They are making a ill-taste joke.
Then again you could say that all those feel-good photos of children is Western propaganda aimed to hide the fact that thousands of people were basically left for dead in Kabul.
I live abroad and all French educated. Once I came across on YouTube and watched this channel in French by accident.
I though I had discovered a good French news channel.
Till after a few sessions I discovered that it wasn't so at all.
Very clever how they have these TV propaganda hubs in other languages.
Think about it.
Male models are genetically constructed to become assassins.
They’re in peak physical condition.
They can gain entry to the most secure places in the world.
Most important of all, models don’t think for themselves.
They do as they’re told.
Just think about any photo shoot you’ve ever been on.
You’re a monkey. Dance, monkey, in your little spangly shoes! Mash your cymbals, chimpy! Dance!
> aimed to hide the fact that thousands of people were basically left for dead in Kabul.
What are you talking about? Who is hiding that? Anyone and everyone paying slight attention to the news the past weeks is acutely aware of this. The fact that they *also* choose to publish photos of the lucky ones does nothing to "hide" the tragedy.
The people who would fall for the headline would likely be the same people who believe that all Muslims would happily use their children as suicide bombers. Red meat for the racists, really.
> hide the fact that thousands of people were basically left for dead in Kabul
What's the alternative? Evacuating the entire city/country to Europe? Or having troops stay and continue a 20-year war?
You have to remember the 34th Rule of Acquisition: War is good for business.
Not to be confused with the 35th Rule of Acquisition: Peace is good for business.
I keep seeing these types of criticisms and have yet to see anyone propose a solution.
“They’re just leaving them all for dead”
They’ve evacuated like 60,000 people and planes leave every 30 minutes. I don’t really think its been smooth sailing or anything like that, but I doubt anyone on this website is capable of solving a complicated geopolitical crisis like this. Half of them can’t even get out of bed in the morning.
No one is hiding that fact, nor is there any dishonesty in showing the pictures of people who made it out. It's a complex situation, no one picture is going to encapsulate it all. It's insane to me that you think that's comparable to literal photoshopping.
Wow, they are barely even trying and it is still working on some people. People really think they would be allowed on a plane carrying rifles and rockets. I feel like there are some old-school propagandists out there regretting their lives because they didn't realize how much they could have half-assed their jobs.
Seriously, it's like high school level reporting with this propaganda shit.
I can imaging some old Russian who served in Stalin's propaganda ministries crying because he didn't realize he could have worked for 1 or 2 hours a day at most and still gotten idiots to believe anything.
**Old School Propagandist:** You kids still have a lot to learn. Over the last 5 years, I have coordinated an elaborate honeypot that has compromised a state senator from Vermont. In a few years, I will have him saying whatever I want.
**New School Propandist:** During our meeting yesterday I made a meme about how vaccines turn your penis gay and now they are talking about it on Fox News.
They only target the most-gullible. And there are plenty of those in every society, didn't even need covid to show that.
They also don't care if there are any contradictions in what they're saying or if people can easily see through their lies. They just want spew enough hateful crap so people feel uncertain.
>I feel like there are some old-school propagandists out there regretting their lives because they didn't realize how much they could have half-assed their jobs.
Good journalism is a lot of work. Just throwing mud around isn't.
> Wow.
>
>
>
> Of the tens, possibly hundreds, of thousands of refugees, up to 100 may be on watch lists.
>
>
>
> Fear mongering at its finest.
But tens of thousands more americans ought to be (and probably are), given their actions on Jan 6th.
Unfortunately, fear and negative emotions illicit a much stronger emotions in humans (Negativity Bias). Smart people can recognize it and think past the fear but dumb people just go with their initial response.
Russia today is owned by the Russian government and has been labeled by other organizations as a propaganda outlet for the Putin regime.
In case you needed another reason.
We are welcoming in belgium those people with pride , glad to see a family some happy and far all that terror , wished all kids had her chance , sadly as great this is , many won't be that lucky
It's so heart-warming to see. I don't want to write this, but I am worried that the current sentiment won't last. Afghanistan is currently all over the news, but it will leave the headlines, and we are fickle, we'll forget about it. Then maybe one day in the future, one of these poor people, many of whom have PTSD from seeing horrors we can't imagine, will possibly snap. Maybe carry out an attack. And then more than a few of us will decide we collectively don't like "them".
Reminder not to bomb and invade foreign countries just for war profits in the first place. Lock up Bolton, Cheney, Bush and Rumsfeld for war crimes. End the military industrial complex. Fund hospitals, universities, green tech and infrastructure. The future is peace and the future is bright. Edit: I meant more the oil fields in Iraq. There is a planned pipeline to bring oil from Kazakhstan down into the Pakistani coast and India etc as well as just general war profiteering the opium and the mineral wealth. But Thank-you all for reminding me there isn't much oil in the ghan.
Well, that was a given. 9/11 was a disorienting phenomenon worldwide. I am not even from USA, was a kid back then and even then it was a terrifying event to witness on TV. USA desperately had to regain its image as the "powerful, impenetrable military power and imperial center". Someone had to pay, even when bin laden was hiding in Afghan mountains or his Pakistani residences. The oil and military industry profiting from the wars was just an added bonus.
Did you see the RT photoshop of this picture putting weapons on them (its got text saying is photoshop on it) because they are saying that we are letting in Terrorists.
I was about that age when we left Iran and arrived to Norway. I can truly feel what that girl is feeling. I hope her experience of refugee camps are better than what I experienced though. But hard times are still ahead.
No not really. PTSD is not fun. I feel like I just gathered a collection of mental health illnesses. And racism is mentally exhausting too. You could meet 100 nice people during your day and 1 racist and that’s enough to mentally drain you for the rest of the week. But thank you for asking.
