Were all the people on the runway attempting to escape from the Taliban?

[kentuck]

That is what we were told as the pictures flashed across our TV screens. After all, they already had about 800 people on board the transport plane.

Also, we can assume those climbing up the sides and on the wings were wanting out of the country. But we don't know for sure?

Many of those on the ground running in front of the plane appeared to be celebrating the event? They did not look frightened or looking to escape. Perhaps they were just trying to keep the plane from taking off?

When we are told that all those people around the plane were trying to escape the Taliban, I am not so sure?

Perhaps a trivial point?

[MLAA]

1. I thought the same.

[snowybirdie]

2. I was struck by

the fact it was mostly young men at that airport. Why were they not trying to evacuate their families too? Surely they have wives and children. They seemed willing to abandon all to save themselves. If you look at other refugees around the world, there are so many women and children. Something's not right.

[LisaL]

5. I am assuming those working in positions such as interpreters were mostly young men.

NT

[Sympthsical]

25. Look at the pics of the people on the planes

Lots of women and children got out.

What you don't see are women climbing onto and into planes trying to take off. Bit of a more dangerous sort of game.

Also, you'll note it's mostly young men in the pictures circulating. They probably don't have wives or children yet. Given they're fighting age, they probably have good cause to skedaddle.

[GemDigger]

30. There were many children and women on that plane as well.

Pictures.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215749454

[GoCubsGo]

3. Now that you mentioned it...

It seems they were all men, too. Were they afraid of the Taliban, or WERE they Taliban members, perhaps sent in to hinder the evacuation? I don't think it's a trivial point. The media is selling us a picture of desperate people trying to get on a packed, moving airplane. If they're deliberately misleading their viewers about this for whatever reason, I'd say that's an issue.

BTW, ABC is saying that it was actually 600 on the plane, not 800, fwiw.

[kentuck]

4. Thanks!

I had not heard that 600 number.

[former9thward]

37. "The media is selling us a picture of desperate people"

Now I've read everything....

[Lovie777]

6. They showed picture inside the cargo plane . . ..

packed in, and I think it went to Qartar.

[Irish_Dem]

7. Good question. We now know everything we have been told is BS.

So it is right to question media reports.

[lpbk2713]

8. That occurred to me too.

Some of them didn't seem all that desperate from what I could tell.

[obamanut2012]

9. The folks in the transport hold were women, children, families

Some lone men, including many older men.

The men on the runway were ONLY men, young and fit.

I wondered the same thing.

[doc03]

10. Same here I saw some that looked happy, if they wanted to

be on the plane and it was too late, why celebrate? If all those people would have fought back they wouldn't have needed to run.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

11. This is some of the weirdest speculation I've ever seen.

[kentuck]

12. What's so weird?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

13. Judging how people act in a crisis.

Especially through photos and brief videos, from your couch thousands of miles away.

[kentuck]

14. And you judge your opinion on the same videos?

From your couch?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

15. You're right, it's not the judging.

It's the "I'm just asking!!!1!!" about people who are in shock, in terror, and have no idea what to do, as if this is some kind of academic exercise to determine how, exactly, a person in crisis should act before they get the help they need.

[kentuck]

16. You may be right but..

I will continue to ask questions.

[Devil Child]

21. Agreed

[inwiththenew]

17. Did you see the women cover their faces

Do you think it's because they were so overcome with joy and they were crying so they wanted to be modest?

[kentuck]

19. I saw the young men on the runway flashing the "V" sign for victory or for peace...

...it just seemed a little out of character to me. I am sure many people, especially women, are frightened to death.

[Treefrog]

18. Whatever they were doing, that's a sign of an airport in chaos.

People should never be running around on the tarmac. Ever.

[kentuck]

20. For sure.

It is chaotic.

[TheRealNorth]

27. If we were Republicans....

We would be arguing that this was just a huge party.... and hey, sometimes things break at a party.

[kentuck]

28. Yeah, maybe they are just "tourists"?

If we didn't have these "fake news" people showing us videos, we would probably think it was just another normal day at the airport?

[TheRealNorth]

29. They are "crisis actors"

[XanaDUer2]

22. I just saw thatclip on Ruhle's show

and am wondering the same

[spanone]

23. This fellow sure looks happy...

[kentuck]

26. I think that is the one that got my attention.

But we should believe everything we are told and not believe our own eyes?

[Treefrog]

31. I'm sure there are happy lads in Afghanistan this week, but that doesn't change the fact that

many are not, and many are in danger from these cretins straight out of the Dark Ages.

If you believe women aren’t terrified, I don’t know what to say.

[spanone]

32. you assume a lot from my short observation.

[Treefrog]

33. Actually, I replied to the wrong poster.

I meant to respond to the op.

Apologies.

[spanone]

34. No problem. Accepted.

👍🏼

[Treefrog]

35. Lol, he did look happy.

He looked like every moron that jumps in front of a camera in this country lol.

[dalton99a]

24. Not all Afghans at the airport worked for Americans

https://www.voanews.com/europe/taliban-advances-europe-fears-afghan-migration-crisis
As Taliban Advances, Europe Fears an Afghan Migration Crisis
By Jamie Dettmer
August 02, 2021 04:36 PM

...

Greek authorities are reporting that Afghans now make up the largest share of asylum-seekers who manage to navigate the Aegean from Turkey. Austria last week announced it is to deploy additional soldiers to its borders with Slovenia and Hungary so as to increase the number of border guards by 40 percent. The country’s interior minister Karl Nehammer said at a news conference that EU migration policies have proven ineffective against irregular migrants, and he said Austrian immigration authorities have already apprehended 15,768 migrants attempting to cross illegally the Austrian border this year, compared to 21,700 for the whole of 2020.

“In Austria we have one of the biggest Afghan communities in the whole of Europe,” Nehammer said. “It cannot be the case that Austria and Germany have to solve the Afghanistan problem for the EU,” Nehammer added.

Despite the advance of the Taliban, European countries have been continuing with deportations of Afghan asylum-seekers — only Finland, Sweden and Norway have announced temporary suspensions of forced returns to Afghanistan.

Turkey is already hosting anywhere from an estimated 200,000 to 600,000 Afghans and - unlike the more than three million Syrian refugees living in Turkey - they have few legal rights of protection and no access to public services. Turkish opposition parties have been seizing on migration as an issue to try to outmaneuver President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and last month jumped on remarks by Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz that Turkey is “a more suitable place” for Afghans than his or other western European countries.

[msongs]

36. no reports of afghans fleeing to arab/muslim dominate countries then? nt

[Raine]

38. I think most were trying to escape but some certainly were waving

happily and cheering it seemed.

[George II]

39. I think many of those people were celebrating, too.