"Might" and "may" being the operative words mate. We will never know if Trump would have handled the situation better or not. We can only guess, and the end result is our chosen side will normally come out the better. A bit like saying if Corbyn had got in, 95% of the country may be better by now- as 95% of the wealth is owned by 5% of the people.Jeremy might have hit the top 5% hard in the pocket and may have shared it out among the majority!

It "might" have! We will never know ! That"s my point.

Ha, indeed! Thats good news about the shekles, might give some leverage on how they treat those left behind- and as a few taliban got hurt today , maybe they will go after isis-k, it"s a mess, that"s for sure but who to blame? Trump, Biden. Boris and sir Kier for starters, and obviously Blair!

I would love somebody to explain to me why financial leverage is going to work against the Taleban? The whole point of them is that they are anti-consumerist. They want the population barely literate so don't need money for schools. They believe everything is the 'will of God' so probably are not that bothered about having hospitals full of equipment to keep people alive for decades longer than they need to be. They have enough weapons and ammo to last them decades, thanks to the Yanks. They don't want to live in the modern world. They depise it. See it as weak and immoral.

Plus they have the poppy. That alone will keep them financially afloat, let alone what China are going to bung them by way of a toll for the road link to Iran.

They are virtually untouchable as things stand. Yes, they will have their old civil wars back with various tribes in the north of the country but even that I suspect suits them down to the ground.

All these attempts to somehow kid us all that this a more gentle kinder version of the Taleban who might be more amendable to womens rights or ensuring that CRT is taught in schools are a joke.

You know what the difference is? The old Taleban might have videoed them throwing a Gay off a big building and happily showed it off. This current lot might think twice about boasting about it, at least for the moment, but the Sodomite is still taking the fast lift down.

This is the point. There is no cuddly, pliable Taleban. If there was, they would not have won. They beat the West because they are not corruptable. They cannot be bought off. And they believe in a cause greater than themselves. Utter scum-bags, absolutely, but beyond our reach as things stand.

Edited by Matov (26 Aug 2021 5.20pm)

"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." - 1984 - George Orwell.

High up financial individuals have stated that any poppy harvest isn't enough to sustain the finance. As for not being consumerist we all have been since the invention of Trade. No matter what religeon or belief.
The public will need money and jobs. The taliban need the public to be alive and kicking, not starving in the gutter. Bread doesn't bake itself and I'm sure cows and goats can't milk themselves either. 20 years of a western way of life will have put fire in the belly so even under taliban rule there will need to be a certain amount of give and take for Afghanistan to actually move forwards. Now with daesh back on scene the taliban will need the public more than they think or would like.

Tis all true also.