Tango01 | 07 Jan 2022 9:06 p.m. PST |
…By The U.S. "It's been four months since the United States left Afghanistan, leaving behind thousands of allies who worked side-by-side with the American military for 20 years. While the administration boasts it evacuated over 120,000 Afghans—a majority were not Afghan interpreters or their families, officials say. The Biden administration has pledged to help vulnerable Afghans escape, but some lawmakers and veterans say the government has no plans to rescue perhaps the most critical ally: Afghan commandos. A group built from scratch by U.S. Special Operations Forces…" Main page link It is not only 20,000 Afghan special forces that the US abandoned. There are the interpreters, government officials, aid workers and groups dependent on U.S. assistance, and Afghan civilians who embraced U.S. culture and ideals and a hope for a better future. All of these people have been abandoned to dead or worst…
Armand
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Merlenik | 08 Jan 2022 12:29 a.m. PST |
Unfortunately, a First world power dumping third world allies in the end is not unusual; that's been going on for centuries. Not all the time, but more than enough. Cooperating with First world policy-makers usually comes with an irresistible big carrot – for whoever is in charge or is wanted to be in charge. This was the case after the anti-ISIL US missions were finished in Syria and Iraq a few years ago; Kurd allies were abandoned and in Syria, the Syrian/Russian forces swept in against the Kurds, and Turkey and Iraq military moved in on the Kurds in Iraq. We saw that the neglect in Afghanistan was ongoing – including unpaid or poorly paid soldiers. In terms of the disastrous withdrawal plan, the problem began two years ago when the former administration largely 'negotiated' with the Taliban only on the withdrawal timetable – without the Afghan government having any say in the matter. No evacuation plans for Afghan affiliates of the occupying forces were made, even though that previous administration was voted into office promising to end US forces the stay in Afghanistan. So it almost defies all logic that no effective evacuation plan was made by the current and previous admins, or at least delay the timetable until plans were set With regards to the commandos / Special Forces, there is a darker side that applies to some of them which is making them targets for being hunted down at home, or less than sought out for evacuation. Indeed some of these particular commandos were among the first evacuated – they themselves making sure they were; link |
Cardinal Ximenez | 08 Jan 2022 5:49 a.m. PST |
link Sputnik News article with "supporting information" from Al Jazeera. Yes, entirely credible. |
Cerdic | 08 Jan 2022 7:45 a.m. PST |
If there are twenty thousand of them they can't have been that 'special'… |
Legion 4 | 08 Jan 2022 9:24 a.m. PST |
+1 Cedric … 20,000 … that's like 2 Light Inf Divs. I'd think they'd be a force to be reckoned with IMO? They should be able to run an insurgency/guerilla war against the Taliban as the Taliban did to the ANA/ANP ? Of course they will need ammo & weapons, etc., which they could take from the Taliban/AQ, ISIS-K, etc. As they should still have some of their own weapons, etc., too ? Plus most importantly, they'd need real leadership. Something the Afghan governmental forces have lacked forever, AFAIK. Or even more importantly … the will to fight an insurgency ? Their tribal/warlord/religious affiliations have always hindered them, as well. Leaving much of the failed state in the 15th Century. I remember in 2014 when the Iraq Army first encountered ISIS. After the USA pulled out our forces. IIRC, the Iraqis abandoned, 42 M1 MBTs, 52 M109 155mm SPFA, + over 2000 HMMWVs(?). That also sounds like a lot of hardware if used properly with a lot of Infantry support, etc., could be a useful effective force ? But again it comes down leadership & the will … I'd guess ? But I was not there … so … |
Legion 4 | 09 Jan 2022 9:06 a.m. PST |
Errata :
But I was not there … so … That does not mean if I was there, it would have made a difference. Of course it wouldn't have! 😖 😕 My point was I was not there so I probably may not be aware of all that happened, etc., … |
