So we are no longer in Afganistan.

Been getting angry calls from other veterans all day. All are saying the same thing. Its not that we left Afghanistan, it how it was handled. Heart breaking to see insurgents driving our humbles and flying our blackhawks. Biden's basically left them a military starter kit. And he keeps pointing to the fact that Trump left him in this situation. Ah, negative o'niner! Trump negociated a withdrawal a year ago. You (Biden) had control over how that withdrawl is executed during present day; and you botched the hell out of it.

Elections have consequences folks . . . and this is what happens when you surround yourself with civilian "advisors" who are essentually "yes men," and you fail to listen to your subject matter experts; or in this case, your CentCom General on the ground. . .

 

If we stayed indefinitely, at what point does the country become a "protectorate" of the United States? If we had left ten years ago or ten years hence, I see no reason to think the results would be different. Biden just bit the bullet, that's all.

 

Of course the Republicans will blame Biden for everything that is going on in Afghanistan. The only thing I see to fairly blame him for is not getting out more of the interpreters and Afghan folks that helped us over there. I understand that there was some push back from Homeland Security on how to handle it best but I think Biden might have been able to push harder to get it resolved more quickly.

 

Auto correct, rofl.

humbles
humvee's

 

That's the nature of the politics in our day. When Trump pulled our forces from Syria he was blamed, if Trump pulled our forces this way from Afghanistan the whole hell would have broke. Most here would be very hard on Trump that's for sure.
So I'm not surprised that there is criticism on President Biden on the way this is happening.

 

How would it be handled any differently?

C'mon. The Afghan "government"--including the police and army that we've been training for two decades--collapsed in a day. Kabul was taken without firing a shot. And this is Biden's fault? Please.

As a retired military officer who knows a few things about this, Afghanistan's parallels to Vietnam are incredibly tight. Live and don't learn!

(It was about 2 years from the peace agreement and the fall of Saigon. Afghanistan took a few weeks.)

 

What are if any ramifications for Ukraine? Will Russia feel at ease like in 2014 to possibly take another chunk as President Putin stated that Lviv and Kiev belongs to Russia.
People are asking about Taiwan.
Same questions were asked when we pulled our forces from Syria.

Many Afghans dreamed of Democratic Islamic state. Now its no more unless they fight for it.
Now its a strict Islamic state.
Is Islamic world celebrating today?

 

Worth noting that almost every Islamic regime in the world, outside of primarily Iran and Pakistan, consider the Taliban’s interpretation of Islam as a threat to themselves.

 

What should Biden have done differently?

 

It appears that the Taliban had already negotiated the surrender of the provincial governments and perhaps even the central government well ahead of the USA pull out. Most all of their "victories" were obtained without firing a shot. The base of power in Afghanistan is local warlords. The Taliban began negotiating with them after the Trump administration agreed to the May 2021 pull out of American troops in exchange for the Taliban no longer attacking American troops. So it was apparently all settled long ago.

My only criticism is that he should have been much more aggressive in getting out the Afghans that assisted our troops over the years.

 

On a positive note the Taliban spokesman announced that they will not return to the style or way of ruling in the 90s.
They will increase the role of woman in the society, allowing woman to work etc.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/calm-flights-return-to-taliban-held-afghan-capital-of-kabul/2021/08/17/2f5c36a8-ff26-11eb-87e0-7e07bd9ce270_story.html

Maybe 20 years of US and Allies running the affairs did bare some fruit after all?

 

Words mean nothing without actions.
Time will show, even if its hard to believe they will keep it.

 

There have already been reports of them sending women home from the jobs where they were working as the Taliban took over. I have serious doubts that they will be allowed to return.

 

Not disagreeing. Was under the impression though, perhaps incorrectly, that Iranian & particular Pakistani Intelligence services have been the primary supporters of the Taliban for years. Certainly a convoluted environment.