CNN Reporting the bounty offered to the Taliban resulted in deaths of US troops.

[onecaliberal]

That orange garbage needs to go now.

Update: According to foreign intel it was at least 5 soldiers. Some in 2018, some in 2019.

[Cha]

1. It should be revealed who was killed by these bounties from Putin..

so we can put actual Lives to what he and trump have done.

[GusBob]

11. This is the reporting we need

Unfortunately someone has to wave the bloody shirt

If one US soldier was killed for blood money and Trump did nothing or does nothing he is toast

I feel for the soldiers family though, caught up in this

[soldierant]

27. It would be considerate to appraoch those families and get their consent to reveal the names.

And it would be kind of ugly not to.

I would expect most families to be there for the nation to know their loss was caused by our "president." But I'd want to be sure, and there might be complicating circumstances.

[Nevilledog]

2. I wanna hear some military people speaking out!

[onecaliberal]

3. Vote vets is tweeting. I want to hear some come forward too.

Tammy Duckworth is demanding answers.

[Nevilledog]

5. Saw that. Good letter.

[onecaliberal]

15. I thought so too.

[onecaliberal]

16. Veteran.

Link to tweet

?s=21

[Nevilledog]

17. Thank you!

[onecaliberal]

18. You're welcome. It was one of the comments that came up on my feed.

There are many. Not one supportive of dump.

[Nevilledog]

20. You'd have to be a contortionist to defend him and have military connections.

We'll see how limber the GOP is.....

[onecaliberal]

22. It's blowing up in a big way.

[Thekaspervote]

26. There are several vets speaking out on twitter. It's brutal!

[Progressive Law]

4. This is big news, it might be the turning point.

[Iliyah]

6. shithole - I know nothing . ..

The President of the United States is the leader of the "free world". He/she knows all, especially the security and safety of American citizens here at home and abroad and the for the safety and security of our troops home and overseas.

The above is some of what he/she does.

I am pissed.

[PufPuf23]

7. Have little doubt that there is a PDB given to Trump about Russian bounties in Afghanistan

But bounty or not, Russian bounties do not appear to have had any impact.

Isn't this (financial support to proxies) business as usual and something the USA does as well?

That said I do not dismiss Trump ignoring intelligence and sniffing Putin's anus.

But the fatality facts are:

U.S. fatalities by month in only Afghanistan according to iCasualties.org
Year J F M A M J J A S O N D Total
2001 – – – – – – – – – 2 2 3 7
2002 10 1 9 4 1 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 30
2003 4 1 8 2 1 2 1 4 1 3 6 0 33
2004 9 2 3 1 8 4 2 3 4 5 7 1 49
2005 2 1 5 18 4 26 2 15 11 4 2 3 93
2006 1 7 7 1 11 18 9 10 6 10 7 1 88
2007 0 12 3 8 11 12 13 18 8 9 11 6 111
2008 7 1 7 5 16 28 20 22 27 16 1 3 153
2009 14 15 13 6 12 24 44 51 37 59 17 18 310
2010 30 31 24 19 34 60 65 55 42 60 53 33 496
2011 24 18 29 46 35 47 37 70 42 31 18 15 412
2012 26 10 18 34 39 29 41 39 19 17 16 13 301
2013 3 1 15 13 19 17 11 11 8 9 3 10 120
2014 7 6 0 4 4 13 3 5 5 2 3 3 54
2015 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 3 1 8 0 6 22
2016 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 3 4 1 14
2017 0 0 1 3 0 3 1 3 2 1 2 1 17
2018 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 1 2 1 5 2 15
2019 2 0 2 3 2 2 3 3 2 0 2 1 22
2020 4 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_casualties_in_the_War_in_Afghanistan

[GusBob]

10. The US military threw tons of money around there for sure

But mostly towards a peaceful end. They would pay off village chieftains to curry favors like stop feeding or harbouring militants. Or they would put in watering systems or other infrastructure

Buying influence as it were. Perhaps some of the influence led to information on militant activity and identification

The chieftains could find themselves in a tough spot, cozy up to US soldiers and find themselves killed by militants

A lot of the militias had foreign fjihad ighters from all over. They didn't care for local chieftains and warlords. Some of them have a vested interest in the fighting to continue ( arms dealing and drug traffickers) I think this bounty stuff was an effort to quell the peace process


To your point about the number of deaths: I believe the lower numbers make the bounty story easier to prove. You can focus on each individual case, they didn't happen in a vacuum

[onecaliberal]

23. The intel is from 2018-2019. Says soldier were

Definitely killed. Even foreign sources knew.

