Taliban endorses Trump

[Stevicus]

Taliban Endorses Trump Re-Election Campaign, Hopes for Total US Troop Withdrawal from Afghanistan

Well, this just keeps getting stranger and stranger.

The Taliban offered its endorsement for President Donald Trump's re-election campaign Saturday, with the Islamic fundamentalist group expressing its hope his administration pulls all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan.

The spokesman for the hardline Afghan Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, told CBS News via phone Saturday that the group's senior leaders were happy to learn Trump is recovering from his COVID-19 diagnosis. The Taliban leadership said they "hope" Trump wins the upcoming November 3 presidential election against former Vice President Joe Biden. The group said its reason for endorsing the U.S. president is tied to his administration's ongoing efforts to withdraw the remaining 5,000 military troops from Afghanistan after 19 years of combat in the Middle East—America's longest war in history.[

"We hope he will win the election and wind up U.S. military presence in Afghanistan," Mujahid told CBS News in a phone interview. He cited a White House tweet Thursday which announced "our troops in Afghanistan are coming home by the end of the year."

Last month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. military is on track to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by the spring of 2021. But in a surprise announcement made on Twitter Thursday, Trump moved that timeline even closer, saying troops should be out by Christmas this year. Several military officials placed doubt on that deadline, describing it as a pre-election political promise that jeopardizes already difficult negotiations with the Taliban and the Afghan government.

Trump promises to have the troops home by Christmas.

"I've been bringing them home, we're down to 4,000 trips in Afghanistan and I'll have them home by the end of the year, they're coming home as we speak," Trump told Fox Business Network Thursday. "Nineteen years is enough, they're acting as policemen, they're not acting as troops, we have the greatest troops in the world. I wiped out 100 percent of the ISIS caliphate, I killed [Quds force commander Qasem] Soleimani, I killed [ISIS leader Abu Bakr] al-Baghdadi."

Trump went on to tout his Islamic State militant kill last year as more impressive than former President Barack Obama's efforts, which led to the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May 2011.

Trump is bragging that he's killed more than Obama. That's probably true, although nothing to brag about.

One military official said that Trump's promised withdrawal will take much longer.

"It's October, so no – it's ridiculous. It's simply can't happen," said Jason Dempsey, a former infantry officer who served in Afghanistan, in an interview with the AP Thursday. "We could make some superficial show of pulling out uniformed troops, but obviously we still have a very massive contractor presence, and we would need a uniformed headquarters to oversee the shutdown and withdrawal of everything we have in country."

"It's no surprise that the Taliban have welcomed Trump's announcement that he'd have the troops home by Christmas. They spent 19 years fighting for this," said Ashley Jackson, the director of the think tank ODI's Centre for the Study of Armed Groups, in an interview with The Guardian newspaper Thursday.

The Trump campaign responded to the Taliban endorsement of his re-election bid in a Saturday statement saying the president will always protect American interests "by any means necessary."

The Taliban officials who spoke with CBS News added remarks about how they were initially concerned for Trump's wellbeing after his coronavirus infection last week.

"When we heard about Trump being COVID-19 positive, we got worried for his health, but seems he is getting better," another Taliban senior leader added during the call, highlighting the president's diagnosis alongside several other White House staffers in the past few weeks.

 

[Kenny]

Taliban Endorses Trump Re-Election Campaign, Hopes for Total US Troop Withdrawal from Afghanistan

Well, this just keeps getting stranger and stranger.

Trump promises to have the troops home by Christmas.

Trump is bragging that he's killed more than Obama. That's probably true, although nothing to brag about.

One military official said that Trump's promised withdrawal will take much longer.

At the least, moving in the right direction IMO

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Leaving is still the right thing. Let them handle their own issues. We've mucked things up more than enough there.

 

[Hellbound Serpiente]

Although I am not an American so I don't think I have any right to speak on American issue due to my ignorance, but as someone who have military experience, I think America should bring their soldiers home. These guys have suffered enough already. Most people don't know how painful it is being a soldier, being away from your home, family, in foreign soil, full of hostility from locals and facing dangers day and night. Let them breathe a sigh of relief, let them reunite with their family and enjoy some time home, away from the horrors and strains of war.

