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As far as I can remember - one thing that our military personnel are taught, especially in the field, is how to render equipment inoperable. Which in fact is on

As far as I can remember - one thing that our military personnel are taught, especially in the field, is how to render equipment inoperable. Which in fact is one of the things we've done with left over equipment there. Source: family of veterans.

miked85 5y ago
The Taliban paraded driving US military vehicles through the streets, so I don't think we did that. I am sure it is normal procedure to disable equipment in this situation, but nothing about that exit was normal.
- tomc1985 5y ago
  Those vehicles were left behind by the Afghani armed forces and were no longer US assets. Of course, our failure to predict the afghani military's collapse is a huge error but that just proves that even world's best and most well-funded intelligence agency is not foolproof.
  - roamerz 5y ago
    You can’t tell me with a straight face though that there wasn’t a report on someone’s desk that predicted exactly that - the Afghani military collapse. It was likely buried because it didn’t support whatever narrative was required at the time. So.. well funded? Absolutely and with a cherry on the top. Best? Nope. Way too infused with agendas and politics. No offense to the great people who work there.
    - tomc1985 5y ago
      They knew it would collapse, just not so quickly.
  - yyyk 5y ago
    >Of course, our failure to predict the afghani military's collapse... It was obvious to people who had any inkling of Afghanistan. First, the US created an Afghani army that was dependent on US weapons and logistics, but stopped helping to maintain it even before the withdrawal was done. What does one expect to happen to an airforce when one stops maintance? Second, every intelligence estimate predicted the Taliban would eventually win post-withdrawal (since they still got a state to support them), and the Afghanis knew about those estimates. Why should a sane Afghani keep fighting, when they could switch sides and live? To make Biden look better? Ultimately, there was a political decision to leave Afghanistan, and the intel was adjusted to the decision rather than the other way around.
    - selimthegrim 5y ago
      >Second, every intelligence estimate predicted the Taliban would eventually win post-withdrawal (since they still got a state to support them) Which state would that be?
      - yyyk 5y ago
        Pakistan, duh. Pakistan-Taliban links were widely known for decades.

miked85 5y ago

The Taliban paraded driving US military vehicles through the streets, so I don't think we did that. I am sure it is normal procedure to disable equipment in this situation, but nothing about that exit was normal.

tomc1985 5y ago
Those vehicles were left behind by the Afghani armed forces and were no longer US assets. Of course, our failure to predict the afghani military's collapse is a huge error but that just proves that even world's best and most well-funded intelligence agency is not foolproof.
- roamerz 5y ago
  You can’t tell me with a straight face though that there wasn’t a report on someone’s desk that predicted exactly that - the Afghani military collapse. It was likely buried because it didn’t support whatever narrative was required at the time. So.. well funded? Absolutely and with a cherry on the top. Best? Nope. Way too infused with agendas and politics. No offense to the great people who work there.
  - tomc1985 5y ago
    They knew it would collapse, just not so quickly.
- yyyk 5y ago
  >Of course, our failure to predict the afghani military's collapse... It was obvious to people who had any inkling of Afghanistan. First, the US created an Afghani army that was dependent on US weapons and logistics, but stopped helping to maintain it even before the withdrawal was done. What does one expect to happen to an airforce when one stops maintance? Second, every intelligence estimate predicted the Taliban would eventually win post-withdrawal (since they still got a state to support them), and the Afghanis knew about those estimates. Why should a sane Afghani keep fighting, when they could switch sides and live? To make Biden look better? Ultimately, there was a political decision to leave Afghanistan, and the intel was adjusted to the decision rather than the other way around.
  - selimthegrim 5y ago
    >Second, every intelligence estimate predicted the Taliban would eventually win post-withdrawal (since they still got a state to support them) Which state would that be?
    - yyyk 5y ago
      Pakistan, duh. Pakistan-Taliban links were widely known for decades.