Quote:
Originally Posted by Azure
I think most of us would agree that regardless of how the US would have left, the Taliban would have taken over.
The issue seems to be with 4 things.
Issue 1: Lying by the Pentagon & US Department of State when it comes to the state of the Afghan Army. This has been going on much longer than Biden has been President, and isn't actually a 'POTUS' issue in my opinion. Every single US commander that had anything to do with operations there has been lying to the world for over 15 years about the state of Afghanistan.
Issue 2: Not properly making sure that the people most at risk of execution were given adequate resources in order to leave before the inevitable happened.
After the US left Vietnam, they gave refuge to roughly 130,000 people. Between the US, Canada, UK and others, I'm sure we could have done a MUCH better job at getting as many people out of Afghanistan, if not more.
Issue 3: Once the poop hit the fan, politicians did what politicians do, and didn't commit to all hands on deck in order to get everyone out. And I'm not just talking about the Afghans, but actual Canadian, American, Brits, etc, etc. Everyone from the media to diplomatic staff are stuck there in danger.
There are also numerous reports of Canadian resources being held back from helping.
Issue 4: Not making sure Kabul Airport is secure. How the US screwed this up is beyond me.
What a bloody mess.
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Issue 1. Yep.
Issue 2: Again, I think this all just happened too fast. In South Vietnam there was a provisional/buffer government 3 days after the President fled. From April 28 to April 30. That doesn't sound like a lot but you can coordinate getting 130,000 people out in that time. The South Vietnamese government was still considering retreating to the Mekong Delta and regrouping, but it didn't pan out. It wasn't a full blown capitulation.
Issue 3: Again, it happened to fast. The US a month ago were still confident that an Afghan government could survive (see Issue 1). So therefore, how can you have a stable government while at the same time evacuating the best and brightest. They are the pillars. But now, it's too late, Taliban are there, no buffer government to get people out and there's no ocean to flee to like Vietnam.
Issue 4: Once the Afghan army is gone, I don't know how a few thousand soldiers can secure an airport.
This is on the Afghan Army, they're just gone.