To want to weep fir the girls in afghanistaan

Are there any army grans on here who are mourning any of our young men who have been killed out there? Or come back maimed for life?

Honestly, if I was female and had young daughters in Afghanistan, I’d be considering the unthinkable and trying to ensure I had some means of doing away with us all. There are some fates worse than death. ?

Feel sorry for these poor women and girls, but please do something more useful than crying over them!

Anyone with any sense would have kept out of Afghanistan years ago. There is no point in blaming Biden or anyone else who has finally realised the lives are being lost there to no good purpose.

Until and unless Muslims themselves refuse to be tyrannised by fundamentalistic groups, there is precious little we can do to help

But we can and should speak out against children being forced into armies or prostitution whether in Afghanistan or elsewhere.

I'm sure there is some truth in that Maizie. You can't make people want something when those holding the power believe it will make them worse off.

Hopefully it may have set thoughts in the minds of the young though.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini should be required reading for Joe Biden and Boris Johnson.
I still cry over Mariam’s life and fate and this will be repeated all over Afghanistan with the Taliban now unopposed.

The US was originally responsible for supporting the Taliban to get Russia out of the country and here we are all these decades later back to square one.

It breaks my heart.

MaizieD sadly I have to agree, with both the tweet and your reaction to A Thousand Splendid Suns.

Thanks for the clarification, Nannapat1. No, no point in blaming them but with other politicians point scoring it's worth setting some things straight.

Look, I know its 'just twitter' and all that, but this tweet from someone who claims to be a former soldier rather struck me yesterday:

Andrew
@turningbones

Something I learned in my 5 years on the ground there is that the majority of the people don't want that ideology stamped out. You can't change a country if you don't have the will of its people to back you. The freedoms of Kabul were mostly an outlying anomaly there. It's sad.

twitter.com/turningbones/status/1427157865232535555

I have a friend whose husband did at least one tour of duty in Afghanistan. He told me quite a while ago that some of the mediaeval practices carried out by the Afghans our troops were working with were absolutely sickening. It seems as though western values didn't run very deep, or at all, in much of the population.

I gave my copy of 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' away once I'd read it. I knew I'd never need to read it again as it was deeply and irrevocably imprinted in my mind.

Those poor, poor women...?

Whitemark 2
Give us a break. Trump gone .Now lets see Biden in action..

PippaZ poor wording on my part, doing two things at once as usual.
I meant blaming the countries that have withdrawn their troops.

I have read about the animal charity and am about to go onto Facebook. This dreadful scenario gets worse by the hour and we can do nothing.

Nagmad2016

This is the most horrifying situation for those women. It amazes me that when we see newsreels of people fleeing the country and boarding planes, the majority are able, young men. I can't help wondering why they are not staying to protect their women and make a stand for their country. This is probably a simplistic view of the situation, but it does make me wonder.

DH told me there is an Afghan cricketer that has been playing cricket in this country that has returned home to help his family. And I saw a young man interviewed on tv the other day who was staying but knew the Taliban would get him eventually. Such bravery.

It it tragic. It is not only the girls though, the soldiers who have had their lives devastated by their experiences over there with their wives and children suffering the consequences. The ripple effect has been horrendous. My SIL did his tours in Iraq and it has changed his life forever. It is only the strength of my daughter than keeps her family together and her life with the man she loves has changed beyond all recognition.

Just so appalling. And I see no way I can help.

Who blamed the troups Nannapat1?

I have been listening to and watching news items on the situation all morning. Just awful. 20 years of attempting to help gone in a few days, the president already fled and the government ministers filling the departure lounge desperate to leave too.
All very well blaming the departing troops but this is a very conservative and deeply patriarchal society where there seems little appetite for ousting the Taliban.

The deal with the Taliban was Trump's. Biden didn't have a choice when the voters had been previously told the troups would come home.

A tragedy, one that was entirely predictable, don’t blame Biden or Trump, blame Bush in 2001 for getting involved in Afghan affairs. In my book they were justified in going after terrorist Bin Laden it should have been limited to that, the US must realize that their style of government is not a model for everyone.

Fortress USA probably, just like fortress China.

This is heartbreaking. I have daughters and three stepdaughters and three young granddaughters and when I think about the opportunities and choices they have compared to the women and girls of Afghanistan I feel so sad.

My heart breaks for the Afghan people. I contacted my MP this morning.

There is an Animal Charity set up by former British Marine, who is trying to get 90 dogs, 88 cats and the staff (both male and female) out of the country before it is too late. He has vowed to remain until all his staff are safely out of the country.

The Taliban banned dog ownership when they were last in power. They see cats as vermin. Most of us know already how little they care about women and girls!
Please check out
Facebook for NOWZAD the Animal Rescue concerned. If they can't be safely evacuated, the Animal will be put to sleep. Dreadful as this would be - it would be better that being indiscriminately shot, or knifed, and left to die!

Anyone who feels able to do so, please help.

Thank you.

This nightmare for the Afghans will not end. The Taliban will eventually March across Europe creating further atrocities. They are so determined in their ideology, that it will happen. It's just when.... God save those children...

If it was my son I would tell him to flee nagmad.

This is the most horrifying situation for those women. It amazes me that when we see newsreels of people fleeing the country and boarding planes, the majority are able, young men. I can't help wondering why they are not staying to protect their women and make a stand for their country. This is probably a simplistic view of the situation, but it does make me wonder.

Pammie1

@Whitewavemark2. I don’t think this is entirely down to Trump. Biden could have postponed the withdrawal and looked again at the situation. I know it’s early days for Biden at the moment, but he doesn’t appear to be interested in anything that doesn’t affect the US. What’s happening now will have repercussions which are much more wide ranging, and it’ll come back to bite us eventually.

I am astounded that neither Biden nor Johnson has not addressed their countries.

@Whitewavemark2. I don’t think this is entirely down to Trump. Biden could have postponed the withdrawal and looked again at the situation. I know it’s early days for Biden at the moment, but he doesn’t appear to be interested in anything that doesn’t affect the US. What’s happening now will have repercussions which are much more wide ranging, and it’ll come back to bite us eventually.