@HYUFD will be along in a minute to tell us that actually President Trump is blameless and isn't responsible actually nor has he ever made any such claim.
Read my post below, as I have said Romney would be better than Biden and Trump, they are both wrong on the withdrawal, though I doubt even Trump would have so weakly surrendered to the Taliban as Biden has, certainly at least not without some shock and awe bombing etc
How has Biden surrendered to the Taliban...
US troops left Afghanistan a month or so ago - this is merely the obvious result of that departure.
He surrendered by the very act of withdrawal, as I have long said US and UK forces should have stayed there indefinitely to keep the Taliban and Al Qaeda out
The brutal truth is that we've achieved sweet FA despite twenty years of trying.
And in terms of worldwide terrorism, Afghanistan has no special resources that controlling helps launch terrorist attacks. The resource is the extremists themselves - many new ones having been generated by the occupation and every accidental civilian death. They are no more dangerous now than they were sitting in Pakistan. All we have done is give them legitimacy in the eyes of many by allowing them to champion opposition to western imperialism.
Good point. Exactly the same is true of opium incidentally: the poppies aren't endemic to Afghanistan, you can grow them anywhere. It's just the general lawlessness of the place.
@HYUFD will be along in a minute to tell us that actually President Trump is blameless and isn't responsible actually nor has he ever made any such claim.
Read my post below, as I have said Romney would be better than Biden and Trump, they are both wrong on the withdrawal, though I doubt even Trump would have so weakly surrendered to the Taliban as Biden has, certainly at least not without some shock and awe bombing etc
How has Biden surrendered to the Taliban...
US troops left Afghanistan a month or so ago - this is merely the obvious result of that departure.
He surrendered by the very act of withdrawal, as I have long said US and UK forces should have stayed there indefinitely to keep the Taliban and Al Qaeda out
The brutal truth is that we've achieved sweet FA despite twenty years of trying.
And in terms of worldwide terrorism, Afghanistan has no special resources that controlling helps launch terrorist attacks. The resource is the extremists themselves - many new ones having been generated by the occupation and every accidental civilian death. They are no more dangerous now than they were sitting in Pakistan. All we have done is give them legitimacy in the eyes of many by allowing them to champion opposition to western imperialism.
We prevented 9/11 2 for 20 years.
That is now significantly more likely if Afghanistan becomes a haven for terrorists again. US special forces were sent to Pakistan too to kill Bin Laden.
Given the worst terrorist attack in western history happened BEFORE the Afghan and Iraq invasions the legitimacy argument is rubbish, jihadis were already wanting to attack the west beforehand.
We have to be ready to take them on wherever they are, just Biden has given up the fight
Interesting perspective which, I think, has some merit;
“The real failure lies with the U.S. officials who have lied repeatedly about the alleged progress being made in building an effective government and military. Particularly shameful are those who pretend that the U.S. could have stayed the course in Afghanistan without cost. The option, as President Biden rightfully noted yesterday, was to either surge U.S. forces again or withdraw from Afghanistan’s civil war. The former would have meant indefinite and increased deployments of U.S. forces to fight for people who were not willing to fight for the government we imagined for them.”
It's sadly ironic that over the years the US (and others) have done the dirty on those looking to overthrow a brutal dictatorship and yet they've spent 20 years trying to help people who didn't want to do it themselves.
REAKING: A German Defense Ministry spokesperson on its responsibility to get local Afghan support staff and translators out of the country: "It's not like we forced them to cooperate with us."
America also considering restricting flights out to US citizens only [ no locals
Real race to the bottom in shameless abdication of moral duty around Afghanistan, sadly. Lots of people trying to push the blame on their natural opponents rather than allies, but the truth is there's plenty to go around.
Afghan refugees are really not popular in some quarters in Germany. Ahem... cultural compatibility issues.
Neither are Turkish immigrants, many of whom have been there for decades.
@HYUFD will be along in a minute to tell us that actually President Trump is blameless and isn't responsible actually nor has he ever made any such claim.
Read my post below, as I have said Romney would be better than Biden and Trump, they are both wrong on the withdrawal, though I doubt even Trump would have so weakly surrendered to the Taliban as Biden has, certainly at least not without some shock and awe bombing etc
How has Biden surrendered to the Taliban...
US troops left Afghanistan a month or so ago - this is merely the obvious result of that departure.
He surrendered by the very act of withdrawal, as I have long said US and UK forces should have stayed there indefinitely to keep the Taliban and Al Qaeda out
The brutal truth is that we've achieved sweet FA despite twenty years of trying.
And in terms of worldwide terrorism, Afghanistan has no special resources that controlling helps launch terrorist attacks. The resource is the extremists themselves - many new ones having been generated by the occupation and every accidental civilian death. They are no more dangerous now than they were sitting in Pakistan. All we have done is give them legitimacy in the eyes of many by allowing them to champion opposition to western imperialism.
We prevented 9/11 2 for 20 years.
That is now significantly more likely if Afghanistan becomes a haven for terrorists again. US special forces were sent to Pakistan too to kill Bin Laden.
Given the worst terrorist attack in western history happened BEFORE the Afghan and Iraq invasions the legitimacy argument is rubbish, jihadis were already wanting to attack the west beforehand.
We have to be ready to take them on wherever they are, just Biden has given up the fight
Afghanistan is a mess. As are many other countries.
And so is the UK. But on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is minor political incompetence and 10 is all-out civil/religious war, we're at 1, or 1.5. And the scale is probably exponential.
The news today makes me incredibly glad to have been born in, and living in the, UK. And it makes me more determined for the country to become 0.25 or 0.5, not 2 or 3.
That is now significantly more likely if Afghanistan becomes a haven for terrorists again. US special forces were sent to Pakistan too to kill Bin Laden.
Given the worst terrorist attack in western history happened BEFORE the Afghan and Iraq invasions the legitimacy argument is rubbish, jihadis were already wanting to attack the west beforehand.
