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The English, the Russians, now the USA - we're being driven out of Kabul. I'm sure other armies have been driven out of Kabul but those are the three latest ones.
We tried to negotiate with the Taliban. What were we thinking? They don't change, they don't bargain... they only want to subjugate and conquer.
We couldn't mold the Vietnamese into a fighting force, we couldn't mold the Afgans into a fighting force. What the hell is wrong with our training?
Twenty years, billions of dollars, thousands of lives - for nothing. *That* is the reality we now face.
Once they've killed all their enemies and non-Taliban and shoved all half the population into prisons, they'll start ramping up the poppy cultivation to make heroin - lot of it - because they know Westerners are stupid and will pay big money for cheap illegal heroin.
I just hope we can make room here in the USA for the refugees escaping the brutal Taliban. There's going to be a lot of them.
We tried to negotiate with the Taliban. What were we thinking? They don't change, they don't bargain... they only want to subjugate and conquer.
We couldn't mold the Vietnamese into a fighting force, we couldn't mold the Afgans into a fighting force. What the hell is wrong with our training?
Twenty years, billions of dollars, thousands of lives - for nothing. *That* is the reality we now face.
Once they've killed all their enemies and non-Taliban and shoved all half the population into prisons, they'll start ramping up the poppy cultivation to make heroin - lot of it - because they know Westerners are stupid and will pay big money for cheap illegal heroin.
I just hope we can make room here in the USA for the refugees escaping the brutal Taliban. There's going to be a lot of them.
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There's absolutely nothing wrong with our training. On paper at least the Afgan forges should have been able to resist the Taliba, and in actuality, had been doing so since late 2016 when the USA military stopped fielding front-line troops and switch to providing advice, logistical support and air cover.
What changed is that when we finally withdrew, under the agreement brokered by Trump, the US "neutered" the 600+ BlackHawk helicopters they left behind, rendering them inoperable, and hamstringing the Afghan government forces so they were unable to get ahead of the Taliban's advance.
Then the Afghan Government sold off several warehouses of military equipment that had been left behind to supply their forces, in order to cosy up to the old warlords of the region... who bought the guns and stuff in order to sell it to the Taliban. [minus what they kept themselves].
After that the Afghan government forces mostly just packed up and went home rather than face the Taliban.
Personally, I don't think this is over yet. Biden isn't stupid but he knows that most of the US wants they troops back home, and politically it would be suicide not to. So... he's sticking to Trumps deal, to the bitter end. Then when shit happens I suspect they'll go back in under his terms.
Either that, or he's not going to, and he'll just let Afghanistan stew in it's own misery for awhile until there's a populist uprising and they kick the Taliban out. There's more than enough weaponry floating around to equip a rebel army. The Taliban just happen to be the biggest gang in place at present.
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Yes, that too. The Afghan government literally just gave up as soon as the uS withdrew support. The Taliban just took Kabul without a shot fired and the Afghan president has abdicated.
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Never assume the database is reality.
I didn't know about the disabled BlackHawks. That's stupid unless they were broken because those in charge *knew* they were going to fall into the hands of the Taliban.
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To start.