Giantbookofdeath t1_ja3ekkj wrote
You might’ve been asked this last AMA, idk but do you support the pull out of Afghanistan? If not, how long would you had preferred that war to continue on? Also, if pulling out was so easy and blah blah then why didn’t previous presidents do it. Afghanistan was a needless war for the last 10 yrs only there to support the military industrial complex, and if I’m wrong please let me know. So trump could have pulled out but didn’t. Why didn’t he? Obama could’ve pulled out. Why didn’t he? Why does everyone blame Biden for finally be strong enough of a leader to pull out of Vietnam? Also, besides making more wealth for the complex as y’all chose to do after you got out of the army, what good was it to stay in Afghanistan?
Also, I’m a veteran of OIF, so as a veteran how do I go about making that my only life experience and somehow droll on about it for a few more years while sucking up funds from rubes? Podcast? Book deal?
Also, do y’all have any hobbies?
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja3goat wrote
Kyle here - thanks for the question. I was 100% in support of withdrawal from Afghanistan. It was clear, probably around 2011, that US nation building had failed. I think Biden should be applauded for pulling out of Afghanistan, but withdrawal should have been conducted from the more defensible Bagram Airfield as opposed to HKIA. I find it despicable that the leaders in charge of conducting the withdrawal are still in charge despite the loss of life and clusterfuck that was the withdrawal.
As for saying the war is your only life experience, I’m sure it wasn’t and it wasn’t ours, either. If you’re accusing us of profiting from it, I can assure you we make no money doing this and it only costs us money with server space and recording software. There are no ads for square space or blue apron. For sure I made more money in the war after I got out, but only for a short time until I became a sort of hippie and near-pacifist. Went back to school and work in a totally unrelated career field. We do this as a way to stay in touch and bring on experts to talk about a topic that doesn’t get a lot of play in the mainstream news cycle. Kind of amateur-hobbyist journalism and history. As for hobbies, I like to fly fish, write, play video games, mandolin, practice jiu jitsu badly, and read. I can assure you I don’t identify very strongly or at all with the vet bro community which is often obnoxious. Take care, man.
Jeff-FaFa t1_ja5rwth wrote
>There are no ads for square space or blue apron.
This got me good😂. Also don't forget BetterHelp. And DraftKings. And Liquid IV.
I hate to love podcasts.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja5sivy wrote
It costs us $366 a year to make this podcast. So if BlueApron wants to send us $366 dollars we won't stop them from hocking their overpriced meal kit business. (What the fuck even is Square Space)
Jeff-FaFa t1_ja5uqfw wrote
>(What the fuck even is Square Space)
It's a very nice website used to make very shitty websites.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja5v3vo wrote
Jeff-FaFa t1_ja5wjx1 wrote
It's just... So perfect. :')
The owner is definitely holed up in a shack in a corn field in Nebraska. A true contemporary Unabomber.
rab777hp t1_ja67ghd wrote
How exactly were people supposed to get to Bagram from Kabul?
hangarang t1_ja6bov5 wrote
The “should’ve been bagram” response is common from folks that never had to secure anything larger than a fighting position. HKIA kissed the Green Zone where every embassy was located. No other location could’ve been secured with the force presence in country.
rab777hp t1_ja6ciaz wrote
It's common from anyone who just wants to act like they could have done better.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja7ckle wrote
I don't say this to be flippant, but how was everyone supposed to get to Kabul from every corner of the country? Had those in charge accepted the reality following Doha Agreement, things are different. Instead, they sat on their hands and did nothing and we were left with August 2021.
rab777hp t1_ja8cezi wrote
The people being evacuated were Western aligned elites in Kabul. How many people got out from around the country?
You think you're so smart from your smug perch, in reality, the war was lost 20 years ago.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja3he9x wrote
This is Zach. I supported pulling out of Afghanistan. With that said, the way it was done was absolutely horrendous. After the Doha Agreement was signed, it was open season on ANDSF. The longer we stayed, the worse off things would have become. President Obama campaigned on leaving Afghanistan only to do an about-face when he entered office. President Trump campaigned on leaving Afghanistan and kicked the can down the road. Our belief is that military leadership kept telling them the war was winnable. President Biden's share of the blame comes from not having a withdrawal plan. With the Doha Agreement signed in February 2020, he had plenty of time to get a team together to work on such a plan. You can't campaign on your foreign policy expertise and then not have a plan. Per the Afghanistan papers, the war was essentially unwinnable after 2004.
