This Pen Farthing guy

[TheGenealogist]

The bloke with the animal shelter in Kabul.

Refusing to leave unless he can take ALL of his 60 odd staff and ALL of his 200+ cats and dogs with him. Expecting the government to make special rules for him and his friends.

Getting people out - understandable. The Taliban aren't going to look kindly on people who have translated for the military, or "collaborated" in other ways. But staff at an animal shelter?

And as for the refusing to leave without the animals and making this all out to be the UK government's fault? For not falling over themselves to arrange transport for a bunch of ownerless animals nobody wants when there are human beings in fear of their lives?

What is this guy playing at?

@Petardos

You'll be shocked when you find out about Trump's withdrawal plans.

Proof?

Sure.

twitter.com/theNuzzy/status/1427051039404957697

Biden is carrying out the deal Trump made.

(Which isn't to say I've any praise for how Biden has gone about this. It's been a disgrace)

*powershowerforanhour

I meant there is a certain "space" in the public eye for fluffy creatures in peril. Desperate refugees aren't in the fight for that space, the Nowzad animals and Geronimo are.

Yes it's like some weird blinkered thing going on. Forget the atrocities focus on the cute cats and dogs, rehoming them and everyone living happily ever after. I'm guessing some need this feel good story because they cannot cope with thr reality of the situation. Twitter is full of 'go Pen'. Utterly bizarre.*

Well 'twas ever thus. I couldn't tell you the name of a single soldier killed in the Hyde Park bombing but I know who Sefton was. In fact the image of the dead horses lying in the road, and the subsequent photos in the papers labelling the dozens of sites on Sefton's body where vets operated to remove the nails, probably did more than the news of all the soldiers killed that day to harden Irish public attitudes against the IRA.

@Petardos

You'll be shocked when you find out about Trump's withdrawal plans.

Proof?

It's widely reported he was aiming for a May 1st withdrawal and criticised Bodensee timeline as too long

Biden's

Do his staff have the paperwork?
Has anyone left for the airport yet?
They won't be going in one big convoy surely they'll never get through.

Does anyone have a link with his plan of action?

I don't see how they're even getting through.

If the dogs are let free some will join the packs etc. Cats are pretty good at looking after themselves.

It just boils down to the usual prefer animals to people thing which is pretty common. So there's not a middle ground.

I can't understand how he's going to get all these people let alone the animals through and into the airport though. Irrespective of anything else .

I suspect it wasn't so much the car they were transporting but whatever was in it. Could be documents, hardware, software, anything that couldn't be left for the Taliban to use, or needed to be kept for some reason.

@NiceGerbil

Yes his staff have paperwork as publicly stated by UK goverment officials as well as Pen. This was established days ago.

He says he has a plan to get into the airport. He no doubt does wish to publicise it as otherwise it could get cut off.

Reports suggest he may be at the airport now but I haven't seen anything official to confirm either way.

All those questions are answers you could easily have known if you had used Google.

@JaniieJones

'But like I said, your anger would be better directed at the governments that created this monumental shit show. You're behaving as though Pen Farthing is going to be solely responsible'

His supporters and enablers are all over social media it is impossible not to have an opinion on this absolute circus. I can also be angry at the US's withdrawal.

Everyone keeps harping on about 'the hold'. It isn't about that. If he has vehicles and the ability to transport 200 dogs and cats and access the airport he should be transporting people to the airport. I'm sure 200 crates will be what, 2 busloads?!

why would he be transporting 2 busloads of people when hes got his staff and animals he needs to transport ? hes not obligated to half if not more than half of afghanistan just because you think he should be . hes got his obligation to his staff and animals and thats going to come first as it should do . there already so many people around that airport several have been trampled to death , it hardly needs pen bringing another 2 busloads to add to the crush , and its pointless anyway , the taliban said yesterday no one is getting out if they dont have a foreign passport or papers to leave , they dont want afghans just getting on planes and leaving , this was in yesterdays papers where they said this , so all those ordinary aghans at the airport somehow hoping they will get to leave wont be

Which isn't to say I've any praise for how Biden has gone about this. It's been a disgrace) so then if he is not Trump or like Trump why he did it this way? Withdrawal was discussed since Obama. Biden agreed to this btw.

