First, thank you for your service to America, I am indebted to you. I do agree with what you have said about needing to be out of the middle east, it's long overdue. But I disagree with you on Biden's speech, all I heard was rhetoric, excuses and blame. He's had months to prepare for this evacuation, recommendations from Generals encouraging him to get started because of what they were hearing and witnessing on the ground, but he ignore them and waited to the enemy was at the gates. He says he takes responsibility with his lips, but his actions say "fu$$ everybody over there trying to get out of that place". My son did 5 tours of duty, 4 in the middle east-I believe him not Joe. The harm we put these people in could have been prevented or at least reduced. Biden is not capable and I'm not saying this because of his age/dementia.

well a bunch of comments most expressions that I expected..

so what do I think?

while the stupid trump deal was among the most stupid in the world , it is what we learned to expect from the never do weller..

But I also can and will bitch at Bush, Obama even Joe.. Joe for his pitiful operation after all these years.. everyone knew what the situation was. they waited 20 years. Knowing full well the USA would get bored and leave, once the money people milked the cash cows for what they were worth..

Timing.. when Ben Louden was killed. that is when the withdrawal should have been done.. from that time on, I never herd of a plan of goal to keep our forces sitting in a sand pile.. it was only for the money to the war industry..

Each president, from Bush to Trump planned and claimed of a pullout.. but never got the job done.. why???

Now while Biden got it done, the price seems far more then it was worth.. the US looks like a pack of school kids expecting a result only because it is what they want.. dumb...

I could go on.. nothing about Afghanistan was to my liking.. should have done the darn job back in the day... many lies from the military saying things were going just fine.. but hell, not ever were things just fine..

rose had a good comment... but I forget what the heck it was.. Good one Rose.. I hope..

Biden will have to live with this SOB of an operation, but it must be shared with all the planners and promoters who never did the job they should have and heaped misinformation on the people of these United States..

https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/568154-trumps-deal-with-the-taliban-set-the-stage-for-the-afghan-collapse?fbclid=IwAR1z0YCny_HlGievTG9v5Q8H7W6O9s8JyhY0jjA8sdP1gL1SP9yj0Uojh9E

Trump's deal with the Taliban set the stage for the Afghan collapse
BY DAVID SCHANZER, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 08/17/21 11:30 AM EDT


History will mark Aug. 15, 2021, as the date that the Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban retook control over this troubled and war-torn country. But the real date that the Taliban’s victory was assured is Feb. 29, 2020, the day the Trump administration signed what it characterized as a “peace” deal with the Taliban. Once this agreement was signed — the tragic collapse we witnessed this weekend was inevitable.

Of course, the agreement was not, and could not possibly have been, a “peace” deal since one of the parties currently at war — the Afghan government — was not a signatory. Rather, this was a “withdrawal” agreement between the U.S. and the Taliban that set the terms for the complete departure of American troops from Afghanistan by May 2021.

What did the United States gain in exchange for this withdrawal, for which the Taliban had been fighting for 20 years? Nothing but vague, unenforceable promises that the Taliban would not engage in hostilities against the departing U.S. troops and would “send a clear message” to al Qaeda that it “had no place” in Afghanistan. So eager Trump was to withdraw, we did not even hold out for a clear, firm commitment that the Taliban would not provide aid, safe harbor or weaponry to al Qaeda and like-minded groups. The agreement contained no enforcement mechanisms and included no penalties on the Taliban for failing to comply with its terms.


Once the agreement was signed, the fate of the Afghan government was signed, sealed and delivered — the Taliban had practically won the war. There was no way that the government could possibly survive.

The Afghan government and military have not shown the will to sustain what we had provided for them: an opportunity to stand on their own. I, for one, am tired of America's young men/women dying in a futile attempt to help Afghanis establish & form their own nation, independent from the Taliban. I don't believe they possess the desire or willpower to do so. If that's true, as the Taliban have shown a greater sense of nationality, let them have what they have fought so hard to have: control over their own country.

The Afghan government was corrupt to the core. It was said the reason they gave up so quickly is because they lacked the air cover and intel from above we used to provide. Well, the Taliban didn't have an air force either, until now. So maybe all that expensive training and equipping was useless. Maybe our snake eaters (Special forces, SEALS, etc) should have trained the military like Colonel Hackworth did in Vietnam to 'Out G the G." Or operate as guerillas.

"Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactics, and mobility, to fight a larger and less-mobile traditional military."

Maybe some determined Afghans will operate this way as there are many more of them than Taliban in that country and there ought to be enough weapons in now private hands. We shall see. It is now their own choice as to their fate.
Ron; Vietnam Vet 68-69 Mekong Delta.

https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/568154-trumps-deal-with-the-taliban-set-the-stage-for-the-afghan-collapse?fbclid=IwAR1z0YCny_HlGievTG9v5Q8H7W6O9s8JyhY0jjA8sdP1gL1SP9yj0Uojh9E

Trump's deal with the Taliban set the stage for the Afghan collapse
BY DAVID SCHANZER, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 08/17/21 11:30 AM EDT


History will mark Aug. 15, 2021, as the date that the Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban retook control over this troubled and war-torn country. But the real date that the Taliban’s victory was assured is Feb. 29, 2020, the day the Trump administration signed what it characterized as a “peace” deal with the Taliban. Once this agreement was signed — the tragic collapse we witnessed this weekend was inevitable.

Of course, the agreement was not, and could not possibly have been, a “peace” deal since one of the parties currently at war — the Afghan government — was not a signatory. Rather, this was a “withdrawal” agreement between the U.S. and the Taliban that set the terms for the complete departure of American troops from Afghanistan by May 2021.

What did the United States gain in exchange for this withdrawal, for which the Taliban had been fighting for 20 years? Nothing but vague, unenforceable promises that the Taliban would not engage in hostilities against the departing U.S. troops and would “send a clear message” to al Qaeda that it “had no place” in Afghanistan. So eager Trump was to withdraw, we did not even hold out for a clear, firm commitment that the Taliban would not provide aid, safe harbor or weaponry to al Qaeda and like-minded groups. The agreement contained no enforcement mechanisms and included no penalties on the Taliban for failing to comply with its terms.


Once the agreement was signed, the fate of the Afghan government was signed, sealed and delivered — the Taliban had practically won the war. There was no way that the government could possibly survive.

well a bunch of comments most expressions that I expected..

so what do I think?

while the stupid trump deal was among the most stupid in the world , it is what we learned to expect from the never do weller..

But I also can and will bitch at Bush, Obama even Joe.. Joe for his pitiful operation after all these years.. everyone knew what the situation was. they waited 20 years. Knowing full well the USA would get bored and leave, once the money people milked the cash cows for what they were worth..

Timing.. when Ben Louden was killed. that is when the withdrawal should have been done.. from that time on, I never herd of a plan of goal to keep our forces sitting in a sand pile.. it was only for the money to the war industry..

Each president, from Bush to Trump planned and claimed of a pullout.. but never got the job done.. why???

Now while Biden got it done, the price seems far more then it was worth.. the US looks like a pack of school kids expecting a result only because it is what they want.. dumb...

I could go on.. nothing about Afghanistan was to my liking.. should have done the darn job back in the day... many lies from the military saying things were going just fine.. but hell, not ever were things just fine..

rose had a good comment... but I forget what the heck it was.. Good one Rose.. I hope..

Biden will have to live with this SOB of an operation, but it must be shared with all the planners and promoters who never did the job they should have and heaped misinformation on the people of these United States..