witteridderludo | 09 Jan 2022 1:52 p.m. PST |
+1 to Cedric, when a country slightly less than four times the size of mine has about our whole army worth of special forces… |
Legion 4 | 10 Jan 2022 9:18 a.m. PST |
IIRC, 20,000 is larger than a number of NATO countries' armies currently ? |
Tango01 | 23 Jan 2022 9:19 p.m. PST |
In the other hand… Western Governments Enter Into Talks With The Taliban On Humanitarian Aid
YouTube link link
Armand
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Legion 4 | 24 Jan 2022 9:40 a.m. PST |
Which will probably most likely only go to the Taliban/AQ first. Like in many/most failed states. And A'stan is the poster boy for a failed state and will remain so … for decades if not longer. If you are not in the Taliban/AQ your chances of survival may be 50% ? |
Tango01 | 08 Feb 2022 8:50 p.m. PST |
New Report Says 9,000 Americans Were Abandoned In Afghanistan link
Armand
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35thOVI | 09 Feb 2022 5:12 a.m. PST |
Did the US leave Americans and Afghan allies in Afghanistan? Yes. Was the evacuation of Afghanistan a disaster? Yes. Did the previous President have a deal with the Taliban? Yes. Would that President have botched the leaving of Afghanistan like the current did? Doubtful. We will never know. But I doubt almost any other President could have, with the exception of Jimmy Carter (Iran). The current President found nothing that the previous President did or was doing, that he has not stopped, The fence, the keystone pipeline, fracking, delaying the Nordstrom pipeline…. I could go on, but what is the point. Ahhhh but this! This was the line in the sand! "Come on man!". Put the blame where it belongs. This was the current Presidents elephant. He wanted out. He saw it as a political gain. He never wanted to stay in there (actually he was correct there. Anyone who knows history could have vouched for that. Ask the Brits and Russians). So let's place the blame squarely where it belongs. On the desk of the current administration. |
Tortorella | 09 Feb 2022 6:50 a.m. PST |
And you give the credit. Botched evac for sure, but war ended. Previous POTUS also wanted out, saw political gain. Would not likely have been hands on with evac and that may have been the way to go, let the army execute the plan. |
alexpainter | 09 Feb 2022 7:05 a.m. PST |
We could say that the plan was botched from the start, plus, from what had transpired from news & co., seems that the majority of people didn't wanted a return of these talibans scumbags, so perhaps a little re-think of the whole thing would've been useful. Don't forget that these subhumans aren't notable for respecting pacts & similar. The USA had ruined their image with this retreat, and there are a LOT of their (and ours) enenmies that will take advantage of this. |
35thOVI | 09 Feb 2022 7:19 a.m. PST |
I never understood the whole "nation building" concept. Same mistake we made in Iraq. But with Afghanistan, even worse. You CANNOT build a nation out of Afghanistan. The only thing they enjoy more than killing each other, is killing outsiders. Ask Harry Flashman. We should have gone in while the Taliban was centralized as they were, and we did. Kill as many as possible and run them into the mountains. Once they are up there, leave. Let them come back down, settle back in and get comfortable and then hit them again. Do the same thing until they never come back down. Minimum casualties for us, minimum costs, no long term occupation. Is that too simplistic? |
SBminisguy | 09 Feb 2022 12:01 p.m. PST |
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35thOVI | 09 Feb 2022 12:59 p.m. PST |
Glad to see some of you back from the house. It was getting lonely. 😉 |
Legion 4 | 09 Feb 2022 1:40 p.m. PST |
We're BAaaack ! OT – the evac from A'stan was a debacle. That is not the way it is done. And I'm not the only one. It could have been done so much better if properly executed. But it would have taken time, holding Bagram was key. Kabul airport was not the place to such a mission. But I have said this all before … |
35thOVI | 09 Feb 2022 2:05 p.m. PST |
Yes Legion, as have we all. A black mark as big as the Iranian Hostage crisis. |