One small way to help Afghanistan

[TimeIhadaNameChange]

Copied from a FB post

Tonight not tomorrow tonight we desperately need the help of each and everyone.

Practical action please can everyone tweet Boris Johnson and your own mp and post on their facebook pages and instragrams with #Nowzad animal shelter Afghanistan, save its staff from certain death.

For those who don’t know Nowzad set up the first ever animal shelter in Afghanistan its has dogs, cats and even donkeys. It was set up by former royal marine Pen Farthing. It trains young women and has trained 500 young vets since it started. They will be seen as British collaborators and face certain death and for the women worse, if the 25 staff and their families are not got to the safety of the UK. Please act now as they Nowzad did for the Afghan people and our troops. Tomorrow is too late it has to tonight.

'The UK govt don’t even want to help his staff escape, do they? Utterly callous negligence.'

Of course they do. Again, stop the conspiracy theories. It's all over the news there is an imminent and credible threat at the airport. They have to act on it.

@notimagain "And since I used the “keyboard warrior” comment, yes I stand by it..…it’s very easy to sound big and take internet potshots at politicians, not so easy to volunteer to put your little pink body in harms way."

Hello Mr Wallace. Interesting assumptions there. You've no idea what my career history is, nor of the colour of my skin.

I’m not going to be engaging with you any further @JaniieJones. I find your responses designed to misrepresent what I, and others, have actually said and as such, are not worth the time it takes to reply.

The processing of 200 animals will make the queue even longer for desperate people

This still. Really?? WHAT processing? Animals do not need extensive and time consuming background checks into their eligibility to seek asylum or confirmation that they are not a terrorist/ security threat. Can be loaded in much less time than it would take to refuel and inspect the aircraft. but again, don't let the facts get in the way of your 'arguments' and indignation eh.

Seriously, it's like pulling teeth.

He's using up resources - nope, he's created them and a passage out for over 200 people
People could be going instead of those animals - no they couldn't. Even if they could put people in the hold/ children in crates (!!!!) they could not speed up the red tape that is the actual cause of the delays. The issue is not a lack of transport, which is why half empty flights etc have been leaving and trucks taking up space that could have been used for people.

The above are facts, yet 2 pages on we'll still be hearing, from the same people, how animals are being spared over humans yada yada yada. It is beyond tedious. I'll be ignoring such nonsense from now on as it is pointlesss and I hope others do the same. After all, this thread was set up for people who wanted to HELP, not debate. A lot of people on here and elsewhere on SM are hugely upset by this whole awful situation, to upset them further is hugely distasteful and extremely unkind.

@JaniieJones

'The UK govt don’t even want to help his staff escape, do they? Utterly callous negligence.'

Of course they do. Again, stop the conspiracy theories. It's all over the news there is an imminent and credible threat at the airport. They have to act on it.

No, they don't appear to want to help him, or anyone else.

The MOD appears to have changed quite a bit under the Tories. When there's a threat, you get people out of the way, as fast as you can. In this context, they should be getting people on planes and out of Dodge as fast as they can, not leaving the poor buggers sitting there as targets.

So no, I don't believe the UK govt do want to help him and his staff. This situation looks horribly like a callous and cruel set-up.

Saucery you said the govt don't even want to help them escape, that is blatantly not true. I'm not misrepresenting you I am quoting you and saying stop with the conspiracy theories.

There's 11 UK flights leaving in the next 24hrs so we can but hope.

I agree. Another thread has been started to slag PF off, as 40 pages of the other one didn’t seem to be enough . How calling a man doing what he is trying to do (save lives, human ones) names like “bully…attention seeker….grandstanding….” and worse is In The Spirit Of Mumsnet beggars belief, but it would seem to be ok for some bizarre reason. Maybe those who want to dig holes in his character could stay on those threads and leave this one to its original purpose?

'When there's a threat, you get people out of the way, as fast as you can'

Well yes, quite.

@Saucery

I’m not going to be engaging with you any further *@JaniieJones*. I find your responses designed to misrepresent what I, and others, have actually said and as such, are not worth the time it takes to reply.

That. I just remembered I told whoever that poster is the same thing yesterday. Weird how my posts challenging theirs have been removed, but not theirs. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

Thanks for reminding me, @Saucery

[quote Doodlebug71]**@notimagain* "And since I used the “keyboard warrior” comment, yes I stand by it..…it’s very easy to sound big and take internet potshots at politicians, not so easy to volunteer to put your little pink body in harms way."*

Hello Mr Wallace. Interesting assumptions there. You've no idea what my career history is, nor of the colour of my skin.[/quote]
Cuts both ways.

'Maybe those who want to dig holes in his character could stay on those threads and leave this one to its original purpose'

But people can 'dig holes' in the MOD and the FO, suggesting they don't want them out? They will all want an end to this as much as everyone else witnessing the situation deteriorate.

NOWZAD supporters should give some recognition and thanks for the massive operation going on behind the scenes. If they opened the gates and there was a terrorist attack knowing there was a credible risk they would rightly be outrage.

They've been asked to leave since April. Yes good that Farthing stayed to organise papers for his staff but the animals transport organising has pushed things too far and too late.

I believe the MOD and UK forces on the ground at the airport will be doing everything they can to expedite things. The time to talk about his recklessness is perhaps now best once they are home.

my posts challenging theirs have been removed, but not theirs.

Yeah, I also noticed this and am also curious, especially if both were reported.

@Shanghaisprize - I expect we’ll get a lot of insincere lamentation about how sad it all is, but head shaking about how totally inevitable it all was and how these posters could have foreseen it all.

