On The U.S. Defeat In Afghanistan
By Moon Of Alabama
July 05, 2021 "Information
Clearing House" - - "Moon
Of Alabama" -
Forty two years ago the U.S. launched its war on
Afghanistan:
SPIES&VESPERS @SpiesVespers -
22:24 UTC · Jul 3, 2021
#OTD July 3 1979: President Jimmy Carter
signs a "presidential finding" authorizing the
CIA to spend just over $500,000 on non-lethal
aid to support the Afghan mujahideen against
growing Soviet influence in the region. #coldwarhist
The 'growing Soviet influence' was the
progressive PDPA government that ruled Afghanistan
but did not do as Washington asked it to do. It was
the U.S. 'aid' to rebels which forced the USSR to
intervene. Everything that followed goes back to
Carter's signature.
No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is
Independent Media
On February 15 1989 the process of withdrawing
Soviet military forces from Afghanistan was
officially declared complete.
bigger
Now, forty two years after Carter's signature, a
defeated U.S. flees from Afghanistan.
---
Taliban take districts in NE Afghanistan from
fleeing troops - AP
The Taliban's march through northern Afghanistan
gained momentum overnight with the capture of
several districts from fleeing Afghan forces,
several hundred of whom fled across the border
into Tajikistan, officials said Sunday.
...
Since mid-April, when U.S. President Joe Biden
announced the end to Afghanistan's “forever
war,” the Taliban have made strides throughout
the country. But their most significant
gains have been in the northern half of the
country, a traditional stronghold of the
U.S.-allied warlords who helped defeat them in
2001.
...
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed
the fall of the districts and said most were
without a fight. The Taliban in previous
surrenders have shown video of Afghan soldiers
taking transportation money and returning to
their homes.
---
'What was the point?' Afghans rue decades of war as
U.S. quits Bagram - Reuters
Malek Mir, a mechanic in Bagram who saw the
Soviet Army and then the Americans come and go,
said he was left with a deep sense of sadness at
the futility of a foreign presence.
"They came with bombing the Taliban and got
rid of their regime - but now they have left
when the Taliban are so empowered that they will
take over any time soon," he said.
"What was the point of all the
destruction, killing and misery they brought us?
I wish they had never come."
...
"The Americans leave a legacy of
failure, they've failed in containing the
Taliban or corruption," said Sayed
Naqibullah, a shop owner in Bagram. "A small
percentage of Afghans got so rich, while the
vast majority still live with extreme poverty.
"In a way, we're happy they've gone ... We're
Afghans and we'll find our way."
---
Disaster At Hand: Documenting Afghan Military
Equipment Losses Since June 2021 - Oryx
While the withdrawal of U.S. troops and their
NATO allies has been praised by some and heavily
criticised by others, there is one thing
seemingly everyone can agree on: the
20-year U.S.-led mission to defeat the Taliban
has been an utter failure.
...
Similar to its withdrawal from Iraq in 2011, the
U.S. leaves behind a broken military apparatus
that despite the investment of tens of billions
of dollars is ill-prepared to face the tasks
assigned to it.
...
The situation Afghanistan faces after the U.S.
withdrawal is scarcely an isolated incident in
modern U.S. history however. After effectively
abandoning its ally South Vietnam in the 1970s,
leaving behind a paralysed Iraq in 2011 and now
withdrawing from Afghanistan, homecoming
celebrations will be tainted by the grim
prospects of those suffering the consequences of
the War in Afghanistan for decades to come.
The zealousness with which these
military interventions are begun is only matched
by the degree of subsequent indifference to the
fate of the country when the realities of
conflict become too uncomfortable, setting the
stage for an endless repeating tragedy of
interventionist disasters. Meanwhile,
the local population is for generations to come
unwillingly indebted to the whims of U.S.
politics, a debt ironically incurred by the
equally unwilling investment of trillions in
American taxpayer dollars in the industry of
war.
---
Breaking Contact Without Leaving Chaos: The Soviet
Withdrawal from Afghanistan - Lester W. Grau
(2007)
There is a literature and a common perception
that the Soviets were defeated and driven from
Afghanistan. This is not true. When the
Soviets left Afghanistan in 1989, they did so in
a coordinated, deliberate, professional manner,
leaving behind a functioning government, an
improved military and an advisory and economic
effort insuring the continued viability of the
government. The withdrawal was based on
a coordinated diplomatic, economic and military
plan permitting Soviet forces to withdraw in
good order and the Afghan government to survive.
The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA)
managed to hold on despite the collapse of the
Soviet Union in 1991. Only then, with the loss
of Soviet support and the increased efforts by
the Mujahideen (holy warriors) and Pakistan, did
the DRA slide toward defeat in April 1992.
The Soviet effort to withdraw in good
order was well executed and can serve as a model
for other disengagements from similar nations.
Despite spending double the time and many more
resources than the Soviets, the U.S. and NATO
completely failed the task they had set out for
themselves to do. They ignored the lessons that
could have been learned from the successful Soviet
operation in Afghanistan. They were, unlike the
Soviets, thoroughly defeated.
Registration is necessary to post comments.
We ask only that you do not use obscene or offensive
language. Please be respectful of others.
|