​
As for money, our podcast makes none. We do this for catharsis. And I have a borderline unhealthy infatuation with golf.
Giantbookofdeath t1_ja3kwaa wrote
Golf is the third worst industrious pollution causing industry in the world. Switch over to disc golf and stop helping destroy local water sheds.
I guess all the stuff that happened in afghanistan happened by pure luck then with no plan. Being people that served I would imagine y’all know what pulling a major operation entails and I’d reckon y’all know that things never go according to plan. I think more people (especially vets and current service members) should be grateful the old dude fucking pulled us out. Sry it wasn’t perfect to everyone liking. I hate hearing the “well, it wouldn’t have been so fucked if trump was still in office”. Like what? Dude had 4 yrs to do exactly that and cowered out.
I appreciate y’all’s green gilled beliefs that it was top brass telling them the war was winnable but cmon, we all know it was top execs telling them they’ll get their cut of the profits to just stay in. War is a racket.
Anywho thanks for the response. Hope all is well in y’all’s lives.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja3lzbu wrote
Kyle - We never said it would be better if Trump was in office and I personally despise the dude. Trump did orchestrate the Doha Agreement which started the end of the whole thing. Obama and Trump could have withdrawn any time and they both kept it going for either money and/or watered down intelligence reports to Congress. We regularly discuss how war is a racket on the podcast and most of our guests do, too. Personally I applaud Biden for finally pulling the plug, but it should have been done from Bagram which would have minimalized chances of casualties. And I don't like golf either, that's all Zach.
theboardwalkpodcast OP t1_ja3lhuj wrote
We didn't say things would be better if Trump were still in office. We have discussed many times the pipeline from general officer to PMC board seat member.
Giantbookofdeath t1_ja4dmqo wrote
I wasn’t implying y’all said the trump comment, I was just expressing frustration at the dumb shit I hear about the pull out.
You all seem to be on the money about having a better plan on pulling out but goddamn the dude got us the fuck out of there. Instead of any praise it seems that everyone just cried about how bad he did it. I get it wasn’t perfect. But fuck man, I was in the army, I’ve never seen anything go perfectly. But of course he was the dumbass that got us out of a pointless war and it wasn’t all step right up and board this 777 sir, would you like a drink for the flight home? War is hell, right? That’s what I’ve been told at least. Did they have this much dumbass talk when we pulled out of Vietnam? It didn’t go smoothly from what I remember but fuck if I know. It was the rights first golden god that pulled out troops so I doubt anybody tried to sow seeds of doubt as hard as those pissants did to Biden. Plus they didn’t have Fox News using every second of the day to criticize every fucking thing. Man I tell y’all, I’m just fucking tired of this current shit. They got everyone so divided there’s no fucking way we’ll ever be a full functioning country anymore. Just a fucking Ponzi scheme ran by the most corrupt assholes in the world and by that I mean the lobbyists and the leaders of the corporate world. They run this shit man, not us and def not the spineless politicians.
Look, rant over, if y’all wanna do some real good possibly, start bringing attention to the $21 Trillion missing from the fed that no one seems to give a fuck about. But of course we don’t have money for universal healthcare or education. God fucking forbid we have an educated and healthy population, what sense would that make. And you know why they don’t search for that 21 TRILLION. It’s bc they took it. The politicians and higher ups and lobbyists. They robbed us all blind y’all and then created all this other bullshit to keep up distracted. Shit would be funny if it wasn’t so fucking sad.
Mind_Extract t1_ja7orkd wrote
>if y’all wanna do some real good possibly,
This is your version of bitching that something good still wasn't done to your satisfaction.
You have chosen the worst possible forum to air these grievances, and you did it in an accusatory way when your interlocutors clearly share your sensibilities. Why on Earth did you not go do this in some boot-licking thread instead?
Giantbookofdeath t1_jacb8u5 wrote
I’m not even sure what you’re talking about. I meant that they should use their platform in order to bring attention to something that could really help. If we could get 21 trillion dollars back then it could immensely improve our country. Although, I guess I did assume that they wanted to effect change in a positive way. My bad. I didnt intend an accusatory manner, and really I think you just took it the wrong way. Projection causes a lot of misunderstandings in these forums I think, so I forgive you for misunderstanding my intent. Also I’m not a boot licker. I don’t understand why I would try to have an interaction with these people on a random boot licker sub but I guess that makes sense to you so cool.
Have a good day man. Try some reading comprehension next time.
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