[PSPS]

29. Really? Whataboutism? Now?

[PufPuf23]

33. What is the matter with facts and context?

I don't doubt at all that Trump received the intelligence and ignored.

Trump has to be removed from office and his enablers neutralized.

Would you rather be surprised and hear it first on MSNBC or Fox)?

Its fact and context which anyone thinking clearly should be aware.

[C_U_L8R]

8. Let the subpoenas begin

There are people and documents from here to Moscow and Afghanistan that played a part in delivering this intelligence to Trump. And some may reveal why he didn't act (and continues to not act).

[onecaliberal]

24. Absolutely, tomorrow. This cannot stand.

[Leghorn21]

9. Go go go go

NOW NOW NOW

Why is there any hesitation whatsoever on ANYBODY’S PART to remove that faux president and his henchmen???

WTFF!!!!??

[whttevrr]

12. Why is trump letting Putin put a bounty on US Troops?

Two questions for reporters to:

trump

"Why did you let Putin put a bounty on US Troops?"

Every trump supporter, senator, congress person, and surrogate

"Why is trump letting Putin put a bounty on US Troops?"

[moondust]

13. Why would Putin do this?

Last edited Mon Jun 29, 2020, 12:54 AM - Edit history (1)

Seems the potential downside is much greater than any potential upside. Don't know why Putin would even be interested in the Afghan conflict.

Needs further investigation.




ETA: A few minutes ago on CNNi Samantha Vinograd basically suggested that Putin may still want to make the U.S. look weak by pushing it to retreat from Afghanistan. Maybe that would hurt the U.S. but that kind of meddling could also hurt Putin.

[Takket]

19. You make a good point.

I don’t get it either. Not really any advantage to be gained and it is going to crush his puppet.

I feel like a lot more digging is needed to make sense of this. Congress needs hearings.

[Grokenstein]

28. Afghanistan is the Graveyard of Empires.

Putin knows this because the bottomless pit of war in Afghanistan did more to destroy the Soviet Union than anything President Jellybean Naptime Cowboy did. He also knows this is how we wage war:

1. Send in troops! Shock! Awe!
2. Oh shit, instead of immediately surrendering they've started killing us!
3. Does the U.S. still have money? If yes, go to 4. If no, go to 6.
4. Avenge the fallen! SEND IN MORE TROOPS!!
5. Go to 2.
6. (bald eagle screams, flies into side of cliff and explodes as Putin folds arms and smiles)

[Liberal In Red State]

31. Why would Putin do this? I think it was to see just how far he could push the orange ass

before he pushed back. He has his answer . . . he now knows he can kill Americans and nothing will happen to him. What ever he has on dRump must be hugely compromising.

[subterranean]

34. Maybe Putin wasn't briefed on it.

Just kidding, of course, but I would not be surprised if we hear Trump say something like, "I asked Putin if the fake news reports about the bounty are true. He told me there's no truth to it, and I believe him."

[Skittles]

35. because he can?

he is a psychopath

[UTUSN]

14. K&R

[spanone]

21. Through this pandemic, we've seen that lives mean very little to trump.

...if anything.

[LudwigPastorius]

25. Most intelligent U.S. citizens know that Trump is not operating with our best interests in mind.

The U.S. intelligence community knew Trump wouldn't back their assessments, defend their agents, or act on their recommendations shortly after the inauguration.

Now the military knows that its commander in chief doesn't have the backs of the troops under his command and has rewarded the state that instigated some of the deaths of their fellows.

If the country stays on the same trajectory, with an escalating death toll and a crumbling economy, and if Trump and Putin are able to steal the election in November, I actually wouldn't be surprised if there was a coup attempt.

[BigmanPigman]

32. Putin did the SAME thing with British troops.

British Intel said that the same people who paid for it paid for the poisoning of the Skripals.

"Russia offered Taliban-linked fighters bounties to attack British troops - as senior Tory MP seeks answers
The group responsible for the payments is the same Russian intelligence outfit behind the Skripal poisonings, Sky News is told."

https://news.sky.com/story/russia-paid-taliban-fighters-to-attack-british-troops-in-afghanistan-12016425

"On 4 March 2018, Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military officer and double agent for the UK's intelligence services, and his daughter Yulia Skripal were poisoned in the city of Salisbury, England with a Novichok nerve agent, according to UK sources."
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Sergei_and_Yulia_Skripal