If trump did what Biden did in Afghanistan before the election, would we have supported it??

[USALiberal]

Just curious if we would’ve said it was a good idea like we think Biden did?

[Treefrog]

1. I definitely think it is a good idea to get out, whenever.

I think it’s a damn shame that we’re not following through on promises we made to those who helped us.

No matter how bad this gets, I don’t see this being a problem for Biden in the long run.

[sop]

2. Probably not, but it's an interesting hypothetical.

The thing about posing hypotheticals about Trump is one has to assume he would ever consider doing the right thing. It's a safe bet he wouldn't.

[Steelrolled]

3. Of course not

The opposition will always criticize those in power. And when the opposition get into power (sooner or later) and do the same, the criticism is in the opposite direction. Some might view it as hypocrisy, but it is simply the way politics works.

[SharonClark]

4. What did Biden do in Afghanistan before the election?

[Mz Pip]

6. What could he do?

He was just a private citizen then.

[treestar]

44. True. Sentence structure

Is a bit week. Punctuation might help.

[honest.abe]

5. Well I think most of us agree getting out was good no matter who the President is.

The question is would we have criticized Trump if the same chaos occurred. Probably yes, but more than likely he would have screwed something up because he is an idiot. With Biden, most give him the benefit of the doubt because of his experience and knowledge and credibility.

[USALiberal]

7. Even if he did exactly what Biden did, we would hate it! Nt

[Doc Sportello]

34. Finally, some truth telling

It's funny some don't even recognize what they are doing.

[MoonlitKnight]

8. Yes

It’s long past time to get out. When you lose a war chaos ensues. There was no way to avoid this. It’s heartbreaking but this is how wars end.

Let’s give some credit to our military for essentially stabilizing the airport in two days. That is a phenomenal accomplishment.

[GusBob]

9. I LOVE this game!

The old shoe is on the other foot deal

[BlueTsunami2018]

10. I would have.

Those were the only things he said that I supported. These wars of choice were idiotic, he was dead right about that.

[Treefrog]

11. Comments here would be VERY different.

Last edited Thu Aug 19, 2021, 11:43 AM - Edit history (1)

Not surprisingly.

[Sympthsical]

14. Oh, this place would be plastered with images

There's one making the rounds of the bloody (quite dead) child. If you know what I mean, you know what I mean. There would've been ten threads here on that one alone were it a Republican president.

The downplaying is interesting. I saw, "This is no worse than an airport in New York," a few minutes ago. Like, Jesus, really? Lots of machine gun fire and beatings and deaths in your typical Atlantic City run?

And the moral equivalence. "Did you know America has a history of mistreating women, too?" Yeah, we're just like Afghanistan. Spot the difference, eh?

When facepalming just isn't enough. At this point, I doubt the possession of eyes. You first have to have them in order to turn a blind one.

The fact that, "I love the job Biden is generally doing as president, but the administration's handling of the withdrawal is a shitshow," is just. so. difficult. to get out of one's mouth due to partisanship is unreal.

[Drunken Irishman]

22. The fact you feel the need to play hypotheticals is pathetically unreal.

Let's play it with everything then!


How would DU handle four dead Americans in an embassy had it happened under a Republican?

How would DU handle a Republican committing perjury and lying about an affair or accusations of sexual harassment or even rape from their Republican president?

How would DU handle a hostage crisis involving Americans in a foreign embassy that led to a year long standoff, a shit show failed rescue attempt and a complete cluster of foreign policy from a Republican administration that was also overseeing a recession and a gas shortage?

Your acting like this is all black and white is disingenuous at best. The situation is a shit show largely because of the last administration so comparing the reaction to something that is an extension of the last administration's failed policy to a stupid hypothetical is just lazy writing.

[Sympthsical]

23. The downplaying is unreal

The absolute willful ignoring of death and human suffering is unreal. The lying about it is unreal. The perched declarations of Happy Talk from those comfortably ensconced in the western world, insulated against devastation while announcing all is well from on high. That is privilege of the rarest sort.

That the withdrawal was not organized, barely planned, and full of screw ups is undeniable. That many people are suffering and even dying due to that is not in dispute, not up for debate.

I love Biden and the job he's doing. But this is a bad one. I trust he will deal with it in the coming weeks.

But the endless attempts at steering away from it doesn't erase on the ground reality.

You're attempting it here, too. Yes, we should hold the Trump administration accountable for all it has done to bring us to this moment. But we were brought to this moment regardless, and how it has been handled is somewhat less than stellar.