The president is Biden.

I totally agree that he is doing the best he knows and the best he can.

[quote Audit]I just can't believe anyone would criticise what he is trying to do.

Exactly, the one person to criticise is Biden. His mandate set in motion events that will cost lives. I don't think you can get closer than this article.....

www.nytimes.com/2021/08/25/opinion/afghanistan-taliban-army.html[/quote]
And Trump

He was the one who had umpteen 000's of Taliban released.

A little goodbye Iftars to the Biden administration . . .

I actually can't understand how they are going to even get through the airport carrying animals?

[quote 3cats4poniesandababy]@NiceGerbil

Yes his staff have paperwork as publicly stated by UK goverment officials as well as Pen. This was established days ago.

He says he has a plan to get into the airport. He no doubt does wish to publicise it as otherwise it could get cut off.

Reports suggest he may be at the airport now but I haven't seen anything official to confirm either way.

All those questions are answers you could easily have known if you had used Google.[/quote]
I have been googling but to no avail.

It's not just him is it it's all the staff and animals to get through the taleban.

Logistically it's ???

Deadline is 31 isn't it.

Biden has fucked this royally.

The USA did cut and run in some places eg bagram.

There should have been a considered plan between the allies.

In the end the rate that the taleban gained control was way quicker than I suppose any of the governments imagined.

@Petardos

Which isn't to say I've any praise for how Biden has gone about this. It's been a disgrace) so then if he is not Trump or like Trump why he did it this way? Withdrawal was discussed since Obama. Biden agreed to this btw.

The president is Biden.

How would I know?

Biden has fucked it up. Trump was planning to fuck it up.

American foreign policy fucks.things.up. Always has done.

@NiceGerbil

Various sources:

'Another official said that while there are no definitive numbers yet, the current intelligence assessment was that the Taliban are believed to control more than 2,000 armored vehicles, including U.S. Humvees, and up to 40 aircraft potentially including UH-60 Black Hawks, scout attack helicopters, and ScanEagle military drones.'

'Similar scenes have been repeated across the country: In the weeks before the Taliban seized Kabul, retreating Afghan forces ditched billions of dollars' worth of U.S.-supplied military hardware — from assault rifles to Black Hawk helicopters.

The Taliban wasted no time in gloating over their new war booty. Photos and video posted to social media show Taliban posing with captured aircraft, trucks, Humvees, artillery guns and night-vision goggles. Such equipment could be used to suppress internal dissent or fight off their rivals.'

Etc etc

A pity they didn't at least disable all of these weapons. This is delicate equipment. I should think a sledgehammer would have been sufficient.

@NiceGerbil well he’s managed to charter a flight, get clearance for it to land, get the relevant permissions for his staff and animals to fly through sheer tenacity, so there’s just the smallest possibility he’s considered how they might get to the airport, and hopefully a bigger chance that they achieve it. Why would there be a ‘link with his plan of action?’. He’s hardly likely to publicise it, is he?

I don't see how they're even getting through.

He'll probably need a UK army escort out, I'll be surprised if the Afghan nationals get thought the checkpoints, though perhaps arguments will be made that they're caring for the animals they're accompanying and there will be enough confusion in the moment about whether the Top Talib would endorse such a massacre of such a high profile and specifically UK endorsed and accompanied exit, that they will be waived fuck off on.

If there's a massacre Farthing would be taken hostage, but there will be many hostages.

So, big success or terrible failure are the outcomes.

Well in the end if he manages to get the staff and their children etc out (I think he wanted that) and the animals then at least it's something.

Anyone left there is fucked. It's just so upsetting.

It's unimaginable for me really, I can't even pretend to understand the future people there are facing.

@JaniieJones

'Why are you so angry by the way'

Because it is a humanitarian crisis, the taliban are executing people and we have this clown wasting time and using scarce resources and posting constantly media to get dogs and cats out. Too right it makes me angry.

