Miscellaneous News

[vincent]

Personal experience. I was a former reservist, so recruiter had talked to me when doing some paperwork.

In demand technical grads could get 5 figure signing bonus (I can't remember all the levels now, but I think it was from $20K to $50K). Half paid up front, the other half paid at the end of the contract.
MDs were being offered 6 figures all payable up front.

Basic bonus of five figures is not "insane" money, maybe just 25% over regular civilian job, but it's still good money. Plus that's not including those sweeteners for overseas duty.

The Canadian military funding is not great, but its not awful. It's kind of a myth that the military is terribly underfunded. Some of the issue (my opinion) stems from a very long drawn out procurement process that emphasizes (rightly or wrongly depending on your opinion) Made in Canada options.

For regular troops, actually the pay is quite good. I believe #3 in NATO.
Even regular green private with high school diploma gets CA$35,000/year now, I think an American private is only about US$20,000 (currency conversion is pointless because Americans are not converting that money).

I have the privilege to decline such mercenary work, but if my financial/family situation was less fortunate, it would be hard to pass up.

A little over twenty years a new engineering grad can get the rank of second lieutenant with the salary of $60k CAD

 

[Xizor]

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Why didn’t they evacuate earlier??? Did they really think Kabul could last till September???

This has been planned by US military brass for some time. Such a pullout limits the number of "not ideal" people they'd have to take back to US.

And Joe Biden seems to have been kept in the dark regarding this. It's very likely that the US military had made some deals with the Talibs. ( although this is hearsay from Twitter, it isn't beyond them).

I'm startled by how wrong the POTUS has been since the press meet last July where he said " no Vietnam", "Afghan Army 300k, Talib 75k", "Kabul will not fall" etc. All point to not intelligence failure but clever military administration maneuvering for vested interests.

The military and right leaning folks ( including Centrist Democrats) may not want a refugee situation like Vietnam. So it's likely that they conspired to provide false information to POTUS about the ground realities. It's a pity for the Afghans who supported US.

 

[horse]

You are misunderstanding me. Thought I made it clear I have no sympathy for the Americans or their Anglo relatives.

Seeing civilians die, even if they collaborated for $50 or whatever, still disgusts me, especially when you see how cowardly the Westerners are in leaving those people behind.

Even the collaborators aren’t pro-Western, they just wanted to make some money in what felt like a harmless venture to them. They basically scammed the Americans into giving them money to prop up some fake government and military, and look at the state of the military now, they never really sought to fight for America. They immediately threw in the towel the moment America pulled out.

You are unintentionally promoting Western propaganda by putting any attention/blame on Afghans at this critical moment when the whole world should be focused on the weakness, cowardliness, and sociopathic cruelty of the Americans and their puppet Anglo relatives.

Giving Americans the excuse of saying “SEE!? Our collaborators *ahem* our friends clearly wanted democracy and freedumb but they were too weak and cowardly”. You are supporting these BS excuses even if unintentionally. The ENTIRE blame for all of this including the cruel way they left their collaborators to perform desperate acts by jumping onto the outside of a plane for safety should rest on Americans and their Anglo cousins.

Some poor Afghan shmhck harmlessly taking $50 from an American to say “we luv amarikka!” shouldn’t be blamed. Also the guy laughing probably had no idea it would lead to their deaths. I don’t think you understand how clueless and innocent many of these people are. Many of them laughed when they were told people had landed on the Moon. Most never even heard of America or 9/11 before 2001. Most have never flown on a people, did you think those guys on the landing gear retractor knew they’d be dying? No, completely clueless.

And the Americans couldn’t care less. That’s the knowledge that should be promoted. Not Afghan collaborator weakness as the excuse for American failure.

Agree, exactly.

These people should be rehabilitated. That is what prison and re-education camps are for.

No one should be allowed to leave, in case they return or cause problems like the Cubans in Florida.

Re-education camp is the way to go.

 

[PeoplesPoster]

What appears to be the ultra-secret stealth blackhawk is now being used for evac in broad daylight (time stamp for the stealth blackhawk, 2:51). Speaks to the level of desperation.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1427279876533342209

 

[supersnoop]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1427302222061264908

Thank you for detailing your experience and for taking the time to reply to my question. I made a comment about Canadian military not that well funded based on the conversations I had with two Canadian military officers who were doing some cadet lessons for Army Cadet programs. At that time, the PM was Stephen Harper a fellow that was perceived to be more supportive of the Canadian military so it was a surprise to me when during the course of my conversation with those officers about Canadian fundings being better under the conservative government their answer was shocking to say the least. They basically asserted that there's not enough ammunitions, spare parts for tanks, and or whatever the money being procured isn't really enough to cover what was essentially decades of neglect from the previous governments and for the missions being tasked to the Canadian Armed forces being used as the so-called "Peacekeepers" since Canadians are quite sensitive being seen or to be perceive as an aggressive military.