Besides, American people are fighting a war at their own home. One American friend told me how hard life is in America [due to taxes among other domestic issue I can't recall atm]. These soldiers have their own battles to fight in their own soil for themselves and their loved ones. Give them a break

 

[Mr Spinkles]

It is long past time to bring our troops home.

Donald Trump is completely unfit for high office, but I am glad his loose cannon personality happens to be pointing in the right direction on this issue.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Taliban Endorses Trump Re-Election Campaign, Hopes for Total US Troop Withdrawal from Afghanistan

Well, this just keeps getting stranger and stranger.







Trump promises to have the troops home by Christmas.



Trump is bragging that he's killed more than Obama. That's probably true, although nothing to brag about.

One military official said that Trump's promised withdrawal will take much longer.

Now I'm wondering just where do people get this stuff?

Whats next? Antifa supports Trump?

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Yay! Woohoo! Mass withdrawal to clear the way for the next ISIS. Exactly what the world needs.

 

[Hellbound Serpiente]

I don't think staying will prevent the next ISIS either [which, btw, we don't know will happen for sure (unless you are a fortune teller)]. How much has America's interference in Iraq has actually curbed the power and influence of ISIS [or other terrorist organizations]? They only grew stronger thanks to America's interference.

 

[Augustus]

Now I'm wondering just where do people get this stuff?

The spokesman for the hardline Afghan Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, told CBS News via phone Saturday that the group's senior leaders were happy to learn Trump is recovering from his COVID-19 diagnosis. The Taliban leadership said they "hope" Trump wins the upcoming November 3 presidential election against former Vice President Joe Biden.

 

[The Hammer]

Yay! Woohoo! Mass withdrawal to clear the way for the next ISIS. Exactly what the world needs.

Our presence in the Middle East created ISIL in the first place.

 

[epronovost]

Our presence in the Middle East created ISIL in the first place.

But now that this is done, going away isn't going to improve the situation either. You can't change things in hindsight. What brought ISIL to life was the collapse of Irak and Syrian government and the incapacity of Pakistan and US and allies to stamp out Talibans and their Islamist allies. Fleeing in front of them won't make them disapeer. They will simply take back the teritories they have lost and prepare their next wave of attacks.

 

[The Hammer]

But now that this is done, going away isn't going to improve the situation either. You can't change things in hindsight. What brought ISIL to life was the collapse of Irak and Syrian government and the incapacity of Pakistan and US and allies to stamp out Talibans and their Islamist allies. Fleeing in front of them won't make them disapeer. They will simply take back the teritories they have lost and prepare their next wave of attacks.

That's the thing though, you can't just "stamp out" an ideology. They aren't going to go away, only change shape/name. Our continued presence ensures a new generation in the ME grows up to hate the US because we are an occupying force.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Our presence in the Middle East created ISIL in the first place.

Yeah. It seems Uncle Sam got a little too deep in that one. And it also turns out those who warned against a strong troop withdrawal were right.
And a nuclear Pakistan is something that may have to be dealt with if some bad neighbors in insiders were to take over.

 

[epronovost]

That's the thing though, you can't just "stamp out" an ideology. They aren't going to go away, only change shape/name. Our continued presence ensures a new generation in the ME grows up to hate the US because we are an occupying force.

And leaving lets ISIS and the like to seize power and raise an new generation to grow up to hate everything western because they are the Crusaders who once destroyed their country and hate their religion. You do not stamp out an ideology by giving it power and room to spread. You stamp it out both culturally, politically and militarily. You fight it on all fronts until you win and you can't give up midway because it's difficult and dangerous unless you fashion loosing. Once you start the fight you have no other choice.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

And leaving let's ISIS and the like to seize power and raise an new generation to gorw up to hate everything western because they are the Crusaders who once destroyed their country and hate their religion. You do not stamp out an ideology by giving it power and room to spread. You stamp it out both culturally, politically and militarily. You fight it on all fronts until you win and you can't give up midway because it's difficult and dangerous unless you fashion loosing. Once you start the fight you have no other choice.