We have to be ready to take them on wherever they are, just Biden has given up the fight
The military presence in Afghnistan didn't prevent terrorist attacks.
It hasn't prevented the radicalisation of young people in the West via the Internet or via Imams in local mosques.
I've not heard a syllable from you about the radicalisation of young British people - all you want to do is kick President Biden. That might make you feel better but it doesn't solve any of the problem.
LDs up 1% to 10% after opposing the Afghan withdrawal. Tories unchanged, Labour down 1%
Much as I would like to get excited by this, it really is meaningless at the 1% change. 3% and I'm interested, 5% and really excited. 1% does nothing to me.
You'd be surprised what it does to some on here.
CON -1 and LAB +1 is Starmer measuring up the curtains at No.10 or the end of civilisation as we know it (delete as appropriate).
CON +1 and LAB -1 is Johnson winning a second term to lead the country to new heights of glory or the end of civilisation as we know it (delete as appropriate).
It did take a while for some to understand the concept of reporting day. Reporting lag was another one....
To be fair the slowest took about 3 months to work those out - which was about 3 months quicker than than Prof. Peston.
It now seems rather than Saigon in April 1975, we're going back to Busan in the autumn of 1950.
The Pentagon spokesman almost seems to be suggesting the country can be recaptured from the perimeter of Kabul Airport.
The Afghan Army has "tangible advantages" over the Taliban - well, less territory to defend is one.
They don't have an Inchon the Taleban though.
Literally. Where would you launch the amphibious invasion at Inchon that turned the Korean War around in Afghanistan?
If you wanted to come from a different angle, you'd have to come through Iran. Which seems....... unlikely! I wondered if you'd be out looking for a punning opportunity. Had a good afternoon?
Both Root and Kohli are fantastic batsmen but I don't think either is a great captain.
Everyone knows Ajinkya Rahane is a better captain than Kohli - he won a Test series in Oz from behind FFS, not too many captains can say that - but it's politically inexpedient to admit it. Kohli is the star player, even more than Tendulkar was, and he must therefore be front and centre. Tendulkar, indeed, might have been kept as captain had he not resigned, feeling (a) that it was affecting his batting and (b) that it was a fecking impossible job because of Azharuddin's influence (ironically rapidly eliminated after Tendulkar's resignation by match-fixing revelations).
And if we're honest, while Kohli has his runs along with those of Rohit Sharma, Pujara and Pant, coupled with Bumrah and Ishant Sharma's pace and Ashwin and Jadeja's guile, it probably doesn't matter that much who's leading them.
Mind you, looking forward to those who are never done criticising Merkel for ‘opening the floodgates’ getting all sniffy about Laschet.
The more Laschet talks, the more the Union loses support - back in the mid-20s after flirting with 30% a few weeks ago.
The Finance Minister and SPD Spitzenkandidat is doing so much better - IF the SPD finish second, perhaps we could see that SPD-Green-FDP Government after all. Lindner only ruled out being in a coalition led by the Greens - he didn't rule out a coalition led by another party including Greens.
@HYUFD will be along in a minute to tell us that actually President Trump is blameless and isn't responsible actually nor has he ever made any such claim.
Read my post below, as I have said Romney would be better than Biden and Trump, they are both wrong on the withdrawal, though I doubt even Trump would have so weakly surrendered to the Taliban as Biden has, certainly at least not without some shock and awe bombing etc
Trump is fucking taking credit for it you prannock. You are blaming Biden for something that Trump is literally boasting about having personally done.
@HYUFD will be along in a minute to tell us that actually President Trump is blameless and isn't responsible actually nor has he ever made any such claim.
Read my post below, as I have said Romney would be better than Biden and Trump, they are both wrong on the withdrawal, though I doubt even Trump would have so weakly surrendered to the Taliban as Biden has, certainly at least not without some shock and awe bombing etc
Trump is fucking taking credit for it you prannock. You are blaming Biden for something that Trump is literally boasting about having personally done.
Who was that governor who claimed he was drafted for a top-league baseball team, and having been completely nailed and not having a leg to stand on, simply said, 'I have now researched the matter and come to the conclusion I was not drafted by the As?'
Donald Trump will doubtless exhibit a similar level of chutzpah.
@HYUFD will be along in a minute to tell us that actually President Trump is blameless and isn't responsible actually nor has he ever made any such claim.
Read my post below, as I have said Romney would be better than Biden and Trump, they are both wrong on the withdrawal, though I doubt even Trump would have so weakly surrendered to the Taliban as Biden has, certainly at least not without some shock and awe bombing etc
Trump is fucking taking credit for it you prannock. You are blaming Biden for something that Trump is literally boasting about having personally done.
Well it was not on Trump's watch Kabul fell back to the Taliban was it, obviously he will do, this is Trump. ' It was Biden who allowed Trump to call him a loser on this, he has noone to blame but himself for withdrawing US forces in such a chaotic manner and Trump will obviously always say he would have done it perfectly
Mind you, looking forward to those who are never done criticising Merkel for ‘opening the floodgates’ getting all sniffy about Laschet.
The more Laschet talks, the more the Union loses support - back in the mid-20s after flirting with 30% a few weeks ago.
The Finance Minister and SPD Spitzenkandidat is doing so much better - IF the SPD finish second, perhaps we could see that SPD-Green-FDP Government after all. Lindner only ruled out being in a coalition led by the Greens - he didn't rule out a coalition led by another party including Greens.
Why would the FDP abandon their normal coalition partner, the CDU, with whom they agree on more issues than the Greens for a coalition with the Greens? A Union-SPD-FDP coalition is far more likely especially given the Union will likely still be largest party
That is now significantly more likely if Afghanistan becomes a haven for terrorists again. US special forces were sent to Pakistan too to kill Bin Laden.
