Afghanistan - mission accomplished?

[slogen51]

Just reading a rather depressing article in the paper

" Mission Unaccomplished"

Basically proposing that the modernizing Government propped up by American and British forces will not survive a year after American and British forces withdraw.

The Afghan army, trained by coalition forces, is fleeing across the border to Tajikistan or back to their families.

Bagram airbase has closed according to the papers - is that correct?

President Biden referred to Afghanistan as the forever war and since the withdrawal according to the Times the Taliban have already captured more than a quarter of the country's district centres.

Basically Afghanistan will become a new safe haven for IS (**edit I meant to say AQ) so how long will the British Embassy exist in Kabul?

(President George W Bush is 75 today - he thought the war was won in two months with technology)

[Nighthawke]

May seem harsh but Afghanistan has always been an unwinnable situation. Invest lives and money into protecting your own nations and leave them to sort themselves out.

[awacsfan]

According to Stars&Stripes the Americans vacated Bagram Air Base last week Friday and left in the middle of the night.

[jeallen01]

If the Yanks + NATO + ANA forces couldn't stop the Taliban then the ANA is most unlikely to be able to do so on their own.

And then the Taliban get their hands on some/all the ground & air kit that has been left behind - in that respect (only) it will depend on who they can "persuade" to show them how to use it themselves?????

[Thunder]

The Taliban and ISIL have been at each others throats for the past 5 yrs in Afghanistan, with little to no respect for each other. The Taliban have been supported during this fighting by countries like Pakistan, Russia and the USA, who basically all see ISIL as the common enemy.

[steamy]

Afghanistan part 3 ... coming soon

[C24]

There were two more that the Victorians fought after this one.

The First Anglo-Afghan War was fought between the British Empire and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1839 to 1842. Initially, the British successfully intervened in a succession dispute between emir Dost Mohammad and former emir Shah Shujah, whom they installed upon capturing Kabul in August 1839. Wikipedia

It's a culture clash that sadly is unlikely to be resolved soon. As of today, the Chinese are not visible in the arena but might decide to move in as they did into Tibet, for similar reasons.

Just the opinion of a long term observer.
Stay safe. 🛰

[slogen51]

According to some interesting chat at the fence today the recent MC-130J flights RCH1031-1033 heading west via Aviano and Rota left Bagram unannounced under the cover of darkness.

[C24]

I imagine that the Taliban will have enough ammunition and weaponry for the next war.

[Colbytheplaneguy]

I imagine that the Taliban will have enough ammunition and weaponry for the next war.

im also pretty sure that coalition intelligence know this full well and know when it is wise to pull out

[Condor68]

Pictures in our local papers of 1 Scots boarding Hercules for outbound flights at Bagraam .Think it was Sunday papers

[slogen51]

It's all going Pete tong - the Taliban remain undefeated as we pull out

Bullet points from the BBC :-

US troops reportedly begin to arrive in Kabul to help with the evacuation of diplomats, as the Taliban move closer to the city

Several European nations are also evacuating non-essential embassy staff or temporarily closing their embassies

The militants continue their rapid offensive, seizing more territory and capturing key cities

Kandahar, the country's second largest city and a key trading hub, has fallen to the insurgents

The group now controls most of northern Afghanistan and more than a third of its regional capitals.

Tens of thousands of civilians have fled the Taliban advance. About 1,000 have been killed in the past month, the UN says

Many of the internally displaced have travelled to Kabul and are sleeping in makeshift camps or on the streets

It comes as US and other foreign troops withdraw after 20 years of military operations

[slogen51]

Not an auspicious beginning for Biden

[Pune]

Very sad news and such a waste of lives on all sides, and for what?
A conflict no one will win..

[C24]

Sad.
Let's hope something is learned from history and the retreat has a better outcome that the 1842 episode.

[Philly1971]

Obviously sad to see people suffer but we did all we could do and it’s now down to the people of Afghanistan to fight for their country. History has shown that occupying foreign forces are never popular or successful. Watching those many Afghan documentaries it seemed time and again that the local populace just didn’t want or like the coalition troops being there. Ultimately trying to beat a terrorist opposition who play by no rules while having to stick to tight rules of engagement set by foreign politicians is never a good thing. The only way you will beat the taliban is by playing them at their own game, by becoming the bigger and better terrorist, and only the Afghan people can do that. Ironically the only way the taliban can control is by coming out of the shadows and being seen, and becoming predictable. They then can be hit themselves, just in the same way they did to the coalition forces. But this needs to be done by the Afghans, there has been far too much foreign blood spilt on their behalf, so now it’s their turn.

[raptor9]

C24. Couldn't agree more!!. Absolute disaster, and not much learned from that!!.

[reheat module]

Sad.
Let's hope something is learned from history...

The only thing we learn from history, is that we very rarely learn from history.

[slogen51]

The 'people of Afghanistan' can no longer fight for their own country with out our ( let's be honest America's) help that is how it is.

When the Taliban regain Kabul then Al-Quaeda will have a safe place to conduct international terrorism operations which should be a concern to all of us.

[slogen51]

It looks like Saigon all over again - will we see a CV-22 over the US embassy picking up the last man after he shredded the last document and switched the lights out?