According to Gen. Austin Miller, the US commander in Afghanistan, some 2,000 US troops have left Afghanistan over the past year. This brought the level from around 14,000 to 12,000.
Officials were quick to note that this reduction wasn’t related to any specific withdrawal order, but just happenstance from various troop rotations coinciding with one another.
Whether that’s actually the case is unclear, as the US was engaged in a serious peace process for much of the year, and was on the brink of a peace deal that would’ve called for a full withdrawal.
There have even been recent reports that the US might be looking to get troop levels down in Afghanistan going forward, down to as low as 8,000 troops. Though such a decision has not been made, this gives them a bit of a head start on that.
Time for the Taliban to launch their own version of the Tet Offensive and strike down as many of the invading marauders and craven Quislings as they can and force an end to the occupation once and for all.
Ok, trump added 7000 in 2017, so he only has 5000 to go to get to where he came in.
And of course, not one word can be believed. Just some mire sand to the face of Americans sick and tired of waste and abuse.
You see, there folks in Congress may take Acela train to Washington. But they never cross the train bridge across Potomac river . The one rusted through and through, and is a sheer miracle it is still standing. There are thousand upon thousands bridges in this country that need attention. Yet, they build their military empire all across the globe, and infrastructure to support it.
Yet classroom sizes at home now equal those in third world, and they expect these kids to support 21st century science and technology.
But for as long they can “project” power, they are happy. A form of addiction.
“Yet classroom sizes at home now equal those in third world”
Average class size, 2017, per the OECD:
United States: 20.8
Denmark: 21
France: 23.7
Germany: 20.9
Japan: 27.2
Netherlands: 23.9
United Kingdom: 26.7
I don’t know about the third world, but we’re pretty low as compared to other first world nations.
The data is based in average that includes special education classes, classes for non-English speakers, children with emotional difficulties. Those classes are smaller.
In Washington, DC rich Virginia suburbs, regular classes as well as honors classes are 30-35. As there is a shortage of schools — most teachers see over 150 students each day. And it has been accepted practice to have classes in trailers on school grounds.
Most classrooms are not built for 35 students, and classrooms are crammed.
Most growth is in Hispanic population. There are Hispanic neighborhoods in the midst of wealthy areas, where kids born in US do not speak English by the time they start school.
We certainly have the advantages many kids in the world do not have. Like special education helping kids master life skills. That was not my point. They key is the large class sizes for children that are achievers, and they cannot get much attention from teachers that may have only few minutes per student in the course of the class.
I cannot imagine things being better in less affluent areas.
Yes, average class sizes are average class sizes.
Class size is interesting insofar as it’s always talked about as a major factor in outcomes, but doesn’t seem to be one — unless it’s a factor in the opposite direction. Large classes of mixed grades — the proverbial “one-room schools” that my parents and grandparents went to — seems to have produced better learning than the current grade-segregated small classes do.
Mmm hmmm. Looks like Trump ended that Afghan peace process right around the time the Dems came out to impeach over Biden’s meddling in Ukraine.
Must have gotten the heads up that he’d need all the RINO support he could get from the Senate.