This article explains how it happened... In summary: once Trump said we would pull out, the Taliban began buying off the military and police. That has been going on for a year and a half. So once Biden actually pulled out, they had already agreed to surrender. In addition, the government stopped paying the military at all about 6 months ago, probably to grift the money, but just making them easier to buy off. The result was a swift and planned collapse. Afghanistan’s military collapse: Illicit deals and mass desertions https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/08/15/afghanistan-military-collapse-taliban/ The spectacular collapse of Afghanistan’s military that allowed Taliban fighters to walk into the Afghan capital Sunday despite 20 years of training and billions of dollars in American aid began with a series of deals brokered in rural villages between the militant group and some of the Afghan government’s lowest-ranking officials. The deals, initially offered early last year, were often described by Afghan officials as cease-fires, but Taliban leaders were in fact offering money in exchange for government forces to hand over their weapons, according to an Afghan officer and a U.S. official. Over the next year and a half, the meetings advanced to the district level and then rapidly on to provincial capitals, culminating in a breathtaking series of negotiated surrenders by government forces, according to interviews with more than a dozen Afghan officers, police, special operations troops and other soldiers. Within a little more than a week, Taliban fighters overran more than a dozen provincial capitals and entered Kabul with no resistance, triggering the departure of Afghanistan’s president and the collapse of his government. Afghan security forces in the districts ringing Kabul and in the city itself simply melted away. By nightfall, police checkpoints were left abandoned and the militants roamed the streets freely. The pace of the military collapse has stunned many American officials and other foreign observers, forcing the U.S. government to dramatically accelerate efforts to remove personnel from its embassy in Kabul. The Taliban capitalized on the uncertainty caused by the February 2020 agreement reached in Doha, Qatar, between the militant group and the United States calling for a full American withdrawal from Afghanistan. Some Afghan forces realized they would soon no longer be able to count on American air power and other crucial battlefield support and grew receptive to the Taliban’s approaches. “Some just wanted the money,” an Afghan special forces officer said of those who first agreed to meet with the Taliban. But others saw the U.S. commitment to a full withdrawal as an “assurance” that the militants would return to power in Afghanistan and wanted to secure their place on the winning side, he said. The officer spoke on the condition of anonymity because he, like others in this report, was not authorized to disclose information to the press. The Doha agreement, designed to bring an end to the war in Afghanistan, instead left many Afghan forces demoralized, bringing into stark relief the corrupt impulses of many Afghan officials and their tenuous loyalty to the country’s central government. Some police officers complained that they had not been paid in six months or more. “They saw that document as the end,” the officer said, referring to the majority of Afghans aligned with the government. “The day the deal was signed we saw the change. Everyone was just looking out for himself. It was like [the United States] left us to fail.” The negotiated surrenders to the Taliban slowly gained pace in the months following the Doha deal, according to a U.S. official and an Afghan officer. Then, after President Biden announced in April that U.S. forces would withdraw from Afghanistan this summer without conditions, the capitulations began to snowball. As the militants expanded their control, government-held districts increasingly fell without a fight. Kunduz, the first key city overrun by the militants, was captured a week ago. Days of negotiations mediated by tribal elders resulted in a surrender deal that handed over the last government-controlled base to the Taliban. Soon after, negotiations in the western province of Herat yielded the resignation of the governor, top Interior Ministry and intelligence officials and hundreds of troops. The deal was concluded in a single night. “I was so ashamed,” said a Kabul-based Interior Ministry officer, referring to the surrender of senior ministry official Abdul Rahman Rahman in Herat. “I’m just a small person, I’m not that big. If he does that, what should I do?” Over the past month, the southern province of Helmand also witnessed a mass surrender. And as Taliban fighters closed in on the southeastern province of Ghazni, its governor fled under Taliban protection only to be arrested by the Afghan government on his way back to Kabul. The Afghan military’s fight against the Taliban involved several capable and motivated elite units. But they were often dispatched to provide backup for less-well-trained army and police units that repeatedly folded under Taliban pressure. An Afghan special forces officer stationed in Kandahar who had been assigned to protect a critical border crossing recalled being ordered by a commander to surrender. “We want to fight! If we surrender, the Taliban will kill us,” the special forces officer said. “Don’t fire a single shot,” the unit’s commander told them as the Taliban swarmed the area, the officer later recounted. The border police surrendered immediately, leaving the special forces unit on its own. A second officer confirmed his colleague’s recollection of the events. Unwilling to surrender or fight outmatched, the members of the unit put down their weapons, changed into civilian clothing and fled their post. “I feel ashamed of what I’ve done,” said the first officer. But, he said, if he hadn’t fled, “I would have been sold to the Taliban by my own government.” When an Afghan police officer was asked about his force’s apparent lack of motivation, he explained that they hadn’t been getting their salaries. Several Afghan police officers on the front lines in Kandahar before the city fell said they hadn’t been paid in six to nine months. Taliban payoffs became ever more enticing. “Without the United States, there was no fear of being caught for corruption. It brought out the traitors from within our military,” said one Afghan police officer. Several officers with the Kandahar police force said corruption was more to blame for the collapse than incompetence. “Honestly, I don’t think it can be fixed. I think they need something completely new,” said Ahmadullah Kandahari, an officer in Kandahar’s police force. In the days leading up to Kandahar’s capture this month, the toll on the police had become visible. Bacha, a 34-year-old police commander, had been steadily retreating for more than three months. He had grown hunched and his attire more ragged. In an interview, he said the repeated retreats had bruised his pride — but it was going without pay that made him feel desperate. “Last time I saw you, the Taliban was offering $150 for anyone from the government to surrender and join them,” he told a reporter as the interview drew to a close. “Do you know, what is the price now?” He didn’t laugh, and several of his men leaned forward, eager to hear the answer.
