fire4effect

Yep there's the rub. If they're already going around hunting our allies though then when and how do we smack the Taliban PP? I get it as satisfying as it would be now to go all Linebacker on them we need to be proportionate. Always let the bad guys know there's still a lot for them to lose. I would pick one HVT (I vote Haqqani obviously almost like Solemani in Iraq) just to show them the threat is always in the background. Like we've discussed they're out in the open now trying to run a country which is an order of magnitude harder than what they were doing. We also have a carrot in the billions in aid we control and the big stick is the military.

I would sure like to render more Sh!t inoperable preferably with Haqqani and his Badri 313 clowns close by. If anybody thinks these savages aren't going house to house killing people they're not seeing reality. We as a country need to make a statement. I would imagine regular Afghans are trying to avoid close proximity to the Taliban for obvious reasons. We have plenty of golfers in the military that already know how to aim for the little white flag

My first Rum and Coke in 4 months. To the fallen 🥃

I guess it's time to start all in backing the locals in the Panjshir Valley. i.e. "Pimping the Flintstones"

Actually while I'm thinking about it. The best targets to help mitigate the VBIED threat IMHO are the fertilizer factories in Pakistan. As far as I'm concerned anything that "happens" in a fertilizer factory is an industrial accident (see Beirut blast). I'm not a chemist/agricultural specialist but I thought there are alternative that are a much less volatile than ammonium nitrate though more expensive. Either way I would pay subsidies for an alternative so ammonium nitrate is less available.

First off in my career I've been in close enough proximity to the bad guys ordnance going off that this is close to home for me. I'm personally not saying this didn't happen but the fanatics doing this will lie (not surprisingly) on casualties and their numbers and purposely place explosives among civilians for obvious reasons. I would guess it's likely the secondary explosion could easily have been the cause of many of the casualties. As I recall a few years back in another Kabul neighborhood there was a seizure of something on the order of 25000 lbs of fertilizer smuggled in cement bags along with all the other fixings needed to make one helluva a VBIED. Just as an example. So yes there is precedent. Unfortunately with no ground troops in the area now air-ground ordnance is really the only way to deal with the threat. Yes it's a tragedy innocents get caught in the middle.

"Think you used enough dynamite there Butch?" My thoughts exactly.

Hey I admit I've been guilty of it too. Especially when I drink and post. 😁 It's frustrating when we allow ourselves get derailed by arguably minor things with the sh!tstorm the world is going through at the moment.

I have to agree. The irony is this kind of nitpicking is exactly why the really smart people want nothing to do with politics.

Yep posting in this thread can be hazardous. Truth in advertising I've actually met her and clearly my personal opinion. Like most I would like to see competence at the top.

Alright I'll throw another name out there for President. Probably take a lot persuading to get her to run when she finally retires from the AF but I would definitely vote for her. Scary smart and from what I've seen not at all pretentious. GENERAL JACQUELINE D. VAN OVOST > U.S. Air Force > Biography Display (af.mil)

Honestly I hope they're starting to do the shell game if they haven't already and setting up temporary FARPs/LZs around Kabul. Soccer fields for instance are as common as 7-11s here. No more than 24 hrs in one space as temporary collection point for people needing extraction. Tell the Taliban we'll be moving around to keep ISIS off guard and unable to concentrate on one damn place because clearly you can't maintain security.

I thought you could tell when they can't land a "normal aircraft" in a crosswind.😁

Probably falls under the purview of Captain Obvious. Given the sh!tstorm going on right now and the sheer number of people flooding the gates it probably isn't all that practical but this emphasizes the importance of limiting the initial search of someone or vehicle to say two people. You always hope the other side decides that it's not worth expending his valuable ordnance (suicide bomber) on your target for a relatively small casualty count. Still has me scratching my head how they killed that many US Servicemembers with one SVEST if in indeed that's what it was.

If that's indeed the case we're all in now and it's game on. Or at least it better be.

Copy that on keeping this on current topic. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwimgJ-t2c7yAhVNl2oFHc23D_QQFnoECBUQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fbusiness-58261659&usg=AOvVaw27VPgxpsK7XPtlklDBAf7B I see close to 10 billion reasons the Taliban will do one of two things. Play nice and let everyone that wants too leave, leave in exchange for the cash OR take hostages for a big fat ransom.

From my first lesson of marksmanship. Be sure of your target.

At the risk of really derailing the thread I'll put Petraeus' name out there. If they just don't hold that little misdemeanor against him.

I'm sure it is at the moment but even religious fanatics have to pay the bills eventually.

Remember the 4 instruments of national power, DIME, diplomacy, information, military, and economy? Afghanistan is 'weeks to months' from economic collapse, experts say (msn.com) The first three haven't worked so well lately but the Taliban are getting ready to get a reminder in economic pain. The world economy just isn't what it was in the 90s especially in regards to cash flow. No stimulus checks for you.

I wonder what he would think if he were still here. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiosZT4n8ryAhUMCc0KHWElC2cQFnoECBgQAw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FRonald_J._Shurer&usg=AOvVaw17VUTVZKTtep21Syz_oQ1E And if Biden could look him in the eye.

Makes me question the competence of leadership in ways I never did before. To the point I think some are starting to show the first signs of dementia.

One thing I just recalled and I can't prove this actually happened but supposedly Bin Laden saw how we cut and ran after "Blackhawk Down" in Somalia in 93 and he believed and conceived the 9-11 attacks because he thought we would wholesale cut and run from the Mideast after the 9-11. What we do now could define who we are as a country in our eyes and the eyes of the world for years to come. I ask our leadership, are all we going to have for these people are "thought and prayers"?

Yes Sir to both. And its the kind of thing that keeps the people making the decisions up at night but I don't see a way around going all in. If we think fighting the Taliban is inevitable we need degrade them any way we can. The Northern Alliance as I'll still refer to them could be a powerful ally going forward and as I've mentioned before we need to make it clear to Pakistan they're the ones who allowed the Taliban to flourish and commit the atrocities that are going on now. Sh!tty calculus of no really good options is my take.

Taliban says hundreds of fighters heading to take Panjshir Valley | Asia News | Al Jazeera Target rich environment.