TOPIC:

What a waste of time, money and lives that was.

The Orange Man signed a deal with the Taliban to pull out by May, the rest is now history. 

The bottom line was if the locals can't be stuffed fighting for their own country then after 20 years another year or 5 would not of made much difference.

What happened to all the great expensive training the ADF was providing to the local army?




 

Bazza wrote:

What a waste of time, money and lives that was.

The Orange Man signed a deal with the Taliban to pull out by May, the rest is now history. 

The bottom line was if the locals can't be stuffed fighting for their own country then after 20 years another year or 5 would not of made much difference.

What happened to all the great expensive training the ADF was providing to the local army?





 

One can argue whether things could have been done better in terms of pulling out of Afghanistan, but what is not in doubt is that what is happening there now was always going to happen.

For those who served there and were injured or had mates who were injured or died and their families, one can only imagine how difficult it will be going forward.

terrible that lives were lost in a hostile country 

All may not appear to be as rosy for the Taliban.Sure the locally trained forces where as soft as butter.
But the Taliban rapid advance was made with negotiated peace treaties.With the local warlords..1000's  of years with constant fighting shows such treaties won't last long..
The Taliban will have trouble selling there Opiem on the open market.That finances there wars.And the Saudis and Pakistanis will be arming the local warlords encouraging open conflict.Would also expect the CIA might be in there stering the pot also.

After the Russians were defeated, with no overarching government, warlords took over Afghanistan until the Taliban was formed almost by chance which brought a certain amount of certainty to the regions even if it was by force. Until then, anyone moving between provinces had to pay the warlord of that region and then again to the next and so on. Certainly in southern Afghanistan the Taliban will be welcomed to some extent but in saying that, I wouldn't want to be one of the ethnic minorities, females or anyone who helped the allies. They are a brutal regime and think we'll see large amounts of refugees trying to escape through Iran, then Turkey and onto Europe.

BC do you think the Soviets where defeated by the Muhudjadine.Or in a decade long stalemate.Like the last 20 years.

Gtr...I think it was a combination of things including resistance by the Mujahideen, sanctions by the US and others on Russia and being stuck in a 9 year war in terrain they weren't well equipped to handle. It's no surprise the allies left with their tails between their legs if the Russian example is anything to go by. The Taliban simply waited and outlasted the US knowing full well the yanks wouldn't commit forever and the wheel would go round

it's desert version of Vietnam - and the locals know it like the backs of their hands and easily cope with it , we provided some respite from outright war for a time 
war means loss of life and that's the terrible part when there's no resolution

Southerner wrote:

it's desert version of Vietnam - and the locals know it like the backs of their hands and easily cope with it , we provided some respite from outright war for a time 
war means loss of life and that's the terrible part when there's no resolution

Yep, that’s how we all felt when we watched the troops pulled out of Vietnam.

Bazza wrote:

What a waste of time, money and lives that was.

The Orange Man signed a deal with the Taliban to pull out by May, the rest is now history. 

The bottom line was if the locals can't be stuffed fighting for their own country then after 20 years another year or 5 would not of made much difference.

What happened to all the great expensive training the ADF was providing to the local army?
 

The Guardian's diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour was quite critical of president Biden yesterday putting 29 February as the date of the US-Taliban agreement and also highlighting that as recently as 8 July the US president had said that there was no likelihood of Afghanistan being overrun.