Given the worst terrorist attack in western history happened BEFORE the Afghan and Iraq invasions the legitimacy argument is rubbish, jihadis were already wanting to attack the west beforehand.
We have to be ready to take them on wherever they are, just Biden has given up the fight
The military presence in Afghnistan didn't prevent terrorist attacks.
It hasn't prevented the radicalisation of young people in the West via the Internet or via Imams in local mosques.
I've not heard a syllable from you about the radicalisation of young British people - all you want to do is kick President Biden. That might make you feel better but it doesn't solve any of the problem.
Of course it did, we have had no 9/11 2 for 20 years.
The chances of 9/11 2 are now growing every day after Biden allowed Afghanistan to become a terrorist state again.
Yes we can deal with radicalisation too (and the police and security forces are) but where did most of those radicals go to be trained in terror before the invasion? Afghanistan
Afghanistan is a mess. As are many other countries.
And so is the UK. But on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is minor political incompetence and 10 is all-out civil/religious war, we're at 1, or 1.5. And the scale is probably exponential.
The news today makes me incredibly glad to have been born in, and living in the, UK. And it makes me more determined for the country to become 0.25 or 0.5, not 2 or 3.
'We' are lucky, folks ...
This is very true and worth remembering sometimes.
So are we going to take in Afghan refugees then? Or are we going to have smirking Priti announce that we don't want to take in these terrorists.
So what's your answer to the problem? Please give us a fully-considered view on what the government should be doing. Numbers and details preferred.
This crisis does not warrant cheap point scoring and I hope and expect HMG to provide a safe haven for those who helped us and the UK-EU-US need to formulate a sensible and equitable safe haven for Afghan women and children fleeing the Taliban
Both Root and Kohli are fantastic batsmen but I don't think either is a great captain.
Everyone knows Ajinkya Rahane is a better captain than Kohli - he won a Test series in Oz from behind FFS, not too many captains can say that - but it's politically inexpedient to admit it. Kohli is the star player, even more than Tendulkar was, and he must therefore be front and centre. Tendulkar, indeed, might have been kept as captain had he not resigned, feeling (a) that it was affecting his batting and (b) that it was a fecking impossible job because of Azharuddin's influence (ironically rapidly eliminated after Tendulkar's resignation by match-fixing revelations).
And if we're honest, while Kohli has his runs along with those of Rohit Sharma, Pujara and Pant, coupled with Bumrah and Ishant Sharma's pace and Ashwin and Jadeja's guile, it probably doesn't matter that much who's leading them.
There is a difference between who is the best captain for a one-off series or longer term. Kohli has been an exceptional captain by setting standards and driving performance and professionalism into the heart of Indian cricket. Whether he is a tactical genius or average, he has proven himself a great captain with the success of his team.
This is not a column about trans issues. It is a column about basing government policy, in part, on a survey of 84 Canadian youths conducted more than a decade ago
This is not a column about transgenderism. It is about something larger than that. For although the increasingly heated, bitter and frankly unresolvable trans issue will not disappear anytime soon, the manner in which Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish government have handled this issue tells us something important. So this is a column about how the Scottish government thinks, the way it develops policy, and then the way it attempts to persuade voters this policy is appropriate, proportionate and wise.
Afghanistan is a mess. As are many other countries.
And so is the UK. But on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is minor political incompetence and 10 is all-out civil/religious war, we're at 1, or 1.5. And the scale is probably exponential.
The news today makes me incredibly glad to have been born in, and living in the, UK. And it makes me more determined for the country to become 0.25 or 0.5, not 2 or 3.
'We' are lucky, folks ...
This is very true and worth remembering sometimes.
Yes it is
Maybe there should be some kind of penalty for first world problem whining? Anyone caught griping online about being addressed by the wrong pronoun, or accusing others of micro aggressions, should have to spend a day fundraising for refugees
@HYUFD will be along in a minute to tell us that actually President Trump is blameless and isn't responsible actually nor has he ever made any such claim.
Read my post below, as I have said Romney would be better than Biden and Trump, they are both wrong on the withdrawal, though I doubt even Trump would have so weakly surrendered to the Taliban as Biden has, certainly at least not without some shock and awe bombing etc
How has Biden surrendered to the Taliban...
US troops left Afghanistan a month or so ago - this is merely the obvious result of that departure.
He surrendered by the very act of withdrawal, as I have long said US and UK forces should have stayed there indefinitely to keep the Taliban and Al Qaeda out
The brutal truth is that we've achieved sweet FA despite twenty years of trying.
And in terms of worldwide terrorism, Afghanistan has no special resources that controlling helps launch terrorist attacks. The resource is the extremists themselves - many new ones having been generated by the occupation and every accidental civilian death. They are no more dangerous now than they were sitting in Pakistan. All we have done is give them legitimacy in the eyes of many by allowing them to champion opposition to western imperialism.
We prevented 9/11 2 for 20 years.
That is now significantly more likely if Afghanistan becomes a haven for terrorists again. US special forces were sent to Pakistan too to kill Bin Laden.
Given the worst terrorist attack in western history happened BEFORE the Afghan and Iraq invasions the legitimacy argument is rubbish, jihadis were already wanting to attack the west beforehand.
We have to be ready to take them on wherever they are, just Biden has given up the fight
So are we going to take in Afghan refugees then? Or are we going to have smirking Priti announce that we don't want to take in these terrorists.
So what's your answer to the problem? Please give us a fully-considered view on what the government should be doing. Numbers and details preferred.
This crisis does not warrant cheap point scoring and I hope and expect HMG to provide a safe haven for those who helped us and the UK-EU-US need to formulate a sensible and equitable safe haven for Afghan women and children fleeing the Taliban
Everyone trying to get into Kent from France on a dinghy will say they’re an Afghan now, so says Farage
@HYUFD will be along in a minute to tell us that actually President Trump is blameless and isn't responsible actually nor has he ever made any such claim.
