I summed up, re-organised and illustrated some of the points Konstantin made in his conversation with Triggernometry partner Francis Foster. You find the full conversation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNnq8gMAE-8
Please, share my content! I try to upload fairly regularly. Sometimes, though, I invest time in improvements which is bad for the social media algorithms. This time I made a pause to set myself up to make these illustrations that I premiere today with this video.
The Biden administration and its NATO allies have scrambled out of Afghanistan in the most chaotic and irresponsible way: Weapons fell into the hands of the enemy and, in an attempt to not embarrass the now exiled government, the level of security was misrepresented leaving thousands trapped. During the preparation of the withdrawal no time was spent to identify those who could have moved to other places, non-Western countries, and in the rare cases of highly skilled and highly freedom-oriented individuals, to Western countries. Now, thousands of unknown passengers are transported to Western nations and nobody can identify who is deserving and who merely seeks their financial luck.
Was the war a mistake? After the initial revenge for 9/11 it seems to have grown into one. NGOs and many a military officer saw an opportunity to elevate their status and income. They did not honestly report the (lack of) progress to the citizens at home while more and more money sank into the swamp. Afghanistan was not ready to run its own affairs and won’t be anytime soon. It is a place where small advances can be encouraged, but large civilisational jumps can’t be imposed. The same holds true for immigrant populations. It is not enlightened to expect more of people than they can achieve. The individual can be advanced if he is open to it. Masses of people or entire countries will have to take their time.
Donald Trump is chasing the bills. Germany is notoriously remiss in spending the promised 2% of its GDP on Defence. The attitude is a mix of ingratitute, anti-Americanism and pseudo-pacifism. Why would anybody take precautions if, on your behalf, American soldiers will put their lives on the line? It is so easy to be a pacifist while the heat is low, particularly if you can rely on others to take it, should push come to shove.
Of course, Germany does have an army, the Bundeswehr, which used to be very respected, at least until the Russians got out of the country and the debilitating cuts began. They see their obligation in assisting NATO partners with mission participations they are poorly equipped and adequate for. The self-set task is to clear the seas with the British and to patrol the African deserts with the French, albeit the partners have a long-standing history and understanding of their territories while the Germans are exhausting themselves as multi-specialised and ultimately unspecialised aides.
The problem is therefore twofold: In addition to the low budget the troops lack focus.
Various weapon systems are in shambles. According to the “Report on the Material Employability of the Main Weapon Systems of the Bundeswehr in 2019”
less than 50% readiness can be expected of the Tornado (jet), the CH-53 (helicopter), the Lockheed P-3c Orien (maritime surveillance aircraft) and tanker ships class 704; less than 40% can be expected of the PUMA (tank), A400M (carrier aircraft), H 145M LUH (helicopter), GTF ZLK (hardshell truck) and NH-90 (helicopter).
And while Germans were so comfortable in their pseudo-moral shirker-parcifism, they whittled down their stable energy system to become ever more reliant on Russian gas.
Goldstein 
