This has been my basic unit of measure for refugee numbers for a while now. The limits in most Western nations are infuriatingly low. (But, as the grandchild and son-in-law of refugees, I might be biased.)
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Whatever the Taliban are, I don’t believe they are stupid. Picking a fight with the American forces overseeing the evacuation of Americans, other foreign nationals, and some Afghan citizens by kidnapping those people would be monumentally dumb considering that they’ve basically won. They seem happy to let those people leave as it brings them closer to their goal, which is securing the country and making in an Emirate.
I mean… yeah. Sure they had their own forms of corruption and they were certainly authoritarian and basing their version of Sharia off something they dreamed up but they also brought stability in the time that they were in charge fo the country (which the US and Soviet Union had helped torn up and then left to squabbling warlords).
Ugh. Given how many of us have ancestors who were refugees from Ireland… seems like they could take in some more… If I’m not mistaken, the population of Ireland is still not the same as it was prior to the Great Famine is it?
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Not mistaken. Still a very underpopulated country despite recent growth. Lots of room for refugees. And a moral imperative to take them due to our constitutional committment to marriage equality, reproductive justice and our legislative commitment to trans rights.
Refugee rights is, for me, fundamental to anybody who works for solidarity. Now
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Wholeheartedly agree. National borders are quickly becoming outdated to the realities of the modern world.
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The invasion/occupation of Afghanistan was doomed from the start; the Russians were chased out & we should have taken a clue from that.
Plus, there’s the old saying about Afghanistan is where empires go to die. The USSR didn’t last long after they withdrew their forces. Here we are, in the midst of a coup…
Of course, there was the whole Viet Nam debacle to consider as well.
Whoever said ‘Never get involved in a land war in Asia’ was right, but that’s twice now that we’ve done exactly that.
Ah, well, the War Machine’s gotta be fed, right?
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William Goldman, unless he got it from someone else.
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Today on You can’t make this shit up:
For months, Facebook’s WhatsApp paid no attention to the way the Taliban used the messaging service to sell surrender to the people of Afghanistan.
After reestablishing control of Afghanistan with minimal armed resistance, the Taliban, a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity since 2002, took over the capital city of Kabul on Sunday and set up a helpline to allow civilians to report problems, such as looting and violence, during the regime change.
Finally, WhatsApp has decided to take action – it has shut down the complaint service, along with other Taliban communication channels, now that the Taliban are the de facto government of the country. What was the nation’s government has collapsed, and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani reportedly fled in a helicopter packed with cash.
“We’re obligated to adhere to US sanctions laws,” explained a WhatsApp spokesperson in response to an inquiry from The Register .
[…]
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Isn’t Afghanistan landlocked?
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She continued: “We would obviously tell people not to come through illegal means. Illegal means also means that they’re travelling through many safe countries. Irregular migration doesn’t just manifest in the UK, people are travelling through European countries – they can claim asylum in European countries.”
When they are fleeing afghanistan they are political pawns to be used to boost Tories, and when they are trying to get to England they are political pawns to be demonised to boost Tory policy.
You invade a place. You take the refugees. That’s the rule.
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IIRC the same went for Somalia, during the Islamic Courts Union 12-14 years ago. Then their leader opened his mouth about Greater Somalia, Ethiopia and UN put boots on the ground there, pulled out and got Al-Shabab in return.
I am guessing that just typing and saving a few of those words, regardless of context, put me on a list somewhere.
Never fight a land war in Asia
Attributed to various military leaders, including Bernard Montgomery, Dwight Eisenhower and Douglas MacArthur, the quotation has existed in various forms since the Second World War and was popularized by the 1987 movie The Princess Bride (after appearing in the 1973 novel The Princess Bride ).
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They are talking to databases. It’s not like these devices store the data themselves. So I am sure they are already disconnected from accessing any data and can’t be used to identify dissidents.
Though I am equally sure that ISI will learn a lot about classified tech from them nonetheless.
I don’t think anyone ever thought about data privacy
Yeah, that’s a luxury you have when you’re an occupying army and the people you collect personal data from have no civil rights in your eyes (or even human rights)
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