Read my post below, as I have said Romney would be better than Biden and Trump, they are both wrong on the withdrawal, though I doubt even Trump would have so weakly surrendered to the Taliban as Biden has, certainly at least not without some shock and awe bombing etc
Trump is fucking taking credit for it you prannock. You are blaming Biden for something that Trump is literally boasting about having personally done.
Well it was not on Trump's watch Kabul fell back to the Taliban was it, obviously he will do, this is Trump. ' It was Biden who allowed Trump to call him a loser on this, he has noone to blame but himself for withdrawing US forces in such a chaotic manner and Trump will obviously always say he would have done it perfectly
You are right about the fallout being on Biden's watch.
You are also correct that Biden could have stopped the exit.
I question both Biden's morality that he didn't stop Trump's Doha Treaty fiasco and I cannot countenance how ill informed Military Intelligence and the CIA would appear to be. The latter point you conveniently overlook.
So are we going to take in Afghan refugees then? Or are we going to have smirking Priti announce that we don't want to take in these terrorists.
So what's your answer to the problem? Please give us a fully-considered view on what the government should be doing. Numbers and details preferred.
This crisis does not warrant cheap point scoring and I hope and expect HMG to provide a safe haven for those who helped us and the UK-EU-US need to formulate a sensible and equitable safe haven for Afghan women and children fleeing the Taliban
I've got little idea what the UK government should be doing. I've got an idea of what I'd like the end state to be - which might well be different from what the majority of Afghans want it to be, as I'm speaking from a UK perspective. But I've got little idea how to get there, especially after the last forty or more years.
It's therefore fair to ask people criticising the government before they've done much what they'd prefer the government to be doing.
Mind you, looking forward to those who are never done criticising Merkel for ‘opening the floodgates’ getting all sniffy about Laschet.
The more Laschet talks, the more the Union loses support - back in the mid-20s after flirting with 30% a few weeks ago.
The Finance Minister and SPD Spitzenkandidat is doing so much better - IF the SPD finish second, perhaps we could see that SPD-Green-FDP Government after all. Lindner only ruled out being in a coalition led by the Greens - he didn't rule out a coalition led by another party including Greens.
Why would the FDP abandon their normal coalition partner, the CDU, with whom they agree on more issues than the Greens for a coalition with the Greens? A Union-SPD-FDP coalition is far more likely especially given the Union will likely still be largest party
I'm sceptical about the prospects of an SPD-Green-FDP coalition at the national level even though there has been a successful one in Rhineland Palatinate since 2016. That said the FDP collapsed talks with the CDU/CSU and Greens last time so who knows.
The mood and momentum does seem to be *against the CDU/CSU* (though most of the national swing is from CDU/CSU to the Greens in urban areas since 2017). The SPD hasn't yet polled more than 20% nationally in any poll but there was a poll out yesterday with the SPD polling ahead of the CDU in Merkel's home state.
Mind you, looking forward to those who are never done criticising Merkel for ‘opening the floodgates’ getting all sniffy about Laschet.
The more Laschet talks, the more the Union loses support - back in the mid-20s after flirting with 30% a few weeks ago.
The Finance Minister and SPD Spitzenkandidat is doing so much better - IF the SPD finish second, perhaps we could see that SPD-Green-FDP Government after all. Lindner only ruled out being in a coalition led by the Greens - he didn't rule out a coalition led by another party including Greens.
Why would the FDP abandon their normal coalition partner, the CDU, with whom they agree on more issues than the Greens for a coalition with the Greens? A Union-SPD-FDP coalition is far more likely especially given the Union will likely still be largest party
It's not impossible the SPD will be the largest party rather than the Union so Olaf Scholz would be Chancellor. I suspect Lindner and the FDP would be quite comfortable with Scholz who is a fiscal moderate. The Greens would be forced to moderate some of their ideas to join the coalition but the prospect of being back in power for the first time in a generation might encourage that thinking.
As for the Union, perhaps they will decide after such a reversal to spend some time in opposition to regroup and reconsider their policies. The CDU/CSU have been in Government since 2005 (the SPD were in opposition from 2009-2013) but are now facing their worst result since 1949.
Even "natural parties of Government" need spells in Opposition to regroup and rethink.
Everyone was slating England's batting after the First Test, and taking consolation in our bowling, but the two points at which this match went wrong for England were to do with the bowling. Choosing to bowl and taking only three wickets on the first day, and allowing India to score an unbeaten 89 for their second-innings ninth wicket this morning.
Root needs to have a serious think about what on earth he was doing when India were 223-8 and had, to quote Espncricinfo
'Just a wide slip in, all the other catchers(!) are on the boundary'
As someone who doesn't know much about cricket, that last line might as well be: 'Just a small crater in, all the other falafels(!) are on the meridian'.
Mind you, looking forward to those who are never done criticising Merkel for ‘opening the floodgates’ getting all sniffy about Laschet.
The more Laschet talks, the more the Union loses support - back in the mid-20s after flirting with 30% a few weeks ago.
The Finance Minister and SPD Spitzenkandidat is doing so much better - IF the SPD finish second, perhaps we could see that SPD-Green-FDP Government after all. Lindner only ruled out being in a coalition led by the Greens - he didn't rule out a coalition led by another party including Greens.
Why would the FDP abandon their normal coalition partner, the CDU, with whom they agree on more issues than the Greens for a coalition with the Greens? A Union-SPD-FDP coalition is far more likely especially given the Union will likely still be largest party
It's not impossible the SPD will be the largest party rather than the Union so Olaf Scholz would be Chancellor. I suspect Lindner and the FDP would be quite comfortable with Scholz who is a fiscal moderate. The Greens would be forced to moderate some of their ideas to join the coalition but the prospect of being back in power for the first time in a generation might encourage that thinking.