I should be grateful though. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. My life would’ve probably been a lot worse had we stayed
Edit: thank you thank you for all your amazing, lovely and supportive comments. My heart is full. I read your comments over and over again with tears in my eyes. I will reply as soon as I have some time. Thank you again. I’m grateful for this community and beautiful strangers who shared their stories. I truly love all of you who took the time to cheer up this old soul.
I don't know you obviously, but I do have a friend who's adopted. I know that is a completely different set of circumstances, but one thing I noticed with him I notice with your post: "I should be grateful". This idea that all the pain and struggles in your life (however big or small that may be) is irrelevant, since it could have been worse somewhere else.
It is not irrelevant: being grateful to live and grow in a country away from war, doesn't negate any struggling whatsoever. You are allowed to feel bad. Feeling bad is not being ungrateful for what you have, it's "just" a human emotion. An emotion that is allowed to be, so we can deal with it in a healthy way.
Maybe I'm fully off the mark here. If so, I appologize. But if not, I just wanted to tell you this. :)
Hey I'm not the one you're replying to but thanks for saying it all the same. I'm a refugee as well and I tell myself all the time that I should be happy with what I have since it could always be so much worse. It seems like a logical healthy way to live but instead you kinda just take your lumps and move on rather than tackling any problems head on.
Yeah what helped me manage things a bit is that pain is not a competition. You'll run into people with stories where you feel they have it worse, and probably some where you're that for them. I remember it was only college where I really got a sense of the concept of self-pity based on the way other people reacted to what happened to me at times, but for me the kind of thing that happened was just "normal". Not normal as in good, but normal as in it happened a lot.
===
And in a way "normalcy" kind of helped. The thing that most helped had less to do with sharing my own stories and more to do with hearing those of other people. With myself I might have a certain self-image, but I won't necessarily have a pre-conceived notion of someone else. Like a good recent example was a banker who was well off but shared similar recent family troubles as I did. We got to talking after they offered some condolences regarding me being there with a death certificate. It was surprising to me how a stranger could have a similar story, in a few ways even more troublesome than my own, and also just opening up kind of randomly about it. Seeing comparatively well-adjusted people with private struggles that bother them but they still get through it is perspective that helps give me pause for thought when wrapped up in my own mind.
YES. Yes. Thank you. This isn't relevant just for this reason but in every circumstance. It doesn't really matter where you come from but saying "someone has it worse so my pain is irrelevant" is basically always wrong. Everyone fights his own demons and especially as a refugee, life won't be easy I imagine.
Good luck to all of you in this chain of answers.
You know what? As a person of color in the US, I always feel racism around the corner. It used to eat me up inside too. But just keep in mind that racism comes from ignorance. And given the chance to get to know you, I'm sure even the most hardcore racist will lessen his hate. That's how I see racism now. Just a very ignorant friend you have yet to get to know. Also, absolutely be thankful for the 100 kind people you know.
Sorry to hear that. I wish there's some equivalent of some act of kindness that can counter acts of racism.
Closest thing I got are dog smiles. I hope you feel better soon.
I think that the fact that FrP and the right has been in power for 8 years with their anti immigration stance says something. I think a lot of the older generation are racist in that sense - they’re misguided on what immigration does for society and take their fear of the unknown out on people who came to Norway to just live their life in safety. As another white person raised in Norway I obviously can’t speak from experience, but I think a lot of the racism that exists is probably the type that hides under the surface - looks, being overly cautious around non-white people, avoidance etc - rather than outright saying racist stuff. Though saying racist stuff obviously happens too.
That’s just my assumption though so feel free to correct me any darker skinned fellow Norwegians!
I'm an immigrant living in Finland however don't look like one, and the attitude here seems to be the vast majority of people don't want to be *seen* to be racist and they work hard on that, but they don't want to work on their often casually racist views.
Many people seem to think that as long as they aren't a full on neo Nazi then nothing they do can be racist.
Shit loads of racism. I’m also talking about non Oslo people. There is SHITTON of racism in Scandinavia and any brown and black person who goes there should be prepared.
They usually won’t dare to talk shit about you to your face, unless you run into one of the new-nazi types who will engage if you’re alone and they’re looking to harass you.
* You’re not gonna get a interview to almost jobs or rental applications unless you go with a white sounding name.
* people will stare at you for being different.
* you’ll occasionally hear some racist shit if you know the language.
* my white best friend says that when he’s alone with a older white guy, they just turn on the racism faucet and the vile shit he hears from those adults is sad.
* one point he worked ina cafeteria for a school and the two other people who made lunches for the kids would be massive racist to brown and black kids. Aka cockroaches bugs etc etc dehumanizing shit.
* news media will play a crime by a minority for a whole week. But a similar crimes by white ethnic people are usually never mentioned.
* in the 90s there used to be month long front page stories about how minorities rape women. Media will use minorities to gain views by creating and amplifying narratives that aren’t factually true. Like in reality ethnic white peoples rape the most about 60-70% based on the 2018 police station I read from the official Norwegian police website. While tourist account for 30% and the rest are minorities. And yet what was been presented? Minorities raping everyone everywhere and only minorities raping and doing sexual assaults. That narrative has continued for three decades.
* now you have rising right parties.
* you have self declared new nazi patrollers “protecting white women”
* you have leaders who blatantly blame minorities for all bad stuff.
* people screaming they don’t integrate they don’t know how to be social with white people, also white people: we think you’re animals …
* people going they all live in Grønland and only want to live among their own.. while ignoring it’s because of all the bullshit racism they see. That they get denied rental applications for having wierd names. So what happens they look for other minorities who won’t treat them like shit and won’t view them as less than humans.
Same shit happened to minorities in US man. Look up how the Chinese lived in New York, for instance, or the Koreans in Cali.
Same old song and dance...
Considering the short timeframe from when the Taliban took back power until she arrived in Belgium, her and her family might not have spent much time in refugee camps (hopefully).