PM Harper sped up some of the procurement processes that already began such as the soldiers in Afghanistan originally being deployed in Temperate (Woodland style) pattern uniforms because Arid (Desert style) was not completed yet. He also fast tracked procurement of Leo2 (to replace Leo1), M777, C-17 solely under his purview. However, I think most of these were under pressure of the needs in Afghanistan. Beyond Afghanistan, his record isn't much better.

I never heard of ammunition shortages, but parts were usually more an issue related to age of equipment rather than funding. Again that plays into the procurement process as succeeding governments can cancel projects as desired because of how long it takes.

A little over twenty years a new engineering grad can get the rank of second lieutenant with the salary of $60k CAD

I think it should only take 2 years to get that. Excuse me if I missed the sarcasm.
Whether it is worth joining now, I don't know. That was then.

 

[Helius]

What appears to be the ultra-secret stealth blackhawk is now being used for evac in broad daylight (time stamp for the stealth blackhawk, 2:51). Speaks to the level of desperation.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1427279876533342209

I'm surprised they still haven't shipped back sensitive equipment such as this during the drawdown.

 

[solarz]

The concept entered the public discourse in the early 2000s when China's GDP was less than one-fifth that of the U.S. while facing a myriad of domestic problems. A group of Chinese intellectuals rose to fame for criticizing the authorities' initial mishandling of the SARS epidemic in 2003 and crackdown on migrant vendors in Chinese city streets.

Since then, they repeatedly faulted China's political system for things that went wrong in the country while fostering the impression that an American-style government would be more efficient, humane and just.

But events in 2020 and 2021 dispelled that myth, Han said, citing the jaw-dropping death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., the widespread anti-racism protests following the police killing of George Floyd, and a presidential election that led to a riot at the heart of U.S. political institutions....

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1427302222061264908

Yup, these are called 公知，or derogatively as 恭豸. Their public image has collapsed since the pandemic.

I remember during the initial outbreak in Wuhan, Wechat was filled with all sorts of posts claiming the Chinese government was covering things up and that there were tens of thousands of dead. After Wuhan was brought under control and the Pandemic started to ravage the West, those posts vanished.

 

[vincent]

I think it should only take 2 years to get that. Excuse me if I missed the sarcasm.
Whether it is worth joining now, I don't know. That was then.

No sarcasm, just an FYI. One of my buddies made the inquiry at the time

 

[Bellum_Romanum]

Yup, these are called 公知，or derogatively as 恭豸. Their public image has collapsed since the pandemic.

I remember during the initial outbreak in Wuhan, Wechat was filled with all sorts of posts claiming the Chinese government was covering things up and that there were tens of thousands of dead. After Wuhan was brought under control and the Pandemic started to ravage the West, those posts vanished.

Who and where are these monkeys now? And here I thought China was run like the former USSR and worst run like North Korea where gov't criticisms equal DEATH OR BANISHMENTS.

 

[Helius]

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MOSCOW, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Russia's embassy in Kabul said on Monday that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had fled the country with four cars and a helicopter full of cash and had to leave some money behind as it would not all fit in, the RIA news agency reported.

Ghani, whose current whereabouts are unknown, said he left Afghanistan on Sunday as the Taliban entered Kabul virtually unopposed. He said he wanted to avoid bloodshed.

Russia has said it will retain a diplomatic presence in Kabul and hopes to develop ties with the Taliban even as it says it is no rush to recognise them as the country's rulers and will closely observe their behaviour.

"As for the collapse of the (outgoing) regime, it is most eloquently characterised by the way Ghani fled Afghanistan," Nikita Ishchenko, a spokesman for the Russian embassy in Kabul, was quoted as saying by RIA.

"Four cars were full of money, they tried to stuff another part of the money into a helicopter, but not all of it fit. And some of the money was left lying on the tarmac," he was quoted as saying.

Ischenko, the Russian embassy spokesman, confirmed his comments to Reuters. He cited "witnesses" as the source of his information. Reuters could not independently confirm the veracity of his account immediately.

President Vladimir Putin's special representative on Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said earlier it was unclear how much money the fleeing government would leave behind.

"I hope the government that has fled did not take all the money from the state budget. It will be the bedrock of the budget if something is left," Kabulov told Moscow's Ekho Moskvy radio station.

He is just keeping the money out of Taliban hands and safeguarding it for the Afghan people! The guy used to work at the World Bank and was Minister of Finance, after all. We must trust that the honourable Mr Ghani knows all about money matters and will work tirelessly for the benefit of all of Afghanistan!