As for the Union, perhaps they will decide after such a reversal to spend some time in opposition to regroup and reconsider their policies. The CDU/CSU have been in Government since 2005 (the SPD were in opposition from 2009-2013) but are now facing their worst result since 1949.
Even "natural parties of Government" need spells in Opposition to regroup and rethink.
They won't, Laschet was picked not for his electability, if they wanted that they would have gone for Soder but his ability to continue the coalition with the SPD and to be able to deal with the Greens too if needed.
Unless the SPD are largest party no chance the Union will choose to go into opposition, the SPD still also facing one of their worst postwar results
Rather than asking what it is about religious men that makes them think that their wives can’t think for themselves we should be asking why are they so often pedophiles? 9? That’s perverted. As their wives would tell them if asked.
A young Chinese woman says she was held for eight days at a Chinese-run secret detention facility in Dubai along with at least two Uyghurs, in what may be the first evidence that China is operating a so-called “black site” beyond its borders https://twitter.com/maxwalden_/status/1427132771089018883
Although I think South Africa were still shell-shocked by the pounding Trescothick had given them in the morning.
I was listening on the radio as I'd gone shopping in Gloucester that day. I turned it off when he was on about 110, and came back less than an hour later to find he'd been out some time - for 180.
A young Chinese woman says she was held for eight days at a Chinese-run secret detention facility in Dubai along with at least two Uyghurs, in what may be the first evidence that China is operating a so-called “black site” beyond its borders https://twitter.com/maxwalden_/status/1427132771089018883
A young Chinese woman says she was held for eight days at a Chinese-run secret detention facility in Dubai along with at least two Uyghurs, in what may be the first evidence that China is operating a so-called “black site” beyond its borders https://twitter.com/maxwalden_/status/1427132771089018883
Afghanistan is a mess. As are many other countries.
And so is the UK. But on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is minor political incompetence and 10 is all-out civil/religious war, we're at 1, or 1.5. And the scale is probably exponential.
The news today makes me incredibly glad to have been born in, and living in the, UK. And it makes me more determined for the country to become 0.25 or 0.5, not 2 or 3.
'We' are lucky, folks ...
This is very true and worth remembering sometimes.
Yes it is
Maybe there should be some kind of penalty for first world problem whining? Anyone caught griping online about being addressed by the wrong pronoun, or accusing others of micro aggressions, should have to spend a day fundraising for refugees
Of course you pick examples to suit a political agenda - yours - and thus lose the point of the point.
Rather than asking what it is about religious men that makes them think that their wives can’t think for themselves we should be asking why are they so often pedophiles? 9? That’s perverted. As their wives would tell them if asked.
It shows how disgustingly in thrall to the literal interpretation of Islam the Taliban is, no other nation on earth has an age of consent of 9 (It's the age Aisha/Muhammad consumated their marriage). Women's views, and the views of the civilised world are an irrelevance to them. The next lowest is Nigeria at 11.
I'm sceptical about the prospects of an SPD-Green-FDP coalition at the national level even though there has been a successful one in Rhineland Palatinate since 2016. That said the FDP collapsed talks with the CDU/CSU and Greens last time so who knows.
The mood and momentum does seem to be *against the CDU/CSU* (though most of the national swing is from CDU/CSU to the Greens in urban areas since 2017). The SPD hasn't yet polled more than 20% nationally in any poll but there was a poll out yesterday with the SPD polling ahead of the CDU in Merkel's home state.
Yes, that's a reasonable analysis.
The SPD have been advancing in recent polls and have not only overtaken the Greens but reached 20% in the latest INSA poll.
Unlike @HYUFD, I think the time is up for the Union and they will go into opposition after their worst performance ever. That's not to say Scholz is going to get a ringing endorsement either - doing a fraction better than their worsr ever result is hardly success but the SPD will be happier than the CDU who have won every poll since 2002 (that was only a fractional loss).
The last time the SPD decisively outpointed the CDU was when they won 40-35 in 1998. That's 75% for the Union and the SPD, now it's 45%. That's a fundamental electoral shift.
Mind you, looking forward to those who are never done criticising Merkel for ‘opening the floodgates’ getting all sniffy about Laschet.
The more Laschet talks, the more the Union loses support - back in the mid-20s after flirting with 30% a few weeks ago.
The Finance Minister and SPD Spitzenkandidat is doing so much better - IF the SPD finish second, perhaps we could see that SPD-Green-FDP Government after all. Lindner only ruled out being in a coalition led by the Greens - he didn't rule out a coalition led by another party including Greens.
Why would the FDP abandon their normal coalition partner, the CDU, with whom they agree on more issues than the Greens for a coalition with the Greens? A Union-SPD-FDP coalition is far more likely especially given the Union will likely still be largest party
It's not impossible the SPD will be the largest party rather than the Union so Olaf Scholz would be Chancellor. I suspect Lindner and the FDP would be quite comfortable with Scholz who is a fiscal moderate. The Greens would be forced to moderate some of their ideas to join the coalition but the prospect of being back in power for the first time in a generation might encourage that thinking.
As for the Union, perhaps they will decide after such a reversal to spend some time in opposition to regroup and reconsider their policies. The CDU/CSU have been in Government since 2005 (the SPD were in opposition from 2009-2013) but are now facing their worst result since 1949.
Even "natural parties of Government" need spells in Opposition to regroup and rethink.
They won't, Laschet was picked not for his electability, if they wanted that they would have gone for Soder but his ability to continue the coalition with the SPD and to be able to deal with the Greens too if needed.
Unless the SPD are largest party no chance the Union will choose to go into opposition, the SPD still also facing one of their worst postwar results
Laschet's position is looking very dodgy though in the CDU/CSU though now . Even if the CDU/CSU is the largest grouping, he is not necessarily secure if they only get about 25%.
Personally I was quite surprised the CDU/CSU did not go for Söder.
@HYUFD will be along in a minute to tell us that actually President Trump is blameless and isn't responsible actually nor has he ever made any such claim.