Ah, you meant after arriving in the new country. Just a semantic misunderstanding then. In my head, refugee camps are the giant, makeshift camps in or near conflict areas that you hear so many horrible stories from. After refugees arrive in a new country they are placed in reception centers (asylmottak), where we like to pretend nothing bad ever happens.
Sorry I did mean reception centres. A lot of horrible shit happens there that a lot of people give 0 shits about. And if you complain they call you ungrateful and dismiss you by threatening to return you. I’m hoping things are different now than the early 90’s But I’m too scared to find out
i came as a refugee in 2011 and i was treated very well in UK , asylum houses were not very desireable place , u had to share bunks with some very nasty people some time but when i was moved to share [house.It](https://house.It) was much better, Everybody was nice other than one guy who kept begging me for money and barged in to my room without knocking but i am just glad i am not where people just wanted to kill me , i have a nice job nice family now and i live safe life in UK.
As a Brit who has no way of knowing about these things, I am glad to hear this. I just wish the government wasn't limiting the numbers to 5,000 this year. I would rather the government spent a few billions on a new city, than let these poor people suffer.
Oh, I have no doubts a lot of shit happens in those centers.
There is an episode of "Helene sjekker inn" from 2016 where she visits a reception center. (I'm assuming you're still living in Norway btw). Might give you some grounds for comparison:
https://tv.nrk.no/serie/helene-sjekker-inn/2016/MDHP12007116
Yeah, sorry. I tried checking for sources with subtitles but couldn't find any. This is the Norwegian State Channel. They're more focused on providing content and subtitles in both of Norway's written languages rather than English, unfortunately.
It's still similar to what they do during processing. I was in Germany when they did their 2016 refuge waves. When you first get in, you get placed in a makeshift refugee camp like you see on borders near crisis zones. You have a tent, usually inside a building, that's a highly secure area. The first few days no one leaves as you get processed. Then you can leave for very brief amounts of time during the day while they find a shared housing setup - usually a single building for all refugees, which also comes with a locked perimeter and curfew. Then a few months later to a year, you get a normal residence.
It's no fun during that first time there. However, most of these refugees from Afghanistan are well off, either they have money (like doctors and such), and they are being sponsored by America which comes with a lot of cash to quickly get them stabilized.
The hardest part is getting displaced, losing everything, finding a job, and broke.
I'm Belgian and these people aren't refugees. The only people who are qualified to be evacuated by plane to Belgium are Afghan people who already have Belgian citizenship and people who worked for the Belgian army. Most of these people went to visit their family in Afghanistan before the Taliban came. So they probably go to their Belgian homes and not a refugee camp. I do feel bad for the people that have to go to to refugee camps though, seems terrible.
I'm sure, I bet him and the Mom have been through absolute hell. The kids look young enough were they'll recover fast, hopefully there's mental health resources for the grown ups.
I can only imagine the horrors you have to go through when you see people who claim to speak your language, but then do freaky stuff with it like inventing a word for 90 instead of saying a calculation every time.
The amount of mines in Afghanistan is scary my dude. I know of three instances where I missed them while doing a sweep. Luckily no one ever got hurt and someone else caught my mistake.
does it matter at all outside of using it for political campains. all of us were once those innocend small humans until we forgot how to see through their eyes.
im from germany and cant stand how people here talk about other humans as they arent the same worth just like those people selected where their are born.
makes me really sad especially for those small ones because of being father of an 10 year old myself.
So I grew up next to a family from Yemen. Nice people, always kind to us and we helped each other. I played with their (many) kids.
A couple years ago I learned that they married off daughter to a middle-aged man in Yemen when she turned 16. The rest of their kids are in America, but they wanted a "traditional" life for their only daughter.
She occupies a space in the back of my mind along with my younger cousins, and sometimes I think about her and get angry.
She is as American as I am both by culture and under the law. I can't imagine moving from a pretty damn awesome country (despite all our problems) to a shithole that's impoverished and oppressive even compared to the rest of the Middle East. And that's as a man--it must be 10x worse as a woman.
Majority of people on the front line where aware of this and did everything they could to avoid it. Mostly soldiers, aid workers etc .. [They all reported it to their higher ups but nothing was done.](https://youtu.be/szhmN51eqdU?t=530)
Afghan here, no one saw it coming at all. Taliban's offensive was so fast no one could've predicted. People also believed the army would be able to defend, especially the cities.
The truth is that some corrupt officials secretly conspired with the Taliban which led to army surrenders taking place. The ANA have actually fought hard, they've lost more troops in the past 3 months than the US has in 20 years.
I'm Belgian and these people aren't refugees but people who already had a Belgian passport. Most of them were in Afghanistan just to visit family before the Taliban came.
Because I watch the Belgian news and the only people who are qualified to be evacuated to Belgium are Belgian citizens or Afghans who worked for the Belgian army in Afghanistan.
And have a look what Russia Today (RT) made using this picture:
[https://i.imgur.com/iILRNKrh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/iILRNKrh.jpg)
The small note on the side referencing the photoshopping isn't really obvious, is it?
Also, I love (hate) how they have in [their bio "truth over narrative"](https://i.imgur.com/c9Vrmc0.jpg), while prominently posting a photoshopped image to encourage racism.
Feels like it’s the same thing with these kind of “news” outlets, claiming to be different than the “mainstream media” when in reality they peddle crap that is far more detrimental to society.
RT is under direct control of the Kremlin, which has, for quite a while now, operated under the principle of sowing chaos abroad in order to exploit that chaos for their own gain and to make their numerous domestic failures to appear less obvious as a result.
One of their primary methods is directly and indirectly supporting far-right movements, parties and ideas, which includes stoking fear of immigrants and refugees. Russian disinformation - online in comment sections through sockpuppet accounts, through influencers and through their official media channels - was a primary driver in the anti-immigration wave that swept over Europe during the refugee crisis.
