So we are no longer in Afganistan.

OK my misunderstanding - fixed-wing squadron, rotary-wing squadron, - no jets - I stand corrected.
The arguments are very serious and are taken seriously by Dem's, GOP and Military.
Billions of dollars of U.S. weapons and Non US are now in the hands of the Taliban following the quick collapse of Afghan security forces that were trained to use the military equipment.
The Mil Mi-24 large Helicopter Gunship attack helicopters, Cobras. Agree that current Taliban cant maintain and operate the airplanes.
Not all AAF pilots defected, some can be recruited and have some minimal utility.
Smaller weapons and equipment is more of the concern, night vision equipment, etc
On Wednesday, senators demanded a “full accounting” of U.S. military equipment given to Afghan forces over the past 12 months, what’s been seized by the Taliban and what plans there are to either recapture or destroy the equipment.

“As we watched the images coming out of Afghanistan as the Taliban retook the country, we were horrified to see U.S. equipment — including UH-60 Black Hawks — in the hands of the Taliban,” the 25 senators, led by Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

 

Do you do that photographic burro sitting in Tijuana? I don't think there's any burro sitting in Cd. Juarez. You might be allowed to pose with the severed head of a member of a rival gang. They do that. But burros? No, I don't think so.

Gosh, will they EVER open the border? We're in the midst of another Covid spike here. It's mostly an inconvenience for the Fully Vaccinated but it's putting more anti-vaxxers into the hospital and, in too many cases, the crematorium. I have such a "funeral home" down the street and it's causing the neighbors to complain for two reasons: First, there are many more "burnings" than usual and second, the Covid bodies arrive double-bagged and that makes for more and blacker smoke.

 

I don't know anymore, but I grew up just the other side of the border and it was a fixture well into my 50s. I haven't been there in many years, though.

There's no real case for keeping the border closed. Covid is here already.

 

Thinking about the sombreros. They don't wear sombreros around here unless they're mariachis. The regular folks were straw cowboy hats. Unusual north of the border, too, and I don't know why. Like so many Mexican habits, the straw cowboy hat makes perfect sense in the climate. Much better suited than our stupid ball caps.

 

Sorry, but you don't know anything about running an air force. Neither did the Afghans. Nor does Marco Rubio.

But I do. They are zero threat.

 

"wear"

 

I will take your word.

Who knows, I speculate Pakistani military or Chinese, others can help them as well. It all depends on if/how Taliban will run the country. International relations of some-sort will exist.

So is there a remote possibility that remaining AAF personnel can be somehow utilized for short time? Maybe the utility craft they have?
As all U.S. and coalition troops and contractors are scheduled to be out of Afghanistan by the end of August.
After the withdrawal, which the military says is now more than 95% complete, the Pentagon on Jul 29th stressed it will continue to help the Afghans maintain their aircraft, possibly still thinking AAF will be functional to some degree ?
So utility helicopters and planes if any and some training and attack such as the A-29 Super Tucano, but will have to do it "over the horizon," or from outside of the country.
This could mean either transporting aircraft or individual parts to a third country, where the maintenance can be done.
Or military or contractor maintainers could help them virtually, such as by using video chats to help Afghan maintainers sort out tricky repairs.

 

Rank and file who? Democratic party as a whole is far from homogenous, and suffers from circular firing squad far more than the overabundance of "cheer when they have the ball and boo whenever Republicans have the ball". You have to admit that I have reasons to feel this way, as a HRC fan . (oh btw, screw Bernie!).
Even in this case: criticisms of Obama's border practices come from immigrant rights crowd who are in huge part Democrats; Trump and ilk just plagiarized these accusations.

 

I'll throw in a jab at Bernie too. (screw Bernie!) I've already criticized Biden for not kicking butt to get the folks out of Afghanistan sooner. Although, to be fair it was going to be a mess no matter what. Our military is really amazingly good at winning battles and military engagements. They are not so good at the even harder job of getting out of a lost war. Vietnam and Afghanistan are prime examples. Meaning it was going to be a big mess no matter what. Sad but true Oops now Steve is going to consider me one of the hopeless partisan souls now.

 

Why are we chewing this endless and pointless rag about "Who Lost Afghanistan" when Dr. Douglas and I have introduced a much more relevant and important issue; that is, the existence or non-existence of photogenic burros in major northern Mexico cities? Get with the program, people!

 

As a kid I lived in El Paso for a time. We'd go to Juarez for our haircuts. I remember the burros. They would have a sombrero and maybe a blanket to put over one's shoulder to take a picture. I haven't visited Tijuana in years but I think I did see a saddle on a saw horse with a burro head and sombrero for taking pictures much more recently than those Juarez visits 50 years ago.

 

Maybe because this is causing a major crisis and damage?
Because of - "No one left behind" .
This is not brush under the rug issue.

House Democrats will seek answers from top administration officials early next week on the chaotic collapse in Afghanistan.

 

They had a chance to fly out of the country during a brief window. I doubt seriously that there remains the ground echelon necessary even to launch the remaining aircraft.

The Taliban are stuck with (flying) white elephants. No one is going to want to buy them, they can't fly them, so they're stuck.

 

That's the point people are (purposely) missing. The minute the evacuations began, everything would have collapsed.

I'm bugged by the lack of speed the ground personnel are showing in clearing people for departure. Get them all out and sort them out later.

As the for matter as a whole, people didn't care about Afghanistan until it became an excuse to criticize Biden. But all of it--ALL OF IT--he inherited, including the deal Trump negotiated with the terrorists.

 

I don't know if any advanced communication equipment was left there, and if Chinese or Russians would want to get their hands on it.
They can trade.

 

There are calls for impeachment from some GOP reps already.

 

The gaff factory is REALLY ramping up the PR campaign today. Seeing lots of government spokesmen getting in front of cameras and being questioned. Lots of scripted materials are being read to us today; as we work with our Taliban "partners." Sounds about as reliable as single ply toilet paper.

 

Absent evidence to the contrary, you can safely assume that is a "no." There is no reason for the U.S. military to leave behind anything of any strategic value.

"Your enemies always get strong on what you leave behind." -- Michael Corleone

 

I was listening to a clip from two months ago with Donald Trump bragging that the "process" was in place for withdrawing from Afghanistan, and how Biden couldn't change it. Now, of course, he's talking about how his administration would have done so much better.

He was also using the phrase "If I was still president" a lot. Glad to hear him acknowledge that fact, even if subconsciously. Too bad the asshats who follow him can't see that.