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US barely fought the Afghan war. The war was "Afghanised" very early on. The lion share of casualties in Afghanistan are the ANA troops.

mc32 5y ago
Then why does the withdrawal of US troops result in collapse? You have to be willing to fight for what you believe in.
- alephnerd 5y ago
  Air Support - with the US withdrawal, there's been a decrease in that especially given the Aug 31st deadline. And India's not immediately interested in providing immediate air support as well (in order to try and make inroads with the Taliban, like all other nations in the region are) https://theprint.in/diplomacy/afghan-govt-wants-iaf-support-to-crush-taliban-as-fighting-worsens-across-the-country/712182/ https://theprint.in/diplomacy/afghan-govt-wants-iaf-support-... https://theprint.in/defence/will-pull-india-into-a-vortex-why-delhi-is-unlikely-to-heed-afghan-demand-for-air-support/712766/ https://theprint.in/defence/will-pull-india-into-a-vortex-wh...
- baybal2 5y ago
  > Then why does the withdrawal of US troops result in collapse? Because US troop withdrawal is also a simultaneous porkbarrel withdrawal. This is something very obvious I am surprised nobody talks about. US "war funds" to the most Afghan establishment were basically loyalty bribes.
- onepointsixC 5y ago
  The US cut and ran, forced the Afghan gov to release thousands of Taliban fighters, and cut off intel and logistic support. It wasn't just a withdrawal, we tied a weight around the Afghan gov, threw them in the river and told them to swim. At least with Saigon we managed to evacuate thousands. This admin hasn't even done that.
  - mc32 5y ago
    After 20 odd-years, I don't call this a cut-and-run. This has been a simmering topic since Obama took over --but of course, once in the white house, he changed tack.
fhood 5y ago
This is disingenuous. Unless I somehow completely missed something, US military support was absolutely crucial in fighting back the Taliban.
ren_engineer 5y ago
maybe not direct deaths but the Trillions of dollars that were thrown away in Afghanistan could have been spent improving and saving the lives of citizens in the United States I'm not sure there's been a more wasteful government action in human history than the US government in the Middle East

mc32 5y ago

Then why does the withdrawal of US troops result in collapse? You have to be willing to fight for what you believe in.

alephnerd 5y ago
Air Support - with the US withdrawal, there's been a decrease in that especially given the Aug 31st deadline. And India's not immediately interested in providing immediate air support as well (in order to try and make inroads with the Taliban, like all other nations in the region are) https://theprint.in/diplomacy/afghan-govt-wants-iaf-support-to-crush-taliban-as-fighting-worsens-across-the-country/712182/ https://theprint.in/diplomacy/afghan-govt-wants-iaf-support-... https://theprint.in/defence/will-pull-india-into-a-vortex-why-delhi-is-unlikely-to-heed-afghan-demand-for-air-support/712766/ https://theprint.in/defence/will-pull-india-into-a-vortex-wh...
baybal2 5y ago
> Then why does the withdrawal of US troops result in collapse? Because US troop withdrawal is also a simultaneous porkbarrel withdrawal. This is something very obvious I am surprised nobody talks about. US "war funds" to the most Afghan establishment were basically loyalty bribes.
onepointsixC 5y ago
The US cut and ran, forced the Afghan gov to release thousands of Taliban fighters, and cut off intel and logistic support. It wasn't just a withdrawal, we tied a weight around the Afghan gov, threw them in the river and told them to swim. At least with Saigon we managed to evacuate thousands. This admin hasn't even done that.
- mc32 5y ago
  After 20 odd-years, I don't call this a cut-and-run. This has been a simmering topic since Obama took over --but of course, once in the white house, he changed tack.

fhood 5y ago

This is disingenuous. Unless I somehow completely missed something, US military support was absolutely crucial in fighting back the Taliban.

ren_engineer 5y ago

maybe not direct deaths but the Trillions of dollars that were thrown away in Afghanistan could have been spent improving and saving the lives of citizens in the United States I'm not sure there's been a more wasteful government action in human history than the US government in the Middle East