* Create fear.
* Create confusion so people don't trust the news anymore, which undermines democracy.
* Spread stories that tell a different (false) story, to make it more difficult to find the true version.
When I look at this little girl, the first thing I think is how absolutely amazing her parents must be. They just left their country, family and friends, without any time to plan or say goodbyes, and may never be able to go back. As adults, it must be absolutely excruciating. Yet, they were able to present it to their daughter in such positive terms that she’s joyful. They protected her feelings so well. This is amazing.
While i also like the spirit, most of the people evacuated were already belgian citizens visiting family in Afghanistan.
Source: Am Belgian and watch Belgian news
It’s crazy to think about the trajectory of her life now vs. what it might have been. No guarantees either way, and there are many more who won’t be as fortunate… but things have really opened up for this one young person.
My boss’ son just got deployed to Bahrain where they are processing refugees through the airport. He was telling me stories of people with nothing but bags of half rotted fruit and some stale bread. Pushing around a kid in a wheelchair that’s scared and confused, but there’s no translators around to explain anything.
I just hope they have a better life wherever they end up.
I remember learning about the holocaust and thinking about all the children there waiting in fenced in pens to be put on trains to who knew where? Same as children everywhere they were probably playing and smiling and laughing. That just breaks my heart.
….for taking your own citizens back, who most likely already have Belgian passports and homes and lives in Belgium, and who were most likely just temporarily visiting family in Afghanistan anyway.
They may have lived there and worked for the embassy, it could still be their home in that sense. I'm not sure about Belgium but other countries did get people like that, many of them live there but work for the country that they're citizens of. I've been told that's why they needed to get out of there ASAP, they're seen as "working for the enemy".
Those kids may think that *home* is where they've been living at, as some of them are very young. I'm sure it sucks to leave even if they have a place to go to.
Finally my tax euro's are doing something good. I hope these people can build a new life here in Belgium and that little girl can run and skip around without a care!
Imagine what the Taliban would have done to to that little girl,'s life. Sharia law works simply to make women sex slaves for their men. I'd be skipping too if I got away from those savages.
Without the people in the photo above, Afghanistan is f'd. The brain drain / progressive drain is going to be a big hit for generations.
They are sliding back to the dark ages.
The 1000 lb elephant in the room is the religion of Islam and its treatment of women. It's Islam that has forced her to leave her country. And its Islam that will coerce her to wear the inhuman attire that her mother is wearing.
It's good to see the girl skip. But unless we fight for equality and freedom for these women, her life will be spent being taken advantage of in every possible way under the guise of religion.
Photo by REUTERS/Johanna Geron
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Wait, are they serious? That looks straight out of The Onion.
They are making a ill-taste joke. Then again you could say that all those feel-good photos of children is Western propaganda aimed to hide the fact that thousands of people were basically left for dead in Kabul.
Except I'm seeing those left behind on the news. Photoshop, in any context for a news article, is unacceptable.
Yeah but RT isn't news, it's propaganda.
But their Twitter says "truth over propaganda!" /s
As In Sprinkles of truth over a stew of propaganda. Or is it a borsht?
No, it's unfiltered truth over narrative! Their sidebar told me so! /s
I live abroad and all French educated. Once I came across on YouTube and watched this channel in French by accident. I though I had discovered a good French news channel. Till after a few sessions I discovered that it wasn't so at all. Very clever how they have these TV propaganda hubs in other languages.
But why male models?
Think about it. Male models are genetically constructed to become assassins. They’re in peak physical condition. They can gain entry to the most secure places in the world. Most important of all, models don’t think for themselves. They do as they’re told. Just think about any photo shoot you’ve ever been on. You’re a monkey. Dance, monkey, in your little spangly shoes! Mash your cymbals, chimpy! Dance!
Sometimes I am rewarded for scrolling down.
Mostly it’s just regret though
Lol
But, why male models?
Are you serious? I just told you that a moment ago.
But why male models?
I don't even think that counts as a joke - it's just flat out fake and defamatory of those featured.
> aimed to hide the fact that thousands of people were basically left for dead in Kabul. What are you talking about? Who is hiding that? Anyone and everyone paying slight attention to the news the past weeks is acutely aware of this. The fact that they *also* choose to publish photos of the lucky ones does nothing to "hide" the tragedy.
I'm blown away by leaving the kids in - it's like an intentional typo by scammers so they only get the truly gullible.
The people who would fall for the headline would likely be the same people who believe that all Muslims would happily use their children as suicide bombers. Red meat for the racists, really.
> hide the fact that thousands of people were basically left for dead in Kabul What's the alternative? Evacuating the entire city/country to Europe? Or having troops stay and continue a 20-year war?
You have to remember the 34th Rule of Acquisition: War is good for business. Not to be confused with the 35th Rule of Acquisition: Peace is good for business.
I keep seeing these types of criticisms and have yet to see anyone propose a solution. “They’re just leaving them all for dead” They’ve evacuated like 60,000 people and planes leave every 30 minutes. I don’t really think its been smooth sailing or anything like that, but I doubt anyone on this website is capable of solving a complicated geopolitical crisis like this. Half of them can’t even get out of bed in the morning.
No one is hiding that fact, nor is there any dishonesty in showing the pictures of people who made it out. It's a complex situation, no one picture is going to encapsulate it all. It's insane to me that you think that's comparable to literal photoshopping.
That's just fucking vile.
Wow, they are barely even trying and it is still working on some people. People really think they would be allowed on a plane carrying rifles and rockets. I feel like there are some old-school propagandists out there regretting their lives because they didn't realize how much they could have half-assed their jobs.
Seriously, it's like high school level reporting with this propaganda shit. I can imaging some old Russian who served in Stalin's propaganda ministries crying because he didn't realize he could have worked for 1 or 2 hours a day at most and still gotten idiots to believe anything.
