No amount of military force would ever deliver a stable, united, and secure Afghanistan - Joe Biden, 2021. Today is the three-year mark for an event that we all knew would happen. Despite political and military leadership telling the world it would not happen. Those who went, knew. Words can not express the distress people faced, as the country collapsed and the Taliban regained control. Many innocent Afghans left to a totalitarian regime. Words can not express either, the conflicted feelings of knowing people who gave it all to a mission that had no measure of success. Words can, however, put it all into historical perspective. I wrote this article three years ago - Afghanistan & The Recipe for Global Jihadism, and today, it is as relevant as ever. Link in comments
Correct me if I'm wrong, but was it not the Trump administration that negotiated with the Talaban representatives in Doha in 2020 that set that chapter of history into motion? He placed a huge neon sign up for the Taliban, and left a 's**tsandwich' for Bidens administration, the wider ISAF, and the then government of Afghanistan to suffer. If in Bidens shoes, which had well and truely had the laces tied together by Trump.... I'd probably have came out with the same remark.
Pull out a map of Afghanistan, look where the Taliban were, look where Kabul is located, between them is Bagram Air Base. Without Bagram Air Base to provide protection, the Taliban had a free path to Kabul. A third grader playing Sorry could figure out this one, but not Biden & Harris. Voluntarily abandoning Bagram Air Base ahead of the Kabul evacuation was, without equal, the dumbest decision in modern military history. Not even our alied partners & afghan allies at the airbase knew of this, Biden & Harris left them hanging. The multitude of incompetence is astounding. Ceding Bagram Air Base ahead of withdrawal has proven to be a geopolitical blunder with long term, far-reaching consequences for America with no accountability.
Great post, Alex. Regardless of individual views, some comments made by senior politicians regarding the closedown in Afghan were beyond insensitive to those who gave so much to the nation. James Knight MC Has subsequently done some fantastic work for charities in Afghanistan and well worth taking a look at. Great bloke and supports even greater causes.
Former Military Intelligence Officer | Author | Geopolitical Analyst
4mo"I fear too that as the Taliban become the “official” government, the people who sent us to war will make a deal with them, and this will be a sour pill to swallow for the millennium warfighting generation. This defeat has affected the moral component of military fighting power which must be addressed by our leadership. From the gates of Downing Street, you can almost see the Iraq and Afghanistan memorial that sits across the road outside the Ministry of Defence, but fortunately for the Prime Minister of the day, it’s just out of sight."