[LanternWaste]

50. Almost as unreal as consistently failing to support an assertion with objective evidence.

"You're attempting it here, too..."

Again.

No doubt, you'll offer up numerous reasons why you fail to provide as such.

[Sympthsical]

62. I apologize, officer

I did not realize the speed with which I was posting! Was texting, too. Maybe a warning this time.

There's plenty of evidence that partisanship plays a role in what does and does not get posted. Look at presidential progeny.

Do you think if Don Jr. was having the kind of summer other people are having, with all the MSM media coverage of it, that it wouldn't end up here quite frequently?

Same idea. Easily discernible.

[Drunken Irishman]

56. blah, blah, blah

Biden's mission was to get Americans out. He has. So far, no Americans have lost their lives in this mess, especially American troops.

Considering what he was handed, that is a win and likely the best case scenario out of all of this.

[Sympthsical]

63. Given what's coming out

I wouldn't toss "best case scenario" around lightly. Not when the State Department was warned to get people out quite awhile ago, and they refused. Leading to the chaos that we got.

E-mailing Americans that they're on their own to get to an airport surrounded by armed and violent Taliban?

That was the "best case" look we could manage there?

I disagree.

[Drunken Irishman]

64. Absolutely it was the best case scenario...

All things considered knowing what we know about the situation, it's amazing American lives weren't lost. You can disagree all you want but I can't really envision a situation where this could have been handled better outside of canceling the withdrawal and that would have been an even bigger joke.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

40. That last sentence. Yep.

[ansible]

60. My thread over the afghans falling out of planes got deleted and marked as fake

Apparently some here think it's all fake

[Drunken Irishman]

16. Fortunately, you can offer up evidence of your claim...

Since Trump basically set up the withdrawal last year. It really shouldn't be hard to find threads on it to either prove or disprove what you say so emphatically.

[njhoneybadger]

12. And if Joe Biden released 5000 Taliban prisoners the media would have went fucking nuts.

FUCKING NUTS!!!!!'

[CrackityJones75]

13. yes

[Hoyt]

15. If it went the same, we'd have called for 3rd Impeachment and had a real chance to get GOPer votes.

[Drunken Irishman]

19. So you think Biden should be impeached?

I'd like to hear on what grounds Biden should be impeached over because I'm pretty sure no actual crimes were committed.

[USALiberal]

27. No and you know that, it just shows that we're biased.

[beaglelover]

53. Of course we're biased. Why would you believe otherwise.

[Drunken Irishman]

54. We're biased of a situation Biden didn't create.

[Hoyt]

30. Did I say that, Irishman. Christ.

[Doc Sportello]

35. That's not what he wrote and you know it

He was talking about how DU would react to the same situation. When you get to the point of misrepresenting what another poster writes, then you should realize you really don't have an argument to make.

[Drunken Irishman]

55. lol no

Sorry. But the assumption here is that DU (blanket statement, mind you) would be calling for his impeachment. If that's the case, there has to be some illegal activity used to justify that suggestion. The poster's implication here is pretty clear: had it been Trump, we'd be calling for his impeachment.

Okay, so, the poster is either suggesting DUers are morons who don't understand the constitution (maybe) or that there is justification for impeachment under the circumstances.

So, my question absolutely is valid.

The argument I replied to was not, however, because it's a bullshit blanket statement that can't be proved.

After all, I don't recall many DUers calling for Trump's impeachment over his freeing 7,000 Taliban or negotiating the terms of the withdrawal we're seeing now. So, why would anyone assume that would be their response?

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

17. I would have supported anything that got our military men and women out of Afghanistan.

I don't care who the president was at the time. When I think of all the young widows and children who have to grow up without a parent, getting the military out of that no-win war needed to be a priority. Biden ends each speech with, "May God protect our troops." In the case of Afghanistan, I think Joe decided God needed a wing man.

[treestar]

18. Trump would not have

done anything he thought might harm his reelection chances. Invalid question.

[GoodRaisin]

28. Exactly. nt

[Devil Child]

20. I'm going with a resounding no.

[reality1]

21. 5000 taliban prisoners

If Biden released 5000 Taliban enemy combatants back to the battlefield, many of whom killed our troops, Biden would be politically dead. Benghazi x 10. I myself would NOT be fine with it. I don't play those games.

GOP would relentlessly call for impeachment and charges of treason. They would call it the biggest crime a president has ever committed against our troops and would possibly be right.

But Trump did it not Biden so they're fine with it and the Dems are now more interested in investigating the withdrawal "chaos".