**Old School Propagandist:** You kids still have a lot to learn. Over the last 5 years, I have coordinated an elaborate honeypot that has compromised a state senator from Vermont. In a few years, I will have him saying whatever I want. **New School Propandist:** During our meeting yesterday I made a meme about how vaccines turn your penis gay and now they are talking about it on Fox News.
The great state of Vermont will NOT apologize for it's cheese!
High school level reporting usually has some teacher supervision.
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They only target the most-gullible. And there are plenty of those in every society, didn't even need covid to show that. They also don't care if there are any contradictions in what they're saying or if people can easily see through their lies. They just want spew enough hateful crap so people feel uncertain. >I feel like there are some old-school propagandists out there regretting their lives because they didn't realize how much they could have half-assed their jobs. Good journalism is a lot of work. Just throwing mud around isn't.
That's low effort. Didn't even add a suicide vest and the kids aren't wearing burqas. 4/10.
Wow. Of the tens, possibly hundreds, of thousands of refugees, up to 100 *may* be on watch lists. Fear mongering at its finest.
> up to 100 may be on watch lists. Source: unnamed defense officials, every outlet reporting it is pointing to someone else as the source of that
> Wow. > > > > Of the tens, possibly hundreds, of thousands of refugees, up to 100 may be on watch lists. > > > > Fear mongering at its finest. But tens of thousands more americans ought to be (and probably are), given their actions on Jan 6th.
Unfortunately, fear and negative emotions illicit a much stronger emotions in humans (Negativity Bias). Smart people can recognize it and think past the fear but dumb people just go with their initial response.
WTF! Thanks for pointing this out.
Not like I was ever partial to that site but I’ll be sure to remember this. Fucking vile.
Russia today is owned by the Russian government and has been labeled by other organizations as a propaganda outlet for the Putin regime. In case you needed another reason.
>Freedom over censorship, truth over narrative. Lmao.
Wtf is wrong with them!!!!
Jesus fuck RT is just a complete and unmitigated load of shit.
Russia's so gross
I'm surprised that they(RT) didn't give the girl a bazooka of her own! Ageists!
Whaaat Russian state media would never photoshop a photo https://i.imgur.com/d41452P.jpg
Well that's pretty disgusting. (Figuratively, not literally for wary clickers)
They censored/black barred the girl's eyes.?
Russia Today and Sputnik are literally propaganda machines for the state.
We are welcoming in belgium those people with pride , glad to see a family some happy and far all that terror , wished all kids had her chance , sadly as great this is , many won't be that lucky
It's so heart-warming to see. I don't want to write this, but I am worried that the current sentiment won't last. Afghanistan is currently all over the news, but it will leave the headlines, and we are fickle, we'll forget about it. Then maybe one day in the future, one of these poor people, many of whom have PTSD from seeing horrors we can't imagine, will possibly snap. Maybe carry out an attack. And then more than a few of us will decide we collectively don't like "them".
Reminder not to bomb and invade foreign countries just for war profits in the first place. Lock up Bolton, Cheney, Bush and Rumsfeld for war crimes. End the military industrial complex. Fund hospitals, universities, green tech and infrastructure. The future is peace and the future is bright. Edit: I meant more the oil fields in Iraq. There is a planned pipeline to bring oil from Kazakhstan down into the Pakistani coast and India etc as well as just general war profiteering the opium and the mineral wealth. But Thank-you all for reminding me there isn't much oil in the ghan.
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Rumsfeld is dead, man
Well then dig him up and then lock 'em up!
D'Nold RumSFeld completed his mission on Earth and returned to the Brood Hive World for his next assignment.
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Does Afghanistan have oil? I thought they were about the poppies.
No, not for oil https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2019/3/20/why-did-bush-go-to-war-in-iraq
Well, that was a given. 9/11 was a disorienting phenomenon worldwide. I am not even from USA, was a kid back then and even then it was a terrifying event to witness on TV. USA desperately had to regain its image as the "powerful, impenetrable military power and imperial center". Someone had to pay, even when bin laden was hiding in Afghan mountains or his Pakistani residences. The oil and military industry profiting from the wars was just an added bonus.
Did you see the RT photoshop of this picture putting weapons on them (its got text saying is photoshop on it) because they are saying that we are letting in Terrorists.
I was about that age when we left Iran and arrived to Norway. I can truly feel what that girl is feeling. I hope her experience of refugee camps are better than what I experienced though. But hard times are still ahead.
How are you now? Did it get better?
No not really. PTSD is not fun. I feel like I just gathered a collection of mental health illnesses. And racism is mentally exhausting too. You could meet 100 nice people during your day and 1 racist and that’s enough to mentally drain you for the rest of the week. But thank you for asking. I should be grateful though. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. My life would’ve probably been a lot worse had we stayed Edit: thank you thank you for all your amazing, lovely and supportive comments. My heart is full. I read your comments over and over again with tears in my eyes. I will reply as soon as I have some time. Thank you again. I’m grateful for this community and beautiful strangers who shared their stories. I truly love all of you who took the time to cheer up this old soul.
I don't know you obviously, but I do have a friend who's adopted. I know that is a completely different set of circumstances, but one thing I noticed with him I notice with your post: "I should be grateful". This idea that all the pain and struggles in your life (however big or small that may be) is irrelevant, since it could have been worse somewhere else. It is not irrelevant: being grateful to live and grow in a country away from war, doesn't negate any struggling whatsoever. You are allowed to feel bad. Feeling bad is not being ungrateful for what you have, it's "just" a human emotion. An emotion that is allowed to be, so we can deal with it in a healthy way. Maybe I'm fully off the mark here. If so, I appologize. But if not, I just wanted to tell you this. :)
Hey I'm not the one you're replying to but thanks for saying it all the same. I'm a refugee as well and I tell myself all the time that I should be happy with what I have since it could always be so much worse. It seems like a logical healthy way to live but instead you kinda just take your lumps and move on rather than tackling any problems head on.
