Afghanistan

[Keith_Indy]

Well, this should be the formula going forward...

Attack or provide safe haven for those who attack the U.S.

1 - Kill them
2 - Compensate the families for any collateral damage
3 - Rebuild any infrastructure we broke
4 - Leave

Short of genocide, is there truly a path that doesn't lead to failure there? The Soviets were not as restrained as we were, and they fared no better.

 

[Leadeye]

I wonder how long before the Taliban are given a seat on the UN Council for Human Rights.

 

[Wolfhound]

I wonder how long before the Taliban are given a seat on the UN Council for Human Rights.

Probably several nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize also.

 

[BugI02]

I would imagine that over the nearly 20 years it's made some people a great deal of money, courtesy of the American taxpayer. Maybe the only reason we were over there after the first few years. I wonder if that's something that creeps in or if it's there from the get go.

Survey says! 'B', definitely 'B'

Cynicism and realism are converging at a stunning rate

 

[2A-Hoosier23]

I would imagine that over the nearly 20 years it's made some people a great deal of money, courtesy of the American taxpayer. Maybe the only reason we were over there after the first few years. I wonder if that's something that creeps in or if it's there from the get go.

You're correct. Not only concerning American/Transnational corporations, defense contractors and the like, but the Mujahideen warlords and Afghan "government" officials are almost all entirely corrupt and money hungry. Too many examples to list, can just look at the last two presidents: Hamid Karzai had corruption accusations all through his presidency and inexplicably amassed a personal fortune and many personal palaces; this last puppet Ashraf Ghani was reported to have been smuggling millions in cash as he fled the country days ago.

This money almost always comes from exploitation of natural resources, or exploitation of so-called humanitarian aid. Money for "feeding people", "building hospitals and schools" etc is often siphoned into the bank accounts of the least deserving. We all know about the military industrial complex -- there's a whole humanitarian aid industrial complex too.

I would also bet, without knowing for certain, that a lot of the aid that went to the Afghan state military was misappropriated too

 

[BugI02]

Well, this should be the formula going forward...

Attack or provide safe haven for those who attack the U.S.

1 - Kill them
2 - Compensate the families for any collateral damage
3 - Rebuild any infrastructure we broke
4 - Leave

2 and 3 are ill-advised. The certainty of complete destruction is what serves as the deterrent, you don't then 'build back better' infrastructure for them and realistically if people don't want to be blown up they should find a way not to harbor those who would attack us

 

[88E30M50]

Bidiot said nothing went wrong leaving .
Seriously !!!
What planet is he on ?

The sad part is people voted for him and now have blood on their hands because people are being killed in the street over there.

Nice job , you should all be so proud.

Think of this from his perspective. Nobody that he cares about was hurt or in danger at any time and now, billions in back room arms deals can be had with Iran and Syria because anytime American weapons are used by the enemy, they can be claimed to have been weapons that Bush gave to the Afghans.

Heck, he’s probably high-fiving everyone he passes because it’s working so well.

 

[rooster]

Hamid Karzai had corruption accusations all through his presidency and inexplicably amassed a personal fortune and many personal palaces; this last puppet Ashraf Ghani was reported to have been smuggling millions in cash as he fled the country days ago.

So they learned from American politicians????

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Biden’s Long Trail of Betrayals

Why is the president so consistently wrong on major foreign-policy matters?

www.theatlantic.com

Highlights:

It is the latest blunder in a foreign-policy record filled with them.

• In 1975, Biden opposed giving aid to the South Vietnamese government during its war against the North, ensuring the victory of a brutal regime and causing a mass exodus of refugees.
• In 1991, Biden opposed the Gulf War, one of the most successful military campaigns in American history. Not only did he later regret his congressional vote, but in 1998, he criticized George H. W. Bush for not deposing Saddam Hussein, calling that decision a “fundamental mistake.”
• In 2003, Biden supported the Iraq War—another congressional vote he later regretted.
• In 2007, he opposed President George W. Bush’s new counterinsurgency strategy and surge in troops in Iraq, calling it a “tragic mistake.” In fact, the surge led to stunning progress, including dramatic drops in civilian deaths and sectarian violence.
• In December 2011, President Barack Obama and Vice President Biden withdrew America’s much-scaled-down troop presence in Iraq; the former had declared Iraq to be “sovereign, stable, and self-reliant,” and the latter had predicted that Iraq “could be one of the great achievements of this administration.” Their decision sent Iraq spiraling into sectarian violence and civil war, allowing Iran to expand its influence and opening the way for the rise of the jihadist group ISIS.
• According to Obama’s memoir A Promised Land, Biden had advised the former president to take more time before launching the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
• Ten years ago, Biden said in an interview that “the Taliban per se is not our enemy.” He added, “If, in fact, the Taliban is able to collapse the existing government, which is cooperating with us in keeping the bad guys from being able to do damage to us, then that becomes a problem for us.” Indeed.

In his 2014 memoir, Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War, Robert Gates, who served as the secretary of defense under George W. Bush and Obama, said that Biden “has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.”

Read: What we got wrong in Afghanistan

So is there a unifying theory of why Biden is so consistently wrong on major foreign-policy matters? Does he misunderstand something about the world, or possess some set of instincts that don’t serve him well?

 

[MCgrease08]

Well this didn't take long and was very predictable. The Taliban is reportedly targeting Christians.