There needs to be investigations about what transpired in Doha. Truly rotten.

[Demsrule86]

25. I do agree about the prisoners.

[Demsrule86]

24. Yes, I have always wanted out of these endless wars.

[uponit7771]

26. Yes and rightfully so, Putin's Whore did Afghanistan wrong

[samsingh]

29. i would have been aghast and compared it to his abandoning the kurds in Syria

[sarisataka]

31. About to the same amount

As we supported him pulling out of Syria.

We would grudgingly say it was the right thing to do then go on about how it was botched and done in the worst possible way.

Also we would have accused him of abandoning allies and that he only did it on Putin's orders.

[SKKY]

32. Here's the thing, it's not like the Biden administration has done everything right....

....And to be honest, I don't think anyone knows what "right" would look like given the conditions on ground. The real difference is Biden has made a decision, owned it, and has been honest in the assessment that things haven't gone right, but they're working it and trying to get things right. I haven't seen him candy-coat anything, or downplay anything. That to me has been the difference.

[GoCubsGo]

33. For that to happen, Obama would have had to cut a deal with the Taliban,

and stick Trump with the fallout. That wasn't going to happen, so there's no "did what Biden did." It's not the same circumstances.

[Polybius]

38. Suppose Trump cut the deal in 2019

Then pulled out in August 2020.

[GoCubsGo]

43. Then the deal would still l have been the issue, not the pullout, itself.

Just like it is now. And, it's still not really "if Trump did what Biden did." Trump was never going to pull out of there for the sake of the country. He was only going to do it in a manner that benefits him. And, people would have every reason to question his dealings--and they sure as hell should. We'd all still be happy to be out of there, but that doesn't mean we'd agree with the way he went about it. We all know damn well any "deal" he cuts is going to be massively corrupt.

[dsc]

36. I would have the same opinion

right decision bad execution. I fail to see why we didn't evacuate those who helped us sooner and failing that why we didn't keep Bagram and make it clear to the Taliban, we want our people out before we are leaving and that they were not to be harmed. We should have moved them to Guam, and kept them there until we were ready for them to go here.

[Polybius]

37. No, but I would have

I remember when almost all of us here opposed the TPP in 2016. Then early in 2017 Trump said it was dead. Support suddenly came out of nowhere for the TPP. I'm not like that at all. If he's ever a broken clock, I'll say it.

[Ohio Joe]

39. False equivalency

Biden was in a no win situation, nothing he could have done would have gone well. The reason for that lies squarely at TFG feet, he fucked it up... The deal he made with the Taliban that did not have the Afghan govt at the table and in fact doomed them was of his own doing, Biden had to deal with the results.

[Kingofalldems]

41. Looks like an attack DU/Biden thread.

[LanternWaste]

59. They're throwing everything at wall hoping something sticks..

This OP, resorting to prophecy and guesswork, seems indicative of that.

[GemDigger]

42. It would have been worse.

He doesn't have any foresight and he would be all "guns blaring" to show how much of a leader he is and not giving a shit who or how many were in the crosshairs.

[Johonny]

45. Does anyone think Trump would handle the same situation the same way. Come on, man.

Trump's pull out would be filled with angry tweets (likely hourly), he'd help feed into the panic on the ground, he'd have formed a hasty invasion force but called off the attack at the last minute, he be evacuating no one as the Airports would likely be burning to the ground in the Trump fed panic, he'd have already named Jared the head of the Afghanistan re-evaluation team, then he'd have gone golfing, and of course he'd be on FOX news telling Hannity how Afghanistan was Joe Biden's worst moment in American History (that part wouldn't change.)

[KentuckyWoman]

46. If space aliens brought back Elvis

Would we like his music?

More ridiculous questions.

[USALiberal]

47. Nice try, I think you know the answer. nt

[KentuckyWoman]

48. I was never an Elvis fan

[LanternWaste]

49. It's the consistency in which you support all your assertions with evidence...

we find most admirable.

Nice try, indeed.

[USALiberal]

51. Why don't you fix your quote?

[LanternWaste]

58. No quotes, just a request you support your prophecies with evidence

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

52. It would have been the only good thing he ever did. nt

[Mysterian]

57. Yep

It was long past time to get the hell out of there.

[JI7]

61. What's with these type of posts trying to make Trump a Victim

Trump has shown he can't be trusted and nothing is done without him trying to profit personally. People would be right to be critical or suspicious of his actions.

With Biden one can agree or disagree but most would agree his intentions honest.

And we see he did do many things like the deal with the Taliban which didn't get much .