Thursday 26 August 2021

Ten Observations Over Afghanistan

 1.  If you watch a good bit of footage, seems to be an awful lot of people walking around without a mask, in a Covid-rich atmosphere (I'd say 1-percent of folks appear to wear a mask).  These Taliban 'bosses'?  They are all over the age of fifty and prime-candidates for Covid (religious ideas forbid use of vaccination).  If you ask me....there's serious Covid times about to arrive on the landscape. 

2.  Once Biden's crew leave the airport, if you add up Americans and Europeans....I'll bet a minimum of 5,000 never get a 'rescue-deal'.  It'll be curious if the Taliban agree to regular airline use and allow them to leave.  Some idiot with the History Channel will probably start a reality series entitled 'Stuck in Kabul'.  

3.  Unlike the 1990s when the Taliban took over after the Soviets left.....there's a fair bit of Taliban propaganda that is generated daily by use of Twitter/Facebook in Afghanistan.  The general question I'd ask....who 'friended' up with Taliban on social media? What happens if you 'unfriend' them?

4.  Chatter started up yesterday that among the several thousand 'rescued' Afghans who were airlifted out....that a minimum of a hundred of them are on some watch list (either via the EU or the US).  You typically don't get on a watch-list for selling fake watches, or running a unhealthy grill establishment.  All of this leading to another catastrophic event in six months?

5.  White House Press Spokesman (Psaki) said that she just wasn't sure if the escaping Afghan President did arrive in Dubai with $169-million in cash.  It'd be more impressive if the guy had eight Hunter Biden oil paintings in his possession....that might be worth more at this stage.  

6.  If you opened up the doorway.....just to go anywhere (even Turkey)....out of the 39-million Afghans, I would suggest that a quarter of the population would just opt to leave the country.  In a economically downward spiral that you have in Afghanistan, maybe the Taliban ought to 'help' them leave.  Whatever economic progress they made over 20 years....it's not going to be much to discuss over the next twelve months.  The Taliban don't have any Harvard business degree members.

7.  At the conclusion of yesterday's WH press conference....some NBC reporter threw a question out there....as Biden was leaving....that triggered him to halt and attempt to answer (in a laughing sort of way).  WH technicians killed the mic system and so you never got the comment.  It's reaching the point where it'd be better on these WH Q-and-A episodes that they should just hire some actor to read what Biden would have said.  

8.  Taliban spokesperson said yesterday that there is NO proof that Ossama bin Laden was ever connected to 9-11.  I would imagine that the WH team will be impressed with this Taliban spokesperson and ask if he were interested in a new job (with them).

9.  In the midst of evacuation efforts yesterday....the Brit cargo plane took out some Afghans and Brits, but the last thing loaded on the plane was a Brit embassy SUV.  Naturally, this irked a ton of Brits.  

10.  If you believe the general propaganda of the Taliban.....they believe that they deserve the Nobel Peace Prize for 'saving' Afghanistan.  Somewhere in the nomination process....there's probably one single idiot who will nominate them.  

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