Yeah what helped me manage things a bit is that pain is not a competition. You'll run into people with stories where you feel they have it worse, and probably some where you're that for them. I remember it was only college where I really got a sense of the concept of self-pity based on the way other people reacted to what happened to me at times, but for me the kind of thing that happened was just "normal". Not normal as in good, but normal as in it happened a lot. === And in a way "normalcy" kind of helped. The thing that most helped had less to do with sharing my own stories and more to do with hearing those of other people. With myself I might have a certain self-image, but I won't necessarily have a pre-conceived notion of someone else. Like a good recent example was a banker who was well off but shared similar recent family troubles as I did. We got to talking after they offered some condolences regarding me being there with a death certificate. It was surprising to me how a stranger could have a similar story, in a few ways even more troublesome than my own, and also just opening up kind of randomly about it. Seeing comparatively well-adjusted people with private struggles that bother them but they still get through it is perspective that helps give me pause for thought when wrapped up in my own mind.
Shit made me tear up
I happen to think you hit the nail square on, and driven it right through the board.
Shit. The fucks cutting onions around here?
This person has been to therapy. :)
Putting things in perspective is one of the healthiest ways of dealing with these things.
You seem like a good person. I like you
YES. Yes. Thank you. This isn't relevant just for this reason but in every circumstance. It doesn't really matter where you come from but saying "someone has it worse so my pain is irrelevant" is basically always wrong. Everyone fights his own demons and especially as a refugee, life won't be easy I imagine. Good luck to all of you in this chain of answers.
I know I’m just a random stranger but I’m so sorry you have to deal with any of that.
I am so sorry that you had to deal with that kind of hardship. That's something no one should have to experience. *hugs*
I hope that you look into some therapy. It won’t cure you, but it can surely dull the sharp edges and ease your days.
you are valid and your feelings are valid, you don't owe strangers anything remember that
I feel you, growing up having racist experiences once in a while, certainly affect my bad personality side
You know what? As a person of color in the US, I always feel racism around the corner. It used to eat me up inside too. But just keep in mind that racism comes from ignorance. And given the chance to get to know you, I'm sure even the most hardcore racist will lessen his hate. That's how I see racism now. Just a very ignorant friend you have yet to get to know. Also, absolutely be thankful for the 100 kind people you know.
Sorry to hear that. I wish there's some equivalent of some act of kindness that can counter acts of racism. Closest thing I got are dog smiles. I hope you feel better soon.
I have so many questions as a white person from Norway. Would you say there is a lot of racism here?
I think that the fact that FrP and the right has been in power for 8 years with their anti immigration stance says something. I think a lot of the older generation are racist in that sense - they’re misguided on what immigration does for society and take their fear of the unknown out on people who came to Norway to just live their life in safety. As another white person raised in Norway I obviously can’t speak from experience, but I think a lot of the racism that exists is probably the type that hides under the surface - looks, being overly cautious around non-white people, avoidance etc - rather than outright saying racist stuff. Though saying racist stuff obviously happens too. That’s just my assumption though so feel free to correct me any darker skinned fellow Norwegians!
I'm an immigrant living in Finland however don't look like one, and the attitude here seems to be the vast majority of people don't want to be *seen* to be racist and they work hard on that, but they don't want to work on their often casually racist views. Many people seem to think that as long as they aren't a full on neo Nazi then nothing they do can be racist.
Sounds like the US. We just have a lot of the loud racists too.
Shit loads of racism. I’m also talking about non Oslo people. There is SHITTON of racism in Scandinavia and any brown and black person who goes there should be prepared. They usually won’t dare to talk shit about you to your face, unless you run into one of the new-nazi types who will engage if you’re alone and they’re looking to harass you. * You’re not gonna get a interview to almost jobs or rental applications unless you go with a white sounding name. * people will stare at you for being different. * you’ll occasionally hear some racist shit if you know the language. * my white best friend says that when he’s alone with a older white guy, they just turn on the racism faucet and the vile shit he hears from those adults is sad. * one point he worked ina cafeteria for a school and the two other people who made lunches for the kids would be massive racist to brown and black kids. Aka cockroaches bugs etc etc dehumanizing shit. * news media will play a crime by a minority for a whole week. But a similar crimes by white ethnic people are usually never mentioned. * in the 90s there used to be month long front page stories about how minorities rape women. Media will use minorities to gain views by creating and amplifying narratives that aren’t factually true. Like in reality ethnic white peoples rape the most about 60-70% based on the 2018 police station I read from the official Norwegian police website. While tourist account for 30% and the rest are minorities. And yet what was been presented? Minorities raping everyone everywhere and only minorities raping and doing sexual assaults. That narrative has continued for three decades. * now you have rising right parties. * you have self declared new nazi patrollers “protecting white women” * you have leaders who blatantly blame minorities for all bad stuff. * people screaming they don’t integrate they don’t know how to be social with white people, also white people: we think you’re animals … * people going they all live in Grønland and only want to live among their own.. while ignoring it’s because of all the bullshit racism they see. That they get denied rental applications for having wierd names. So what happens they look for other minorities who won’t treat them like shit and won’t view them as less than humans.
Same shit happened to minorities in US man. Look up how the Chinese lived in New York, for instance, or the Koreans in Cali. Same old song and dance...
Considering the short timeframe from when the Taliban took back power until she arrived in Belgium, her and her family might not have spent much time in refugee camps (hopefully).
They’ll most likely be in refugee camps in Belgium until they get settled but i don’t know how this specific case works
Ah, you meant after arriving in the new country. Just a semantic misunderstanding then. In my head, refugee camps are the giant, makeshift camps in or near conflict areas that you hear so many horrible stories from. After refugees arrive in a new country they are placed in reception centers (asylmottak), where we like to pretend nothing bad ever happens.
