A big blow. There you go. After US idiots in charge of foreign policy wasted billions of hard earned US taxpayer dollars, nothing has changed in Afghanistan. The US losers believed that the immense fire power and money they have will defeat the Talibans running around in sandals. One of the Taliban leaders once said: " You may have the watch but we have the time." Taliban capture key Afghan provincial capital Kunduz http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/28/taliban-attempt-to-invade-key-afghan-city-kunduz
But didn't Obama's plan to surge forces into Afghanistan work? Do you mean that Obama has been defeated by a bunch of fuzzy wuzzy fanatics? Didn't Obama call the conflict in Afghanistan a "war of necessity?" Did all those Americans die in vain? This is a defeat for America, and for Progressives.
Oops.... WTF is our Commander-in-Chief? AWOL from daily presidential briefings again, I bet. So, he'll find out about from tomorrow's newspapers.
You think Pakistan and Iran will let the U.S. have the heroin trade you are crazy. They ( using the Taliban as a protection force) will have their income stream back as swift as possible.
Is anyone seriously surprised about? No one ever conquered Afghanistan since 4,000 years and everyone who tried failed! As the Taliban commander told, the time is always running for the Afghans and against any conqueror! From that time on when the West decided not only to fight off and eliminate Al Qaida, but “to bring Afghanistan democracy and western peace”, it was clear that they failed and so many experts told this … but no one wanted to listen to them. Kunduz was a major bade of German Contingent in Afghanistan and still here the city was only hold due to their presence. After German Army retreated in 2014 and handled over to ANA, everyone with some brain knew that the countdown started until Kunduz will fall. And the general countdown until Kabul will fall is still running too ... and can't be stopped, only extended! Western ignorance is often really amazing ... like here in Afghanistan, when ignoring everyone's history and thinking we are better and do better, because we are in 21st century now!
Here is what our afghan war has done. More and cheaper heroin in America. Gee , I wonder how that happened and who profited? http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-...ut-prompts-cheaper-us-heroin-supply-un-2015-6
Don't you really know the truth? The Northern Alliance who fought against Taliban and became major ally of USA in 2003 and is Afghan government now were, are and will be in future too in majority "Drug Lords". So to hire them to fight against Taliban cost not only money until they move a single finger, it means to accept their Drug business too!
The Macedonians, Arabs, Mongols and British conquered Afghanistan within the last four thousand years.
And hold the country? No! All you named were kicked off after some years and no one could hold power in Afghanistan!
power of Pushtuns is badly overrated, the main power of Pushtuns are chaos and anarchy + its extremely useless piece of land
You can't move the goalpost. You said that Afghans hadn't been defeated in the last four thousand years. In any event, the Macedonians conquered Afghanistan and founded the Kingdom of Bactria which lasted for hundreds of years until the Muslim conquest during the First Great Jihad. Afghanistan was once a Buddhist nation. That changed after the Muslim conquest by Arabs and their Iranian conscripts. Afghanistan is still Muslim. The Mongols conquered Afghanistan and the Hazaras are their descendants. The Hazaras occupy a significant portion of Afghanistan. The British lost the first Anglo-Afghan War of the 1840's, but won the Second Anglo-Afghan War of the 1870's. Lord Robert's famous night march and left hook at the Battle of Peiwar Kotal was apogee of glory for British arms.
+1, except GDL war men in XIV century and Paraguayans )) - - - Updated - - - are you sure about this part?
Partially. Check this out: "The origins of the Hazara have not been fully reconstructed. Significant inner Asian descent – in historical context Turkic and Mongol – is impossible to rule out because the Hazara's physical attributes,[20] facial bone structures and parts of their culture and language resemble those of Mongolians and Central Asian Turks.[20] Thus, it is widely and popularly[21] believed that Hazara have Mongolian ancestry. Genetic analysis of the Hazara indicate partial Mongolian ancestry.[22] Invading Mongols and Turco-Mongols mixed with the local Iranian population, forming a distinct group. For example, Nikudari Mongols settled in what is now Afghanistan and mixed with native populations who spoke Persian. A second wave of mostly Chagatai Mongols came from Central Asia and were followed by other Mongolic groups, associated with the Ilkhanate and the Timurids, all of whom settled in Hazarajat and mixed with the local, mostly Persian-speaking population, forming a distinct group.[23]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazaras
We can continue to ignore the obvious but I will post this just in case some quiet fearful person just wants to read why Afghanistan is a never ending mission. How Opium Greed is Keeping US Troops in Afghanistan http://mediaroots.org/opium-what-afghanistan-is-really-about/ In 2012, a Mexican government official from Juarez told Al Jazeera that the CIA and other international security forces “don’t fight drug traffickers” and that instead, the agency tries to “manage the drug trade.”
I think the Taliban got their plan from Dark Knight, sneak into the city, launch a surprise attack, free all criminals. [video=youtube;tzK97Aaj_U8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzK97Aaj_U8[/video]
It just shows the complete failure of all U.S foreign policies in the world. Any bloody army they train is bound to fail. It can only lead to a conclusion that the U.S army and its instructors are bunch of incompetent people who are bad at doing their job. Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria…All one big FAIL. To me it doesn’t come as a surprise. Why? The U.S idiots trained Sunni radical Muslims thinking they were training moderate Muslims. Those guys learned few tricks of the trade and more importantly inner workings of the armies they were supposed to be part of. The USA/UK completely lost the plot. Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya are all failed countries. And Syria is on its way to become one. The most dangerous one.
Wrong … Let us say that Alexander the Great was the last one and Kingdom of Bactria with his some hundreds of years of existence. Who governed Afghanistan since then for longer as some decades really as foreigner with foreign regime / leaders … and without having resistance of Afghan rebells to fight off all the time? No one … and no one won this fight against these rebels finally! On paper it was part of this and that power, but never in reality and this is the point! The Islam entered Afghanistan very slowly and it cost several hundred years until Islam was established as religion. You name the so successful British attack of the 1870’s? OK … and why they left Afghanistan in in the 1890’s again and made border line what is up to today border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, eh? Sorry, any foreigner who wanted to control Afghanistan failed since Alexander the Great.
It might be worth reminding you who began this useless and wasteful war-(hint; it wasn't Obama). - - - Updated - - - The British? Are you kidding? Britain was always on the back foot in Afghanistan and won nothing of any substance. There were three Anglo-Afghan wars and Britain lost them all except the second.
Granny says, "Dat's right - Afghans couldn't fight dey's own battle... Afghan request initiated U.S. airstrike on Kunduz hospital Oct. 5, 2015 WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. forces in Afghanistan Commander Gen. John Campbell confirmed Monday that the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz was struck by a U.S. airstrike after Afghan forces called for air support.
Women targeted in Taliban takeover of Afghan city... Taliban to women in Kunduz: Don't come back or we will kill you Oct 17, 2015: Hiding in her basement, a Kunduz radio presenter was paralysed with fear when the Taliban came looking for her as they conducted house-to-house searches for working women after storming the northern Afghan city. See also: 'Jihadi John made me tango dance with him and then beat me': Freed ISIS hostage describes torture Oct 17, 2015 - A former ISIS hostage held with Alan Henning and James Foley has described how their murderer, "Jihadi John", forced him to dance the tango as part of a regime of torture and humiliation.