Taking an objective look at the Afghanistan situation... It is overdue that the U.S. withdraws from Afghanistan. Trump and Biden both were walking down this path. Having a withdrawal is not the problem. The problem is the complete collapse in Afghanistan which has caused a completely chaotic withdrawal. This has not only impacted the U.S. but all of our allies -- all of whom are also now desperately trying to get their embassy staff and citizens out of the country. There is also the sad reality of all the Afghan staff who supported the U.S. who need to get out of the country -- many are likely to be left in the country as the airlift cannot support including many of them. A good number of these Afghans have been promised Visas. Biden needs to step up and take responsibility for this complete withdrawal fiasco. He is President and it is on him. We will see what he says at 3:45pm EDT. At this point is really to late to change anything except to buffer up the defenses around the airport to allow move flights to get in & out. One lesson out of this (and Iraq) as well is that we need to get out of the business of "nation building". If we need to go to war with a country we need to go in, wreck the place, capture the leaders, leave, and allow the inhabitants to re-build (with the clear warning we will do the same thing again if they attack the U.S. or our allies).. We should not be pouring money and lives into occupying these countries -- who are not interested in western forms of democratic government. Shortly we may face the same situation with Iran. If we take military action with Iran -- we should not be attempting to occupy the country. Merely destroy their military, capture the leaders, eliminate their electric grid, nuclear facilities, etc. Don't stay around and attempt to occupy the place. The concept of "your wrecked it, you own it" no longer applies. Those days are over. The new motto needs to be "Attack us, enjoy fixing the mess. It's on you".
I cannot wait until we invade or put troops in the next Middle Eastern country and we go out and ask all the locals to support us as translators and guides and informants. I hope all of the locals stick their middle finger up and tell America to go FUCK OFF. Iraq and now Afghanistan where we abuse and use the locals who put their lives at risk and then when we decide to bail we say see you bitches and leave most of them behind and tell them they can apply for a visa in a year. Meanwhile the Taliban or Al queda kill them for working with the Americans or kidnap a family member or cut off a leg.... We just run out of the country and leave all that shit behind with no way to get out knowing they will be targeted. Next country we go in I hope they all tell U.S. to go do it for themselves just like they tell the locals when they leave. Oh and all this bullshit on the media about the troops fighting for our freedoms. Please.... the troops are loyal employees working for fucktards. When Vietnam fell did we suddenly lose our freedoms and protections? The day afer Taliban puts in their towel government are we going to suddenly not be free or protected? Politician bullshit to justify wasting America's best soldier in a foreign sand pile with no assets.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/wo...t/news-story/d530e39ed0c801460aaf8e81b615901e Afghanistan: US Air Force transport plane rescues 640 Afghans in mercy flight The human cargo on board the C-17 Globemaster II plane out of Kabul on Sunday. Picture: Marcus Weisgerber/@MarcusReports By Scott Henry 59 minutes ago August 17, 2021 A US Air Force transport plane has taken off with 640 relieved Afghans on board amid scenes of panic and desperation at Kabul’s international airport. The C-17 Globemaster II cargo jet has been in military service by the US and its allies for nearly 30 years and is capable of carrying 77,564kg (171,000 pounds) of cargo but is only designed for 134 soldiers. However, the captain and crew of the plane, attached to the Delaware-based 436th Airlift Wing, was overwhelmed by the number of Afghans onboard and made the decision to leave with a full load of human cargo rather than force people off the precious flight late on Sunday local time. US military site, Defense One, which obtained extraordinary images of the mercy flight, said the crew initially thought they had about 800 people on board the flight to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. The site reported that the 640 passengers are believed to be among the most people ever flown in a C-17. “The C-17, using the call sign Reach 871, was not intending to take on such a large load, but panicked Afghans who had been cleared to evacuate pulled themselves onto the C-17’s half-open ramp,’’ the site reported. “Instead of trying to force those refugees off the aircraft, the crew made the decision to go. Approximately 640 Afghan civilians disembarked the aircraft when it arrived at its destination.” Air traffic radio recorded an official discussing the flight with someone on the plane. “OK, how many people do you think are on your jet? … 800 people on your jet? … Holy f***, holy cow…” the official says. Defense One reported that in 2013, a C-17 evacuated 670 people fleeing a typhoon in the Philippines. “Like that evacuation, the Afghans flown from Kabul to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, sat on the floor of the plane’s capacious hold. The procedure is known as ‘floor loading’; the passengers hang onto cargo straps run from wall to wall serving as makeshift seatbelts.’’ Urgent international evacuation flights out of Kabul have since been halted because of ongoing chaos at Kabul’s international airport as desperate Afghans tried to flee on departing US jets, Taliban gunmen roamed the terminals and US troops killed at least two men. At least eight Afghans were killed Monday at the airport. Panicked Afghans held onto the sides of planes as they took off, with several falling to their deaths.
The gene pool has been cleansed a bit. It doesn't take a very smart person to know that you cannot cling to the outside of a jet aircraft and expect to survive. There's a reason airlines don't offer seats attached to the outside of the fuselage.
Just as we have stupid citizens; so too does the Middle East. Watch and see. During the next U.S. occupation, locals will be there to translate, inform, etc. for cash. Same as it ever was.
I think the Afghanistan tried to do what Tom Cruise did on one of those cargo airplanes. Unfortunately, there was no Bengie to open the door for them. wrbtrader