen the movie “Aliens”…?
*Shakes head* Game over, man. Game over.
If you want the USGS geological survey of Afghanistan, I can provide a pdf. It is long, boring, guaranteed to cure insomnia, and shows nothing in the way of strategic minerals such as titanium or copper.
Oil or gas in Afganistan? Wrong geology.
Those would more likely be found in Bangladesh, as they are now found in the USA in areas like the Bakken deposits that were part of the Tethys Sea 600 million years ago.
Maybe in the flatlands of Afghanistan, but if those goats don’t have enough initiative to get rid of the Taliban themselves, and the Taliban are on a crusade of killing anyone not just like themselves, what possible chance is there of finding any gas or oil? Little to none.
Every now and then, with the increasing earthquake activity along the ridge of the Himalayas, an entire mounainside will sheer away and take with it whatever is sitting on it. Happened in 2003 and it will continue to happen as the Earth rebounds from loss of glacier coverage. If there were anything of any value it would show up in the debris. Silver and gold percolate out of volcanic eruptions. Copper is deposited in the form of malachite when chimneys bore a hole in the ocean floor.
Crete is full of the remnants of black smokers. Afghanistan is not. You’d be more likely to find ammonites than minerals.
If there were any possiblity of building a pipeline in Afghanistan, the Taliban have already destroyed that chance, period.
Time out. Can somebody remind these whining donkey fu–ing assholes that the reason we “invaded” their fu–ed up country is because that was where the fu–ing turds came from that attacked us on Sep 11. Screw them. We should just burn everything we’re leaving so they can’t use it for anything.
Ex Ph2,
The pipeline wasn’t to get gas from Afghanistan, it was to get gas from the other ‘Stans into India and China. You’re right, though, any feasible routes are fast in Taliban hands.
For what it’s worth:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Afghanistan_Pipeline
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan_Oil_Pipeline
@23, I thought the Chicoms were rushing into Northern A’stan looking for rare earth metals used in cell phones and what not?
A few ideas.
1. Creative use of water purifiers.
2. Flood the market with specially modified RPG’s.
3. Exploding bullets. I said EXPLODING bullets.
4. Goats with CLAP … I like that one.
5. Free flu shots for everyone … Wink Wink.
6. Radio constantly playing Kenny G.
@23,26
“I thought the Chicoms were rushing into Northern A’stan looking for rare earth metals used in cell phones and what not?”
Lithium. Yes, it’s there. Tungsten and copper, too. Their rarity elsewhere, however, is exaggerated. If the amount were that significant, it’s hard to believe the Soviets would have withdrawn.
This is amazing. The U.S. has been there for what… 13 years now, and Afghanistan has already turned into an entitlement (where is mine) country?
Sounds about right.
@27 Kenny G? Man, you’re just mean! (Payback reference)
@27, Master Chief, SERE was bad enough without your #6! Don’t give ’em ideas.
The horror….*brrrrrrr*
😉
China has a deal going with Iran for oil, using the remains of the Old Silk Road to transport it from Iran to China. What’s left of that ancient trade route is mostly gravel roads and dirt tracks, but Iran can move cargo through the Pamirs at the western end of the Knot of the Himalayas, where the Taliban don’t go.
On the eastern border of Tajikistan lies China, and there are roads through Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan that can be used by transport rigs.
“The Americans fled the tent area, which the Saudi government had specifically designated for American and European pilgrims…”
Any bets as to whether the Saudis put up a “Gun Free Zone” sign?
Islam the religion of murdering pieces of sh1t the world over….
After every conflict it is a wise idea to take stock of the lessons learned (if any) and whether or not the strategic objectives were achieved….
So now that we will end our time in Afghanistan and Iraq can someone explain what the tangible benefit to the nation actually was during that time that was worth 7,000 dead American soldiers and tens of thousands of casualties?
I’m not interested in hearing some nonsensical “taking the fight to the enemy” horsesh1t because we didn’t do that, we may have contained them for a time but we never had a policy of killing them to the last man or burning their habitat to the ground. Killing them to the last man and destroying their infrastructure was never the plan by the Bush or Obama administration.
I don’t see how the US plays either of these conflicts as a conflict resolved in a manner that benefits the US. Both nations are rapidly deteriorating into their pre-invasion sh1thole status, and both nations are as violent as they ever were. And neither nation appears to be pro-US interests as we exit, so we’ve not gained any new allies, we’ve not gained access to resources, and we’ve not gained a cessation of future terrorist activities sanctioned by or allowed to exist in either of these nations.
Why did we get all those kids killed? Can anyone convince me that their deaths were not a horrible travesty? I’m not so certain that those soldiers died for any good reasons at all. So why did we do it?
I’m reminded of an old rumour back after the fundamentalists took over in Iran: they demanded the border sites the Brits had there be turned over ASAP.The Brits supposedly did so, with all apparently intact. Until the Iranians found out the Brits had opened the top of every piece of electronic equipment and neatly filed it with concrete. Always wondered if that was true… makes a great story regardless.