But if you have actually read anything about this story, you’ll know that you’re misrepresenting it.

He’s transporting animals, yes, but also his staff and their families.

I wonder why you choose not to focus on that.

And yes, there are hundreds of thousands of people who need help evacuating. He can’t help them all, but he can help his staff and their families.

And others posting that they can’t understand why his staff would be at higher risk (tbf I think that was only the op!)… Anyone who works with or is connected to a western company or agency is seen as the enemy by the taliban. Who don’t give a shit that it was “just” helping animals. In the taliban’s eyes, the staff are collaborating with an enemy regime and risk being executed or imprisoned.

@ all SchadenfreudePersonified

Obama released aTaliban leader from Guantanamo in 2014.

I know loads of people are really concerned for the animals and I do understand why.

In the end I'm just more worried about the people and that's ok too

It's a basic difference in pov that has no resolution.

@Iamclaracowbell

Obviously there are thousands of other Afghans waiting to get out. But if you, as a British person, had a voice to advocate for the 70 or so Afghan people and 200 animals you personally know, love and feel responsible for, and get them out safely, are you telling me you wouldn't use it? Like others I have followed this from the beginning, and I can only admire his bravery in staying there to make sure that they all get out - even with the right approvals / paperwork the safety of his people would have been in no way assured if he had left.

Charlotte from Kabul Small Animal Rescue posted a video yesterday saying that the Taliban had told her to go to the airport and let her staff follow later - she was very clear that she wasn't willing to do that as she knew what their fate would be if she left first.

Many of the animals are the pets of ex-servicemen and women who are already in the UK waiting for them to arrive, they aren't just 'random animals'. I saw a post from such an ex-serviceman this morning about how his Nowzad rescue has been a lifesaver for him given the PTSD and depression he suffers as a result of his service.

Whether you agree with Pen's dedication to getting his animals out or not, personally I can only admire a man who is fighting for what he believes in and will not leave his people or animals behind. Not many people would have the balls or the fight to do what he's doing. He can't save all the Afghans who need to get out, but he can save the ones he knows, and hopefully some others too with the extra seats on his plane. Blame the US for the 31 August deadline, not a man who is doing what he can to save the people and animals he loves.

I'm praying for the moment I see the news of them all arriving safely in the UK.

This sums it up for me. Have followed and supported Pen for years. In that time, he's done so much for the animals and people of Afghanistan. We need more people like him in this selfish world, standing up for his people and animals.

Hope to see news of Pen and all his human and animal family safely arrived in the UK soon

https://news.sky.com/story/exclusive-defence-secretary-ben-wallace-says-british-evacuation-efforts-in-kabul-have-been-diverted-by-bid-to-rescue-animals-cared-for-by-ex-royal-marine-pen-farthing-12390679

I see Ben Wallace is having a tantrum.

Posting this before the triumphant "told you so's" do - mainly because I think Wallace is somehow painting himself in an even poorer light than he'd managed previously. He's now trying to smear Pen to save face, and using him as scapegoat for other failings that are the government's own. Fucking shameful

If he has vehicles and the ability to transport 200 dogs and cats and access the airporthe should be transporting peopleto the airport. I'm sure 200 crates will be what, 2 busloads?!

Whatever negotiating and palm greasing he has to do to get 2 busloads of animals (that the Taliban doesn't really give stuff if they stay or go- in fact as PPs have pointed out it may suit Tailban PR for them to go) plus Nowzad staff from one location through each Taliban checkpoint along one route to the airport may not have worked for 2 buses picking up randomers on the way. It's probably a lot easier and cheaper to persuade a Taliban commander to turn his back and have a fag break as a busload of animals pass by rather than a busload of humans.

As for dumping the animals and stuffing the hold with people- that would depend on the UK military/embassy staff releasing another batch of 100 people from the processing centre in the airport that weren't on the list for the plane, the US military letting them out onto the tarmac when they weren't on the list for the plane, and the charter plane's civilian pilot and crew all agreeing to instantly turn renegade, disobey company instructions and pack the human cargo into the hold against aviation rules. All within a 30 minute time slot.