Read my post below, as I have said Romney would be better than Biden and Trump, they are both wrong on the withdrawal, though I doubt even Trump would have so weakly surrendered to the Taliban as Biden has, certainly at least not without some shock and awe bombing etc
How has Biden surrendered to the Taliban...
US troops left Afghanistan a month or so ago - this is merely the obvious result of that departure.
He surrendered by the very act of withdrawal, as I have long said US and UK forces should have stayed there indefinitely to keep the Taliban and Al Qaeda out
The brutal truth is that we've achieved sweet FA despite twenty years of trying.
And in terms of worldwide terrorism, Afghanistan has no special resources that controlling helps launch terrorist attacks. The resource is the extremists themselves - many new ones having been generated by the occupation and every accidental civilian death. They are no more dangerous now than they were sitting in Pakistan. All we have done is give them legitimacy in the eyes of many by allowing them to champion opposition to western imperialism.
We prevented 9/11 2 for 20 years.
That is now significantly more likely if Afghanistan becomes a haven for terrorists again. US special forces were sent to Pakistan too to kill Bin Laden.
Given the worst terrorist attack in western history happened BEFORE the Afghan and Iraq invasions the legitimacy argument is rubbish, jihadis were already wanting to attack the west beforehand.
We have to be ready to take them on wherever they are, just Biden has given up the fight
This is just nonsense.
There haven’t been any ‘major’ overseas terrorist attacks for years because they no longer have the capability to organise them. Western intelliegence and security is better and the prospect of one overarching organisation with a degree of command and control has been replaced by factionalism and infighting as Al Queda fell apart. The bigger threat is ISIS and they are the result of an even more foolish western intervention.
That the Taliban are all able to stroll back into Afghanistan is proof that they are hardly in need of a “haven”. Many are young and will have been recruited as a counter-reaction to western occupation and perceived or actual injustice.
Departure in ignominy was inevitable from the moment we went in there, just as it was for the Russians and British in history. The departure could perhaps have been handled more cleverly (although a quick and relatively peaceful takeover is much preferable to a long and bloody civil war ending with the same outcome), but the biggest mistake appears to be the Americans - with us as their useful idiots - kidding themselves that many Afghans were really motivated to fight the Taliban once western troops had gone away. The waste of time and money has been colossal.
I think he should get out there pronto and charm the Taliban into a gibbering wreck with his comedy. It's not too late.
I still think we should send Gavin Williamson, Nick Gibb, Amanda Spielman and the DfE out there to handle logistics for the Taleban.
They'll be reduced to picking up rocks to throw inside about a week.
I'd be worried about the rock supply being disrupted. Even in the Stan.
OMG OMFFFFG the Ancient Athenian Agora
If the Parthenon disappoints (and it does, despite its sublimity) the Agora is the opposite. OK it probably helped I was half cut on three big ouzos and it was the perfect time of day - 6pm, the Attic sun setting… but it is stunning
The most perfect Greek temple in the world. Hephaestus. The stoa where stoicism started. The arches where Socrates and Plato and Aristotle argued. The Acropolis glowing above (by far the best view of it). The olive groves where democracy was born. The bloody bidet of Pericles, or something
Honestly, a genius place, in the true sense. Athens is amazing now the fucking tourists are all dead
Afghanistan is a mess. As are many other countries.
And so is the UK. But on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is minor political incompetence and 10 is all-out civil/religious war, we're at 1, or 1.5. And the scale is probably exponential.
The news today makes me incredibly glad to have been born in, and living in the, UK. And it makes me more determined for the country to become 0.25 or 0.5, not 2 or 3.
'We' are lucky, folks ...
This is very true and worth remembering sometimes.
Yes it is
Maybe there should be some kind of penalty for first world problem whining? Anyone caught griping online about being addressed by the wrong pronoun, or accusing others of micro aggressions, should have to spend a day fundraising for refugees
Of course you pick examples to suit a political agenda - yours - and thus lose the point of the point.
Ah if you cant see a good point made because you disagree with the examples, you're not half the man I thought you were!
I think he should get out there pronto and charm the Taliban into a gibbering wreck with his comedy. It's not too late.
I still think we should send Gavin Williamson, Nick Gibb, Amanda Spielman and the DfE out there to handle logistics for the Taleban.
They'll be reduced to picking up rocks to throw inside about a week.
I'd be worried about the rock supply being disrupted. Even in the Stan.
OMG OMFFFFG the Ancient Athenian Agora
If the Parthenon disappoints (and it does, despite its sublimity) the Agora is the opposite. OK it probably helped I was half cut on three big ouzos and it was the perfect time of day - 6pm, the Attic sun setting… but it is stunning
The most perfect Greek temple in the world. Hephaestus. The stoa where stoicism started. The arches where Socrates and Plato and Aristotle argued. The Acropolis glowing above (by far the best view of it). The olive groves where democracy was born. The bloody bidet of Pericles, or something
Honestly, a genius place, in the true sense. Athens is amazing now the fucking tourists are all dead
Rather than asking what it is about religious men that makes them think that their wives can’t think for themselves we should be asking why are they so often pedophiles? 9? That’s perverted. As their wives would tell them if asked.
It shows how disgustingly in thrall to the literal interpretation of Islam the Taliban is, no other nation on earth has an age of consent of 9 (It's the age Aisha/Muhammad consumated their marriage). Women's views, and the views of the civilised world are an irrelevance to them. The next lowest is Nigeria at 11.
Just horrific.
These men are medieval. It’s basically a paedo cult.
Rather than asking what it is about religious men that makes them think that their wives can’t think for themselves we should be asking why are they so often pedophiles? 9? That’s perverted. As their wives would tell them if asked.
