Category: foreign affairs

Discussion: Afghanistan

August 17, 2021 • 10:45 am

It’s a busy day today, though I have one piece of science to post. Right now, though, why don’t you talk about the focus of the news: Afghanistan?

If you go to Bari Weiss’s site, you’ll find seven diverse people, including ex-UN ambassador Nikki Haley (a Republican), discussing “Why we failed: the American exit from Afghanistan.” You don’t have to discuss the views in that piece, which range from “getting out was great” to “we should have stayed”, but there are a number of questions to discuss. For instance?

a.) Should we have stayed, even if that might mean an indefinite commitment?

b.) If “yes,” in what capacity should we have stayed?”

c.) Or should we have left Afghanistan earlier? If so, how much earlier?

d.) Was the Afghan army primarily to blame for the defeat by the Taliban? Or was it the corruptness of the Afghan government? Or both.

e.) Was the U.S. there, as many maintain, just to keep the money flowing into the pockets of defense contractors?

f.)  Why didn’t the U.S. military speak up earlier if they saw the war was unwinnable?

g.) What mistakes did the U.S. make in fostering this premature and hasty exit?

h.) Is this a serious blow to U.S. credibility, as a NYT op-ed maintained?

i.)  Is this a serious blow to Joe Biden’s credibility? Did his hunkering down at Camp David present a bad look for the U.S.?

j.) How did other Presidents, starting with W., screw up and contribute to this?

k.) Here’s the human cost of our incursion from the Associated Press:

THE HUMAN COST:

American service members killed in Afghanistan through April: 2,448.
U.S. contractors: 3,846.
Afghan national military and police: 66,000.
Other allied service members, including from other NATO member states: 1,144.
Afghan civilians: 47,245.
Taliban and other opposition fighters: 51,191.
Aid workers: 444.
Journalists: 72.

Not to mention the $2 trillion the U.S. spent prosecuting the war. Given that, as in Vietnam, we lost this war, was this a waste of life and of effort? In retrospect, was there any value in invading Afghanistan and propping up the country and it military?

And so on. Weigh in below, and, with luck, I’ll be back escorting Milady Science.

 

Jamal Khashoggi’s last words as he was murdered

December 9, 2018 • 5:00 pm

This report from CNN (click on screenshot below), based on tapes made (we don’t know how) inside the Turkish consulate in Istanbul, clearly indicates that Turkish journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered very soon after he went inside the consulate to procure papers allowing him to get married.

Eventually we’ll get the whole transcript, but it won’t be pretty. The CNN report characterizes other stuff on the transcript:

Without any further dialogue, according to the source, the transcript indicates that several people set upon Khashoggi.

Noises follow, and very quickly Khashoggi is fighting for air. . .

. . . Despite his desperate pleas, the last discernible words the transcript records for Khashoggi are:

“I can’t breathe.”

The transcript notes more noises, and several more voices.

One of those voices is identified on the transcript by Turkish authorities as belonging to Dr. Salah Muhammad al-Tubaiqi, the head of forensic medicine at Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry, the source says.

Aside from Khashoggi and Mutreb, he is the only other voice identified by name on the transcript.

As the transcript continues, it is clear Khashoggi is not yet dead.

The transcript notes the noises that can be heard on the tape, almost in the manner that subtitles describe moments in movies where there is no dialogue.

“Scream.”

“Scream.”

“Gasping.”

Then, the transcript notes other descriptions.

“Saw.”

“Cutting.”

Tubaiqi is noted giving some advice to other people in the room, apparently to help them deal with the appalling task.

“Put your earphones in, or listen to music like me.”

. . . The transcript notes the sounds of Khashoggi’s body being dismembered by a saw, as the alleged perpetrators are advised to listen to music to block out the sound.

And, according to the source, the transcript suggests that a series of phone calls are made, briefing them on progress. were made to senior figures in Riyadh.

It’s not clear if Khashoggi was dismembered (yes, there are sawing sounds) before he was dead. I hope not.

There’s nothing on the transcript so far to prove that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered this, or knew about it, but really, can anyone believe he was out of the loop?  The head of forensic medicine at Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry was part of the murder squad, and how could that happen without the Prince’s knowledge?

Trump, of course, loves tyrants, especially murderous ones, so he won’t do anything about this. But maybe Congress will, because even Republicans see this as the straw that broke the camel’s back (excuse the cultural appropriation). bin Salman is a killer, and the U.S. shouldn’t do business with him.