If anything we really need to assist and safegaurd our allies in the region. Ideally those we'd actually want to be allies with (such as Liberal Muslims Secularists in the area), and help protect them from the next ISIS. We'd ideally stand up for them against an aggressive Turkish invasion. We need to help make sure the radicals do not militarily win, because if they do it becomes easier for them to fight here, and it will make it harder to bring extremism to an end.
Here, for us, this comes in the form of not holding up Muslims who are from the Middle East and run here fleeing for their lives to criticize them when they criticize the practices of their homelands that prompted to run (literally, very often, for their life). We need to support those like Malala Yousafzai and Maajid Nawaz. But often the Western liberals turn their backs on the ME counterparts. In the social realm, and in the front lines militarily.

 

[The Hammer]

And leaving lets ISIS and the like to seize power and raise an new generation to grow up to hate everything western because they are the Crusaders who once destroyed their country and hate their religion. You do not stamp out an ideology by giving it power and room to spread. You stamp it out both culturally, politically and militarily. You fight it on all fronts until you win and you can't give up midway because it's difficult and dangerous unless you fashion loosing. Once you start the fight you have no other choice.

Again, this is akin to wiping out an idea; it's not going to happen. We fight the Taliban, and the Al-Qaeda are formed, we fight the Al-Qaeda, and ISIL is formed. It is an endless cycle. Is the Middle East so infantile in your eyes that they cannot handle their own issues and problems without US intervention? If we are going to be there at all, let it be at the behest of allies in the region, and not to fight an abstraction.

 

[epronovost]

If we are going to be there at all, let it be at the behest of allies in the region, and not to fight an abstraction.

It's not an abstraction. It's fighting organisations who have conducted numerous deadly attacks in our countries, menace to do it again and again and would attempt to overthrow our governments and the current international world order to their advantage. They are crystal clear about that. In the case of the Taliban themselves, their lands were invaded by the US and it's allies following the attacks of septembre 9/11. In Syria, the international community was called for help by several opposition groups to the Assad government, but also spurned by attacks of ISIL against numerous countries of Europe, most notably France. The second invasion of Iraq was unrelated to the war against islamist terrorists groups and their allied government and was a disaster on all account.

 

[The Hammer]

“I guess it’s like we don’t know what to do about terrorists, but we’ve got a good military and we can take down governments.” And he said, “I guess if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem has to look like a nail."

Global Warfare: "We're Going to Take out 7 Countries in 5 Years: Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan & Iran.." - Global Research

 

[Shaul]

No, the Taliban did not endorse President Trump.

Taliban denies endorsing Donald Trump

 

[The Hammer]

It's not an abstraction. It's fighting organisations who have conducted numerous deadly attacks in our countries, menace to do it again and again and would attempt to overthrow our governments and the current international world order to their advantage. They are crystal clear about that. In the case of the Taliban themselves, their lands were invaded by the US and it's allies following the attacks of septembre 9/11. In Syria, the international community was called for help by several opposition groups to the Assad government, but also spurned by attacks of ISIL against numerous countries of Europe, most notably France. The second invasion of Iraq was unrelated to the war against islamist terrorists groups and their allied government and was a disaster on all account.

The Crusades, the war in the Middle East now... It is all the same continuation of conflict that has been happening there constantly. It's about high time we step most of the way back and out. We cannot fight a "War" for decades. We're broke, ill-equipped, and our troops are exhausted. I spent 10 years in the military, and believe me the sentiment is pretty much the same across the ranks. Again, are Middle Eastern countries so infantile, so as not to be able to handle their own problems? Or must we constantly be the aggressor? What does that get us but more enemies? What of the children of those that we kill, because they are "terrorists"; we are merely radicalizing the next generation. I am all for defending ourselves, but we have no business fighting a war of aggression.