It shows how disgustingly in thrall to the literal interpretation of Islam the Taliban is, no other nation on earth has an age of consent of 9 (It's the age Aisha/Muhammad consumated their marriage). Women's views, and the views of the civilised world are an irrelevance to them. The next lowest is Nigeria at 11.
Just horrific.
These men are medieval. It’s basically a paedo cult.
I think he should get out there pronto and charm the Taliban into a gibbering wreck with his comedy. It's not too late.
I still think we should send Gavin Williamson, Nick Gibb, Amanda Spielman and the DfE out there to handle logistics for the Taleban.
They'll be reduced to picking up rocks to throw inside about a week.
I'd be worried about the rock supply being disrupted. Even in the Stan.
OMG OMFFFFG the Ancient Athenian Agora
If the Parthenon disappoints (and it does, despite its sublimity) the Agora is the opposite. OK it probably helped I was half cut on three big ouzos and it was the perfect time of day - 6pm, the Attic sun setting… but it is stunning
The most perfect Greek temple in the world. Hephaestus. The stoa where stoicism started. The arches where Socrates and Plato and Aristotle argued. The Acropolis glowing above (by far the best view of it). The olive groves where democracy was born. The bloody bidet of Pericles, or something
Honestly, a genius place, in the true sense. Athens is amazing now the fucking tourists are all dead
Thank you!
No, thank YOU. I wouldn’t have gone if you hadn’t raved about it. I’ve been all over the world and I find it easy to be blasé. But, wow
Especially now, with so few tourists, despite the glories of high summer
If you ever do it I recommend you do it just how I did it. Uber to the Acropolis, have lunch first. Boozy. Greek salad. Taramasalata. Perhaps in the museum (I didn’t go there but the restaurant is said to be fab)
Then slog up the Parthenon in the high high heat. Treat it as a pilgrimage, where the suffering is the point. Get to the top. Say, OK, this is a bit shit, but whatever, it’s also amazing. Admire a karyatid and some coffering. Spot Glenn Close in a hat (I did)
Then, slightly shrugging, walk down the other side, the shadier more interesting side. Past the oldest churches. Have several soothing ouzos in a charming taverna (there are many). Then go to the Agora nearby and basically have an orgasm at the density of beautiful history in a place that looks like an idealised painting of Ancient Greece
Laschet's position is looking very dodgy though in the CDU/CSU though now . Even if the CDU/CSU is the largest grouping, he is not necessarily secure if they only get about 25%.
Personally I was quite surprised the CDU/CSU did not go for Söder.
I saw some polling with Soder as leader which put the Union in the mid to high 30s. As @HYUFD has opined, it may well be Laschet, who was chosen strongly by the CDU members rather than the CSU members may be more capable of getting the SPD and Greens (and FDP) to work with him than Soder who would be harder pushed to find coalition allies (and hadn't ruled out talking to AfD).
Comments
That is now significantly more likely if Afghanistan becomes a haven for terrorists again. US special forces were sent to Pakistan too to kill Bin Laden.
Given the worst terrorist attack in western history happened BEFORE the Afghan and Iraq invasions the legitimacy argument is rubbish, jihadis were already wanting to attack the west beforehand.
We have to be ready to take them on wherever they are, just Biden has given up the fight
https://twitter.com/tom_nuttall/status/1427281918932967432?s=21
Mind you, looking forward to those who are never done criticising Merkel for ‘opening the floodgates’ getting all sniffy about Laschet.
Remember cometh the hour, cometh the man.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Solingen_arson_attack
https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/turkish-immigrants-killed-in-blaze-german-police-probing-arson-claim-a-533293.html
https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/diaspora/german-suspect-arrested-for-setting-fire-to-building-home-to-turks
etc, etc.
The only time I have seen Mrs j suffer direct, verbal racism was our first night in Germany, at a motel ...
Germany has issues.
Literally. Where would you launch the amphibious invasion at Inchon that turned the Korean War around in Afghanistan?
And so is the UK. But on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is minor political incompetence and 10 is all-out civil/religious war, we're at 1, or 1.5. And the scale is probably exponential.
The news today makes me incredibly glad to have been born in, and living in the, UK. And it makes me more determined for the country to become 0.25 or 0.5, not 2 or 3.
'We' are lucky, folks ...
It hasn't prevented the radicalisation of young people in the West via the Internet or via Imams in local mosques.
I've not heard a syllable from you about the radicalisation of young British people - all you want to do is kick President Biden. That might make you feel better but it doesn't solve any of the problem.
To be fair the slowest took about 3 months to work those out - which was about 3 months quicker than than Prof. Peston.
I wondered if you'd be out looking for a punning opportunity. Had a good afternoon?
And if we're honest, while Kohli has his runs along with those of Rohit Sharma, Pujara and Pant, coupled with Bumrah and Ishant Sharma's pace and Ashwin and Jadeja's guile, it probably doesn't matter that much who's leading them.
The Finance Minister and SPD Spitzenkandidat is doing so much better - IF the SPD finish second, perhaps we could see that SPD-Green-FDP Government after all. Lindner only ruled out being in a coalition led by the Greens - he didn't rule out a coalition led by another party including Greens.
Edit: Boris, I mean, not HYUFD.
Donald Trump will doubtless exhibit a similar level of chutzpah.
'
It was Biden who allowed Trump to call him a loser on this, he has noone to blame but himself for withdrawing US forces in such a chaotic manner and Trump will obviously always say he would have done it perfectly
They'll be reduced to picking up rocks to throw inside about a week.
The chances of 9/11 2 are now growing every day after Biden allowed Afghanistan to become a terrorist state again.
Yes we can deal with radicalisation too (and the police and security forces are) but where did most of those radicals go to be trained in terror before the invasion? Afghanistan
Where's that bloody rain?
Or Monty Panesar?
Bit of a gap opening between the pollsters now?
