So now people are concerned about Afghan lives

[USAFRetired_Liberal]

Afghans have been dying in this war daily for the last ten years….now that this bomb that killed Afghans this morning, everyone is now shocked and upset

[Irish_Dem]

1. yep. Huge loss of life in past 20 years. Yet now we see crocodile tears.

Ridiculous.

[LakeArenal]

2. OMG. I have a friend going insane posting US lack of humanitarianism

Not a word about babies in cages or refugees walking hundreds of miles for Latin American countries that became Mexicans all to the bigots.

But now that they know someone there, granted they have a right to be scared, but they are still in their homes. Still have food and water.

Blaming Biden for sanctions and withdrawal.

[stillcool]

3. surprised they're not calling for some "shock and awe"

[frazzled]

4. Indeed

These numbers are probably underestimated. Many of the Afghan deaths were from our own and allied air strikes.

American service members killed in Afghanistan through April: 2,448.

U.S. contractors: 3,846.

Afghan national military and police: 66,000.

Other allied service members, including from other NATO member states: 1,144.

Afghan civilians: 47,245.

Taliban and other opposition fighters: 51,191.

Aid workers: 444.

Journalists: 72.

https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-business-afghanistan-43d8f53b35e80ec18c130cd683e1a38f

[Hortensis]

5. People are dying all over the world, including here.

That we don't spend our days weeping down lists of nations, dissolving into puddles of intolerable sorrow, doesn't mean sympathy and altruism, even if fleeting, aren't real when attention is drawn to suffering.

I'd think we all should be glad for even shallow caring while dangerous meanness and hostility threaten us all. There's a world of difference between that and, for instance, trumpist types demanding none be brought here.

And those inspired to want more for any one group should aim their fire at people of ill intent who really need to be put down for everyone's good.

[Treefrog]

6. Thank you for using "Afghan" instead of the incorrect "Afghani."

You’re one of the few.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. Many dictionaries list "Afghani" as an acceptable name for the people

eg American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language

Afghani adj.
Of or relating to Afghanistan; Afghan.

n.

pl. Afghanis

1.
A native or inhabitant of Afghanistan; an Afghan.

[Treefrog]

13. It is not current, and it's considered offensive.

Carry on.

Afghani is the currency of the country.

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. Obviously it is current

It appears in many dictionaries without either 'obsolete' or 'offensive' qualification.

CBS San Francisco: "Fleeing Afghani Refugees"
The Guardian: "Afghani President"
Catholic Charities: "You can help Afghani families"
The Times of India: "Afghani footballer"

All from the first page of news for "Afghani".

[Treefrog]

15. Ok, don't believe me. I don't care if you want to use the wrong word for a group of people.

Pay attention to any briefings from our government and see what term they use.

There are a lot of words in the dictionary that are now considered offensive. I don’t dare list them here.

You do you. Carry on.

[muriel_volestrangler]

17. Language, or what is offensive, is not defined purely by official briefings from one country

I'm sure you realise that when you think about it.

Dictionaries mark offensive words as "offensive".

Of course I don't believe you. Because, as I showed, a lot of responsible, non-offensive media use "Afghani". I'm not "doing me"; I'm pointing out what the current usage is.

[LeftInTX]

18. From my understanding of Iranian languages, adding "i" suffix makes it "from"

To refer to Afghans as Afghanis is not offensive at all. In Dari/Persian when we talk about people we say for instance, "Is he Afghani or Pakistani?". Of course we ask this in Dari which goes like this, "Afghani ast ya Pakistani?" Is this offensive? Hell NO!

In Dari Grammar to make an adjective from a noun you put the suffix -i at the end. Example: America is noun to refer to the people of America we say, "Amerikai" or American. Iran is a country and people from Iran are Irani. Of course this is all in Dari. That is how the grammar works.

Finally, the word Afghani which is used for the Afghan currency is a Pashto word which is pronounced differently from Afghani. It is even written differently in Pashto. But because that Pashto sound does not exist in Dari, people say Afghani when they refer to people and when they talk about money they use Afghani. So, it is the context that matters. If you talk about currency you say Afghani and people know you talk about money. When you talk about people you say Afghani and people know you refer to Afghans or Afghanis.

Pashto is also an Iranian language....

[LanternWaste]

19. Goodness gracious.

You do realize an absence of evidence is not evidence, yes?

"What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence."

This means that the burden of proof regarding the truthfulness of a claim (i.e., the term is offensive) lies with the one who makes the claim (i.e., you); if this burden is not met, then the claim is unfounded (i.e., little more than another bumper sticker).

[JohnSJ]

7. As with the pandemic, a lot of folks seemed to become "expert doctors", with the Afghan situation

we are now seeing a lot of folks becoming "armchair generals"

What would we do without these so-called experts?

[LaMouffette]

8. But you know what's going to happen? As soon as the airlifted Afghanis start arriving in US

communities, there is going to be a backlash against them as the racists among us start seeing more "Arabs" in their neighborhoods.

Also, the Repubes in Congress are just delighted that they have the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan to weaponize against Biden. They're also pleased that he has airlifted so many Afghanis out so that they will soon be able to resurrect anti-immigration sentiment in their voting base.

[Carlitos Brigante]

11. I believe they spell it "A-rabs". nt

[Carlitos Brigante]

9. "What's an Afghanistan again?.... Oh yeah, right, right... I've been deeply concerned for years." nt

[bluedevil4]

12. I pray for our

Soldiers and their families. What a shame. I'm not so sure this had to happen but this is truly a sad day for Americans

[NightWatcher]

16. Only when they can hang them around Biden's neck like a mill stone.

They want him to fail so badly that they are celebrating the violence and death, including todays bombings.