This is increasingly obvious. They are putting on a big show for the rest of the world right now. They are putting out a lot of propaganda about how peaceful everything is, how everyone is going to be treated well, how they have to earn the trust of the people by making sure everyone is taken care of, etc. They want to be seen as the peacemakers. They want to be seen as legitimate. Attacking right now would be the dumbest thing they could do. It would sow the exact sort of chaos and destruction that they want to avoid.

I suspect China is playing a similar role to ours when the USSR pulled out in the 80s.

And I'm surprised Twitter is keeping the information flowing.

This warmongering Democratic partisan -- who wrote a book demanding everyone honor his expertise -- actually tried to blame, or at least distract everyone's attention to, **the GOP South Dakotan Governor** for what's happening in Kabul:https://t.co/LqIuUlzLeH

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) August 16, 2021

But whatever else is true, the responsibility for what the US Government and military do now is Biden's, not Trump's. When they thought it would go well, Psaki and Blinken demanded credit. So vile watching them now renounce it, with the media's help.

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) August 16, 2021

nortex97 said:

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The Fife said:

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I didn't check the spreadsheet that closely, but why no C5 activity? Runway / weather and altitude / bad climb rate when fully loaded issues?

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C-5's are doing a lot better than they were (once around 50% mission capable any given day), but the risk to a C-5 being damaged by a potmarked airfield, random bullet, or heaven forbid if it has to 'kneel' (risking hydraulic issues) to pick folks up is likely not worth it.

Plus, it is the biggest target we could put on the ramp. We aren't loading up any Abrams or heavy outsized gear, it's just Biden victims/people. The C-17 gets off the ground in a hurry (less than half the runway, and probably going out very light to refuel quickly in the air), and takes a lot less space on the ramp etc.

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I've heard the Ms are doing better (RIP TF39 whine); didn't know they were still capable of kneeling. Using the 17s makes sense though, I had a feeling the runway over there was short and probably surrounded by a whole lot of unfriendly folks now and they do jump up pretty quick. I used to work in, around, and on them and thought they were pretty nice unless you had to do anything up on the tail outdoors.

If they were really able to cram 800 people on one I've really gotta give them credit. Sounds like standing room only for sure!

All these people trying to hold on to a plane...Are they mistaking them for a train, or can one actually hang on to a fuselage at 10k+ feet?

You wonder if they simply wanted to end their lives this way, as it would be far less painful than what they will experience by staying on the ground.

mosdefn14 said:

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All these people trying to hold on to a plane...Are they mistaking them for a train, or can one actually hang on to a fuselage at 10k+ feet?

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Most of the C17s I've found on FlightTracker are flying at around 30k. Even if you could hold on for the entire ride (which you couldn't), you'd get really cold pretty quickly. Not to mention hypoxia.

Oh it's real, and you have to wonder how many got air sick doing a quick climb then the refueling before a pretty long flight. I wonder if the loadmaster just closed the door and hid in the cockpit (and re: C-5 I am darn sure they wouldn't want any Afghan mobs upstairs in one, again it's just the wrong tool for this job). If anyone hasn't seen a C-17 do a quick landing/take off at an air show (empty) to show off it's skills/ability I highly recommend it. Pretty incredible plane, maybe the last one from McD (unless you want to count the YF-23but that's another discussion).

Sigh

This can't be real. It can't be. https://t.co/ErmppjiQDD

— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) August 16, 2021

Don't ever vote for a Democrat, people. This is what happens. It turns out, it's not just Trump's fault, but Reagan's. Jihad Squad has it figured out this morning;

The US has temporarily suspended evacuation flights pending re-securing the runway.

Well, will Tony Blinken negotiate with the Taliban now? Or is that Trump's fault too

A white house national security advisor was live on NBC just a few hours ago assuring us that the airport was completely secure.

Every spokesperson for this administration, from Biden down, is the 2021 version of Baghdad Bob.

https://video.foxnews.com/v/6268163654001#sp=show-clips

JABQ04 said:

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bmks270 said:

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TChaney said:

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The scene at Kabul airport this morning -- crowds gather behind rolls of barbed wire as US soldiers stand.

Photos by @AFP pic.twitter.com/wb34Y7AYpD

— Jerome Taylor (@JeromeTaylor) August 16, 2021

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Not a single woman or child in that photo.

Why don't all these guys in the photo fight the Taliban for their own sovereignty if they don't like the Taliban?

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Exactly. Nothing but men of "fighting age". ****ing cowards.

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Well, that they don't seem to understanding hanging on to a moving and soon-to-be airborne C-17 is is a bad idea is somewhat related to the reason they aren't willing or able to fight the Taliban.

Desperate people make desperate decisions.

But I agree that fighting the Taliban would have been more effective.

Yukon Cornelius said:

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Yeah i don't believe that. WH seems pretty buttoned up right now.

I know that this has fractured the allegiance of a number of people in the Biden admin, so I think it's possible we start hearing leaks like this.

Biden already tried to tag the border disaster on Harris so it wouldn't surprise me if he at least makes her go down with him for this.

Yukon Cornelius said:

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Except she went out of her way to let it be known that she was "the last in the room" on the withdrawal plan, right?

Or was that someone from team Biden looking to sabotage her?

I'm guessing it is the latter...or that statement was prepared before this turned into a complete disaster. The initial talking points were clearly not prepared with this chaos in mind. They were prepared to defend the withdrawal, not a chaotic evacuation.

I thought about this and came to the conclusion that they just don't have a great enough understanding of aviation. They at least should try to get onto the actual landing gear. You might be able to make it if you could get inside the landing gear doors.

I think they legitimately didn't understand the force of the wind, the extreme cold, and lack of oxygen associated with flying at 30,000 feet.

Who knows. Maybe they thought the plane wouldn't actually take off.

That's a good point about airsickness, I'm wondering what the hell they would've even had to hold on to unless they came up with some way to strap everyone down or there really weren't that many people on board. Kind of like what some of my coworkers said about the shamu flight; that the MLG broke because the load shifted from the whale and all the water when they landed on that short runway even though the RCCA pointed at something else.

I had to google the YF-23, that one's before my time but I get what guys I worked with were talking about with the USAF not picking it because of looks.

Watching those C-17 videos is EXTREMELY heartbreaking. If nothing else that shows how desperate people are to get out of Afghanistan, that they would risk hypoxia, possibly hypothermia, and death to get out.

chickencoupe16 said:

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I thought about this and came to the conclusion that they just don't have a great enough understanding of aviation. They at least should try to get onto the actual landing gear. You might be able to make it if you could get inside the landing gear doors.

I think they legitimately didn't understand the force of the wind, the extreme cold, and lack of oxygen associated with flying at 30,000 feet.

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That happens every so often with flights out of Africa. I think I've heard of one person making it but with all kinds of hypothermia or frostbite. Lost track of how many times I've read about a dead guy falling out when the gear goes down before landing. It's usually some kind of combination of crush damage from the MLG or wheels combined with cold and lack of oxygen like you said.

IIRC there's not any extra room in the landing gear pods on the C-17. They'd have gotten pretty smashed up in there.

JUST IN - U.S. troops fatally shot at least two armed men who approached Americans at #Kabul airport's security perimeter (WSJ)

— Disclose.tv 🚨 (@disclosetv) August 16, 2021

Weaksauce

JUST IN - Head of U.S. CENTCOM met with senior Taliban leaders to ask their fighters not to interfere with the evacuation operations at the #Kabul airport.

— Disclose.tv 🚨 (@disclosetv) August 16, 2021