I do feel this situation has become more about what looks right rather than what brings the most benefit. As I’ve already stated on this thread, I believe there are posters who would be disappointed if the animals (and probably the human staff too) got out safely. It’s all about the optics, which is why there has been so much focus on things like Netflix (who cares?) and the tone of Twitter updates and why janiie’s arguments keep shifting.

It is people sitting safe in the uk actively hoping for living creatures of whatever species to suffer because they’ve taken a dislike to this bloke and would be annoyed about a bloody Netflix documentary if his mission comes off, and it is horrible.

NOWZAD supporters should give some recognition and thanks for the massive operation going on behind the scenes

How patronising! I have the utmost respect for the actual troops on the ground, but not those higher up who first sent my DS and many others to a pointless war there, and have now colluded and played a part in the complete and utter shit show we are watching today. Too fucking right I'd blame them if there is a terrorist attack at the airport, as their utter incompetence has created this situation.

I expect we’ll get a lot of insincere lamentation about how sad it all is, but head shaking about how totally inevitable it all was and how these posters could have foreseen it all

Yes, by people who couldn't;t even be arsed to arm themselves with the actual facts before releasing their bile. 'Why on earth would someone (who wants to rescue ex service dogs/ companions from Afghanistan and re-unite them with the soldiers who befriended them) choose Afghanistan as a suitable place for this' was my favourite.....

I have nothing but respect for the troops on the ground. Close relatives have served or are serving in the armed forces. Not just being out to save your own skin is an essential part of the psychological makeup of being a soldier, isn’t it? I fail to see why PF’s actions are being slated when not leaving your unit behind is such an integral part. That’s what he trained to do, that’s what he’s doing 🤷‍♀️

@ all Saucery spot on.

I really hope they can make it.

'Not just being out to save your own skin is an essential part of the psychological makeup of being a soldier, isn’t it? I fail to see why PF’s actions are being slated when not leaving your unit behind is such an integral part'

Yes and Ben Wallace is ex military isn't he.

PF isn't being slated for not leaving his unit behind, he is being criticised for transporting 200 animals in a volatile and fastly deteriorating situation.

If we’re talking about wasted space on planes……..

*As CNN's Alexander Marquardt says in his tweet, the plane is one of three chartered by George and Maria Abi-Habib, co-founders of the Washington-based development firm, Sayara International, which has long worked in Afghanistan.

Mr Abi-Habib is quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying the plane had been chartered to take Afghans to Uganda, but encountered obstacles at Kabul airport. US marines manning the gates refused to allow Afghans with seats on the plane to get inside; one Ugandan woman crawled through a sewage pipe to get into the airport, Mr Abi-Habib told the Journal.

He said that, after days of trying unsuccessfully to resolve the issues, the 345-seat plane had to fly out of Kabul with just 50 passengers. "We can't expect everyone to crawl through a sewer pipe to safety," he said. "The window is closing."

The Wall Street Journal reports that a similar thing happened to a charter flight bound for Ukraine. Some 40 vulnerable Afghan women scheduled to take the flight were refused entry into the airport by US marines. After two days, the 240-seat plane took off with 70 empty seats, Stacia George of the Carter Center is quoted as saying.*

From the BBC website. The US are giving orders to block significant numbers of people from flying out. So don’t give me any guff about wasted space due to animal crates in the hold.

the US are giving orders to block significant numbers of people from flying out

Exactly, is much spin going on atm and people falling for it.

I'd also be interested to hear the MOD spokesperson claiming they would be 'jumping the queue' and preventing other Afghans from getting out. How have they, when they were one of the first groups people at the airport originally but told to return home to wait until called? How would the 200 seats saved for Afghans on the plane Penn arranged be preventing anyone from leaving exactly when they are flying half empty planes out of there?

Pure victim blaming that would not be tolerated under any other context. Once again the UK and US governments have thrown people they are responsible for under the bus, and once again a significant amount of the public have given them a free pass to do so unchallenged. It is sickening.

Not just being out to save your own skin is an essential part of the psychological makeup of being a soldier, isn’t it? I fail to see why PF’s actions are being slated when not leaving your unit behind is such an integral part. That’s what he trained to do, that’s what he’s doing

Quite, which has completely gone over the heads of a very vocal minority who wouldn't know the meaning of the words loyalty and honour if they bit them on the arse.

Well, the common denominator in the above report is that they are not allowing Afghan people onto the planes. There, in plain sight, is evidence they are not allowing them to escape the country. Are they doing the same thing to PF’s colleagues and using the presence of the animals as an excuse?
Also tallies with reports that Afghan nationals have been asking for the documentation to leave for several months but it has been refused. And now, look, all the planes are full , foreign nationals are the priority and you can only get a seat as an Afghan National if you crawl through a sewer pipe or pay a human trafficker.

See also Lloyd Comer - told to stay put by the Foreign Office, local intelligence for the company he works for said that looked an increasingly dangerous thing to do so he was helped to escape by his Afghan colleagues. Four days after he made it home to the UK the Foreign Office phoned to ask where in Afghanistan he was. The system is absolute chaos.

@Shanghaisprize

Not just being out to save your own skin is an essential part of the psychological makeup of being a soldier, isn’t it? I fail to see why PF’s actions are being slated when not leaving your unit behind is such an integral part. That’s what he trained to do, that’s what he’s doing

Quite, which has completely gone over the heads of a very vocal minority who wouldn't know the meaning of the words loyalty and honour if they bit them on the arse.

The “no man/woman left behind, loyalty to those around you” is all well and good, PF appears to be demonstrating that.

It’s what he appears to be demanding everybody else does to facilitate that, even those not in “his unit” that is comments.