This is not a column about transgenderism. It is about something larger than that. For although the increasingly heated, bitter and frankly unresolvable trans issue will not disappear anytime soon, the manner in which Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish government have handled this issue tells us something important. So this is a column about how the Scottish government thinks, the way it develops policy, and then the way it attempts to persuade voters this policy is appropriate, proportionate and wise.
https://twitter.com/alexmassie/status/1427314812560814084?s=20
Maybe there should be some kind of penalty for first world problem whining? Anyone caught griping online about being addressed by the wrong pronoun, or accusing others of micro aggressions, should have to spend a day fundraising for refugees
There are only three things England did wrong.
They batted badly, bowled badly and fielded badly.
Never been attacked by a tiger so it must work.
You are also correct that Biden could have stopped the exit.
I question both Biden's morality that he didn't stop Trump's Doha Treaty fiasco and I cannot countenance how ill informed Military Intelligence and the CIA would appear to be. The latter point you conveniently overlook.
South Africa had it handed out to them in the pomp of Trescothick, Harmison and Hoggard, but it doesn't happen too often.
There are still major question marks over the batting here.
It's therefore fair to ask people criticising the government before they've done much what they'd prefer the government to be doing.
The mood and momentum does seem to be *against the CDU/CSU* (though most of the national swing is from CDU/CSU to the Greens in urban areas since 2017). The SPD hasn't yet polled more than 20% nationally in any poll but there was a poll out yesterday with the SPD polling ahead of the CDU in Merkel's home state.
As for the Union, perhaps they will decide after such a reversal to spend some time in opposition to regroup and reconsider their policies. The CDU/CSU have been in Government since 2005 (the SPD were in opposition from 2009-2013) but are now facing their worst result since 1949.
Even "natural parties of Government" need spells in Opposition to regroup and rethink.
The team is in a bad way.
'Just a wide slip in, all the other catchers(!) are on the boundary'
Fabulous bat, but as a leader of the team we need to look elsewhere.
Unless the SPD are largest party no chance the Union will choose to go into opposition, the SPD still also facing one of their worst postwar results
9? That’s perverted. As their wives would tell them if asked.
https://twitter.com/maxwalden_/status/1427132771089018883
Link to the AP report.
https://apnews.com/article/china-dubai-uyghurs-60d049c387b99b1238ebd5f1d3bb3330
I was listening on the radio as I'd gone shopping in Gloucester that day. I turned it off when he was on about 110, and came back less than an hour later to find he'd been out some time - for 180.
Next, China will start casually droning its dissident enemies in Australia or France. And what moral objection can we have?
Women's views, and the views of the civilised world are an irrelevance to them.
The next lowest is Nigeria at 11.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/afghans-condemned-death-due-government-24772852?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar
The SPD have been advancing in recent polls and have not only overtaken the Greens but reached 20% in the latest INSA poll.
Unlike @HYUFD, I think the time is up for the Union and they will go into opposition after their worst performance ever. That's not to say Scholz is going to get a ringing endorsement either - doing a fraction better than their worsr ever result is hardly success but the SPD will be happier than the CDU who have won every poll since 2002 (that was only a fractional loss).
The last time the SPD decisively outpointed the CDU was when they won 40-35 in 1998. That's 75% for the Union and the SPD, now it's 45%. That's a fundamental electoral shift.
Personally I was quite surprised the CDU/CSU did not go for Söder.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Solomon
There haven’t been any ‘major’ overseas terrorist attacks for years because they no longer have the capability to organise them. Western intelliegence and security is better and the prospect of one overarching organisation with a degree of command and control has been replaced by factionalism and infighting as Al Queda fell apart. The bigger threat is ISIS and they are the result of an even more foolish western intervention.
That the Taliban are all able to stroll back into Afghanistan is proof that they are hardly in need of a “haven”. Many are young and will have been recruited as a counter-reaction to western occupation and perceived or actual injustice.
Departure in ignominy was inevitable from the moment we went in there, just as it was for the Russians and British in history. The departure could perhaps have been handled more cleverly (although a quick and relatively peaceful takeover is much preferable to a long and bloody civil war ending with the same outcome), but the biggest mistake appears to be the Americans - with us as their useful idiots - kidding themselves that many Afghans were really motivated to fight the Taliban once western troops had gone away. The waste of time and money has been colossal.
If the Parthenon disappoints (and it does, despite its sublimity) the Agora is the opposite. OK it probably helped I was half cut on three big ouzos and it was the perfect time of day - 6pm, the Attic sun setting… but it is stunning
The most perfect Greek temple in the world. Hephaestus. The stoa where stoicism started. The arches where Socrates and Plato and Aristotle argued. The Acropolis glowing above (by far the best view of it). The olive groves where democracy was born. The bloody bidet of Pericles, or something
Honestly, a genius place, in the true sense. Athens is amazing now the fucking tourists are all dead
These men are medieval. It’s basically a paedo cult.
He was in great form today you will all be delighted to know.
Nature is healing as our regular PB Tories lunches have resumed.
I've purposely avoided the cricket today so I can watch the highlights now.
England nailed on right. Surely today not is a date which will live in infamy to rival Adelaide 2006? RIGHT?
Especially now, with so few tourists, despite the glories of high summer
If you ever do it I recommend you do it just how I did it. Uber to the Acropolis, have lunch first. Boozy. Greek salad. Taramasalata. Perhaps in the museum (I didn’t go there but the restaurant is said to be fab)
Then slog up the Parthenon in the high high heat. Treat it as a pilgrimage, where the suffering is the point. Get to the top. Say, OK, this is a bit shit, but whatever, it’s also amazing. Admire a karyatid and some coffering. Spot Glenn Close in a hat (I did)
Then, slightly shrugging, walk down the other side, the shadier more interesting side. Past the oldest churches. Have several soothing ouzos in a charming taverna (there are many). Then go to the Agora nearby and basically have an orgasm at the density of beautiful history in a place that looks like an idealised painting of Ancient Greece
Oh yes. Oh yes.