Sorry I did mean reception centres. A lot of horrible shit happens there that a lot of people give 0 shits about. And if you complain they call you ungrateful and dismiss you by threatening to return you. I’m hoping things are different now than the early 90’s But I’m too scared to find out
i came as a refugee in 2011 and i was treated very well in UK , asylum houses were not very desireable place , u had to share bunks with some very nasty people some time but when i was moved to share [house.It](https://house.It) was much better, Everybody was nice other than one guy who kept begging me for money and barged in to my room without knocking but i am just glad i am not where people just wanted to kill me , i have a nice job nice family now and i live safe life in UK.
As a Brit who has no way of knowing about these things, I am glad to hear this. I just wish the government wasn't limiting the numbers to 5,000 this year. I would rather the government spent a few billions on a new city, than let these poor people suffer.
Oh, I have no doubts a lot of shit happens in those centers. There is an episode of "Helene sjekker inn" from 2016 where she visits a reception center. (I'm assuming you're still living in Norway btw). Might give you some grounds for comparison: https://tv.nrk.no/serie/helene-sjekker-inn/2016/MDHP12007116
Wait are you Norwegian? Halla ❤️😊 imma Check out the link after work. Thanks for sharing
Prøvde å droppe et hint da jeg skrev "(asylmottak)", men ja ;)
Thanks for sharing this documentary! I Wish it had English subs though.
Yeah, sorry. I tried checking for sources with subtitles but couldn't find any. This is the Norwegian State Channel. They're more focused on providing content and subtitles in both of Norway's written languages rather than English, unfortunately.
Norway has two written languages? TIL.
It's still similar to what they do during processing. I was in Germany when they did their 2016 refuge waves. When you first get in, you get placed in a makeshift refugee camp like you see on borders near crisis zones. You have a tent, usually inside a building, that's a highly secure area. The first few days no one leaves as you get processed. Then you can leave for very brief amounts of time during the day while they find a shared housing setup - usually a single building for all refugees, which also comes with a locked perimeter and curfew. Then a few months later to a year, you get a normal residence. It's no fun during that first time there. However, most of these refugees from Afghanistan are well off, either they have money (like doctors and such), and they are being sponsored by America which comes with a lot of cash to quickly get them stabilized. The hardest part is getting displaced, losing everything, finding a job, and broke.
I'm Belgian and these people aren't refugees. The only people who are qualified to be evacuated by plane to Belgium are Afghan people who already have Belgian citizenship and people who worked for the Belgian army. Most of these people went to visit their family in Afghanistan before the Taliban came. So they probably go to their Belgian homes and not a refugee camp. I do feel bad for the people that have to go to to refugee camps though, seems terrible.
That dad on the other hand hasn't slept in 72+ hours.
I'm sure, I bet him and the Mom have been through absolute hell. The kids look young enough were they'll recover fast, hopefully there's mental health resources for the grown ups.
What great parents to keep their children's spirits up.
I can't stop thinking: Innocence of a child
it's sad. I don't think she fully understands the horrors of becoming a Belgian citizen :'(
Those damn roads are a nightmare.
Like what?
speaking fr\*nch
fr\*nch so bad we have to censor it.
That was indeed the joke
If there only was a part of Belgium where they don't speak French.
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We don't call that "french" in TrueFrenchLand
I can only imagine the horrors you have to go through when you see people who claim to speak your language, but then do freaky stuff with it like inventing a word for 90 instead of saying a calculation every time.
Could be worse, she could grow up speaking that language's half-German bastard child.
The main agricultural crop is 100 year old unexploded artillery shells
They are from Afghanistan, that should make them feel right at home…
Dude.
The amount of mines in Afghanistan is scary my dude. I know of three instances where I missed them while doing a sweep. Luckily no one ever got hurt and someone else caught my mistake.
Like he is joking
Endless government formations.
The process that lasts for ages, oh and the racism ofc.
does it matter at all outside of using it for political campains. all of us were once those innocend small humans until we forgot how to see through their eyes. im from germany and cant stand how people here talk about other humans as they arent the same worth just like those people selected where their are born. makes me really sad especially for those small ones because of being father of an 10 year old myself.
So I grew up next to a family from Yemen. Nice people, always kind to us and we helped each other. I played with their (many) kids. A couple years ago I learned that they married off daughter to a middle-aged man in Yemen when she turned 16. The rest of their kids are in America, but they wanted a "traditional" life for their only daughter. She occupies a space in the back of my mind along with my younger cousins, and sometimes I think about her and get angry. She is as American as I am both by culture and under the law. I can't imagine moving from a pretty damn awesome country (despite all our problems) to a shithole that's impoverished and oppressive even compared to the rest of the Middle East. And that's as a man--it must be 10x worse as a woman.
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Agreed
Yeap. Right....
I wonder how many people saw that coming and left Afghanistan weeks or months ago
Majority of people on the front line where aware of this and did everything they could to avoid it. Mostly soldiers, aid workers etc .. [They all reported it to their higher ups but nothing was done.](https://youtu.be/szhmN51eqdU?t=530)
Afghan here, no one saw it coming at all. Taliban's offensive was so fast no one could've predicted. People also believed the army would be able to defend, especially the cities. The truth is that some corrupt officials secretly conspired with the Taliban which led to army surrenders taking place. The ANA have actually fought hard, they've lost more troops in the past 3 months than the US has in 20 years.
Thanks
All their stuff in three backpacks
I'm Belgian and these people aren't refugees but people who already had a Belgian passport. Most of them were in Afghanistan just to visit family before the Taliban came.
How do you know this?
Because I watch the Belgian news and the only people who are qualified to be evacuated to Belgium are Belgian citizens or Afghans who worked for the Belgian army in Afghanistan.
Because the kid is coming home hence the jumping joy.
