From memory the process of getting a hgv license was made very difficult When I did mine you could just do the class one and you automatically got all others I don't think you can do that anymore Makes getting a license very expensive
In the midst of the complete **** show that is the retreat from Afghanistan it’s hard to find positives. However, the BBC correspondents on the ground - Yogita Limaye, Secunder Kermani and Lyse Doucet - have been outstanding. The latter two are still in the country, and Doucet has not tried to hide her anger at the abandonment of many Afghans. Kermani, who is a very good journalist, also seems to have an endless supply of hair gel. They are in pretty stark contrast to their U.K. studio bound colleagues. Bravo.
Of course it's fantastic But how many would have got out if the Americans and Taliban hadn't allowed it Doubt the UK would have gone in on their own
I'm no Trump supporter. America's isolationist policies (which Biden appears to be pursuing) started with Trump, and his call to arms on Capitol Hill should exclude him from further high office in my opinion. But the fact remains that Trump was a negotiator and he listened to his military advisors in Afghanistan. He would have negotiated an orderly withdrawal that got out all those that needed to and recovered most of the US's military hardware. In contrast, Biden did not listen to military advice, did not consult America's allies at any time (and even refused to answer Johnson's calls) and simply had his troops cut and run, leaving not only many billions worth of military weapons for the Taliban's use, but many vulnerable potential hostages and pro-Western Afghans employed by the US and its allies. The Taliban will soon return to type and start executing those Biden left behind. Meanwhile, Biden can't even attend a military memorial without very obviously looking at his watch. America's international reputation is in tatters. When it next looks for allies for a US overseas operation, it will find few takers. And how long before we get the next 9/11 from Islamic terrorist groups based in Afghanistan? Trump was poor, but Biden may go down at the worst president the US ever had.
The fact is this was Trump's withdrawal. Admittedly it seems to have been handled disastrously by Biden, but who's to say it would have been different under Trump. The unforeseen element seems to have been the utter capitulation of Afghan government forces, giving no time for an orderly withdrawal. Trump releasing 5,000 imprisoned Taliban fighters won't have helped in this regard, though. Biden agrees with Trump in that it's not America's job to be the world's policeman. He stood on the platform of carrying out Trump's withdrawal, so this shouldn't have been a surprise. He will be judged by the US electorate on the success or otherwise of his domestic policies - with which he seems to be doing rather well - not foreign policy. Oh, and Biden looked at his watch - really? Trump refused to go to a memorial for fallen servicemen because he thought they were 'losers'.