Taliban Going Door To Door Seeking Christians, Searching Through Phones For Bible Apps: Report

Afghan Christians are reportedly fleeing to the mountains in a desperate attempt to escape the Taliban who is going door to door trying to kill them. An underground church that partners with Frontier Alliance International (FAI) has reported that the Taliban are targeting Christians for death...

www.dailywire.com

 

[MCgrease08]

Biden’s Long Trail of Betrayals

Why is the president so consistently wrong on major foreign-policy matters?

www.theatlantic.com

You know it's bad when you've lost The Atlantic. Whoo boy. They aren't pulling punches.

"Perhaps the place to begin is by recognizing that Biden has never been an impressive strategic thinker. When talking about his strengths, those close to Biden stress his people skills: his ability to read foreign leaders, to know when to push and when to yield, when to socialize and when to turn to business. But that’s very different from having a strategic vision and a sophisticated understanding of historical events and forces.

What the Biden foreign-policy record shows, I think, is a man who behaves as if he knows much more than he does, who has far too much confidence in his own judgment in the face of contrary advice from experts. (My hunch is he’s overcompensating for an intellectual inferiority complex, which has manifested itself in his history of plagiarism, lying about his academic achievements, and other embellishments.)

On national-security matters, President Biden lacks some of the most important qualities needed in those who govern—discernment, wisdom, and prudence; the ability to anticipate unfolding events; the capacity to make the right decision based on incomplete information; and the willingness to adjust one’s analysis in light of changing circumstances.

To put it in simple terms, Joe Biden has bad judgment."

 

[DragonGunner]

Biden’s Long Trail of Betrayals

Why is the president so consistently wrong on major foreign-policy matters?

www.theatlantic.com

Highlights:

Maybe he is just following Russian and China orders. He seems to be doing everything they would want.

 

[mmpsteve]

I want to say that I have a great respect for the historians on this site, and those of you with military backgrounds. I am neither of those, but I respectfully ask:

Hasn't it been a standard military practice for, I don't know ... eons, that you destroy assets on your way out? I mean, at worst, we could have used military stockpiles to lure in the bad guys, and then done strategic strikes to demolish everything.

I know it's not that simple, but jeez, it's so disheartening to see them scooping up our hardware. How freakin pathetic does it have to get (in addition to the human tragedy, obviously)?

.

 

[printcraft]

Well this didn't take long and was very predictable. The Taliban is reportedly targeting Christians.

Taliban Going Door To Door Seeking Christians, Searching Through Phones For Bible Apps: Report

Afghan Christians are reportedly fleeing to the mountains in a desperate attempt to escape the Taliban who is going door to door trying to kill them. An underground church that partners with Frontier Alliance International (FAI) has reported that the Taliban are targeting Christians for death...

www.dailywire.com

They could probably get ahold of apple/facebook/twitter and have them give the info to them directly.
I'm sure they would like nothing better that to see them "punished" for those terrible Christian beliefs.

 

[Wolfhound]

Well this didn't take long and was very predictable. The Taliban is reportedly targeting Christians.

Taliban Going Door To Door Seeking Christians, Searching Through Phones For Bible Apps: Report

Afghan Christians are reportedly fleeing to the mountains in a desperate attempt to escape the Taliban who is going door to door trying to kill them. An underground church that partners with Frontier Alliance International (FAI) has reported that the Taliban are targeting Christians for death...

www.dailywire.com

According to the leftists Christians are not persecuted and are responsible for all persecution of others. Must be some mistake.

 

[BugI02]

I think it was an 'emperor's new clothes' scenario. If no one is allowed to even articulate that the worst case possibilities exist, certainly preparations for such cases would be strongly discouraged also

That policy would require that first and foremost we retained Bagram as well as already had all non-combatants evacuated

Edit: This was in reply to #913

 

[KG1]

Planes, guns, night-vision goggles: The Taliban's new U.S.-made war chest (msn.com)

 

[2A-Hoosier23]

So they learned from American politicians????

Hahaha maybe, but there was definetely no shortage of local warlords and corrupt elite to emulate

 

[Sylvain]

I want to say that I have a great respect for the historians on this site, and those of you with military backgrounds. I am neither of those, but I respectfully ask:

Hasn't it been a standard military practice for, I don't know ... eons, that you destroy assets on your way out? I mean, at worst, we could have used military stockpiles to lure in the bad guys, and then done strategic strikes to demolish everything.

I know it's not that simple, but jeez, it's so disheartening to see them scooping up our hardware. How freakin pathetic does it have to get (in addition to the human tragedy, obviously)?

.

From what I understand (and I'm no expert either) the weapons stolen by the talibans (from armored Humvees to M4 rifles) were US weapons given to the Afghan government.
Not weapons left behind by the US military on their way out.

I think the US left military bases with gym equipment and such but I don't think they left weapons, drones and piles of high-tech stuff.

 

[MCgrease08]

From what I understand (and I'm no expert either) the weapons stolen by the talibans (from armored Humvees to M4 rifles) were US weapons given to the Afghan government.
Not weapons left behind by the US military on their way out.

I think the US left military bases with gym equipment and such but I don't think they left weapons, drones and piles of high-tech stuff.

This may be, but as others have pointed out, our training of the Afgan Forces was heavily reliant on providing ground troops with air support. When we pulled out that air cover was gone, leaving the Afghan Forces essentially feckless.