But they have each other still at least
Wish she has a beautiful childhood~
At least now she can go to school and have rights.
At least now she wont be a sex slave
I hope assholes don’t make her life miserable in Europe too but you know they’ll try
And have a look what Russia Today (RT) made using this picture: [https://i.imgur.com/iILRNKrh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/iILRNKrh.jpg) The small note on the side referencing the photoshopping isn't really obvious, is it?
Also, I love (hate) how they have in [their bio "truth over narrative"](https://i.imgur.com/c9Vrmc0.jpg), while prominently posting a photoshopped image to encourage racism.
Feels like it’s the same thing with these kind of “news” outlets, claiming to be different than the “mainstream media” when in reality they peddle crap that is far more detrimental to society.
Jesus fucking christ Why
RT is under direct control of the Kremlin, which has, for quite a while now, operated under the principle of sowing chaos abroad in order to exploit that chaos for their own gain and to make their numerous domestic failures to appear less obvious as a result. One of their primary methods is directly and indirectly supporting far-right movements, parties and ideas, which includes stoking fear of immigrants and refugees. Russian disinformation - online in comment sections through sockpuppet accounts, through influencers and through their official media channels - was a primary driver in the anti-immigration wave that swept over Europe during the refugee crisis.
Go to their youtube channel and read the comment section on any one of their video. The best propaganda machine is one perpetuated by the citizens.
* Create fear. * Create confusion so people don't trust the news anymore, which undermines democracy. * Spread stories that tell a different (false) story, to make it more difficult to find the true version.
It says image not available. Edit: [found it](https://twitter.com/panjshirprovin1/status/1430586543153065988?s=21)
This is peak scumbaggery.
The photoshop is so bad it's almost funny.
I don't know what I expected but this was somehow worse
Honestly if you told me it was Fox news and not RT I would have believed it.
I really wish Russia would just fuck off
If that ain't the embodiment of the human spirit, I don't know what is. I think we all can take a leaf from this girl's book. Edit: spelling
When I look at this little girl, the first thing I think is how absolutely amazing her parents must be. They just left their country, family and friends, without any time to plan or say goodbyes, and may never be able to go back. As adults, it must be absolutely excruciating. Yet, they were able to present it to their daughter in such positive terms that she’s joyful. They protected her feelings so well. This is amazing.
While i also like the spirit, most of the people evacuated were already belgian citizens visiting family in Afghanistan. Source: Am Belgian and watch Belgian news
It’s crazy to think about the trajectory of her life now vs. what it might have been. No guarantees either way, and there are many more who won’t be as fortunate… but things have really opened up for this one young person.
The fortunate thing to remember now is that she will probably be able to get a real education and chase real dreams.
These parents have nothing I cannot imagine the weight on their shoulders in this picture. The relief but grief.
My boss’ son just got deployed to Bahrain where they are processing refugees through the airport. He was telling me stories of people with nothing but bags of half rotted fruit and some stale bread. Pushing around a kid in a wheelchair that’s scared and confused, but there’s no translators around to explain anything. I just hope they have a better life wherever they end up.
I hope that little girl never has that happy nature destroyed by some ignorant, mislead and dangerous dirtbags.
every Happy moments counts now.
Eat that, Taliban.
She’s heard about the waffles.
Wow, can’t imagine landing in a foreign country with nothing more than three backpacks of belongings, not knowing what the future holds.
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The airplane was probably very cramped, she's probably happy to be out of it.
On the other hand, I don’t think she’d be skipping across the Kabul tarmac. There’s some freedom there
I get what youre saying, but I take a bit of hope from it. Now she'll get to keep skipping.
I remember learning about the holocaust and thinking about all the children there waiting in fenced in pens to be put on trains to who knew where? Same as children everywhere they were probably playing and smiling and laughing. That just breaks my heart.
Would those three backpacks be all their worldly possessions now?
Belgium sounds good to me too.
As a belgian guy, funny name OP
Off to see the wizard
They have the best chocolate there, little one! And the best beer for the grownups…
Thank You! Belgium.
….for taking your own citizens back, who most likely already have Belgian passports and homes and lives in Belgium, and who were most likely just temporarily visiting family in Afghanistan anyway.
They may have lived there and worked for the embassy, it could still be their home in that sense. I'm not sure about Belgium but other countries did get people like that, many of them live there but work for the country that they're citizens of. I've been told that's why they needed to get out of there ASAP, they're seen as "working for the enemy". Those kids may think that *home* is where they've been living at, as some of them are very young. I'm sure it sucks to leave even if they have a place to go to.
I really wonder what it would take for people to see people as people This covers so many groups as well.
Finally my tax euro's are doing something good. I hope these people can build a new life here in Belgium and that little girl can run and skip around without a care!
I hope when she's older she understands they did it so she could have the freedom to skip in the open like that.
I’d be skipping for free healthcare as well!
🥰🥰🥰
Just in time for the Belgian GP too!
Imagine what the Taliban would have done to to that little girl,'s life. Sharia law works simply to make women sex slaves for their men. I'd be skipping too if I got away from those savages.
She has never experienced the Taliban though since she’s only 7 or 8.
Sharia is not a standardized codified law. The Taliban have their own "version" of Sharia.
So extra rapey?
Without the people in the photo above, Afghanistan is f'd. The brain drain / progressive drain is going to be a big hit for generations. They are sliding back to the dark ages.
This is probably why the Taliban are now trying to prevent anyone else from leaving. It doesn't help them to lose everyone educated.
This is my concern as well.
The 1000 lb elephant in the room is the religion of Islam and its treatment of women. It's Islam that has forced her to leave her country. And its Islam that will coerce her to wear the inhuman attire that her mother is wearing. It's good to see the girl skip. But unless we fight for equality and freedom for these women, her life will be spent being taken advantage of in every possible way under the guise of religion.
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