Afghanistan
Obviously Afghanistan has been the primary focal point in the War on Terror since September 11, 2001 when the United States was attacked and about 3,000 people were murdered. The US government identified Osama bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda organization based in and allied with the Taliban, the Islamic government in Afghanistan, as the perpetrators of the attacks. While political and military mistakes have been made in this 10 year conflict, we have been successful and destroying the violent Al-Qaeda and Taliban leadership and allowing a government friendly to its neighbors to hopefully evolve. This evolution will take time and be difficult, so our commitment should not waver, but our need for regular military forces in Afghanistan has ended. Continuing to watch and appropriately react to developments in Afghanistan will be an important political issue.
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Apparently, we don't know.

8/31/21
from The Gray Area:
8/31/21:
Is it $24B or $90B? Apparently, we don't know how much military equipment we left behind in Afghanistan. The $90B number is apparently what we sent to Afghanistan over 20 years. The $24B is a guesstimate as to what is left. But, we really don't know. That illustrates another failure of our time in Afghanistan, the lack of attention to detail and inventory of equipment. Taliban with US weapons stockpile And, what about cash? Can't put that on a plane? Any American would fly over to retrieve it for you Biden! Taliban with US Cash It is true that we provided a lot of this equipment, and this cash, to the Afghan Army on a 'lend / lease' kind of agreement. So, technically most of what was left is not, quote, 'ours'.  That does not absolve us at all. What we do know is that we left a ton of equipment (and cash) in Afghanistan. The question that cries for an answer is, why? Why would we walk away from strategic and tactical military equipment? Equipment our enemies can now put their hands on and use. Equipment our enemies can now reverse engineer to create their own equivalent arsenal. Even if we left it for the Afghan Army, all this equipment is now in the enemies hands.  It is American made equipment.  The photo ops do not reflect on the failure of the Afghan Army.  They embarrass the USA.  And, if you want to say that the failure of the Afghan Army is why that equipment is left, then that again reveals another failure of judgement and planning.  Really, you believed that the Afghan Army would actually fight with out the US there to support them? Amazing. Why? Just another failure of leadership in this 'imbecilic' withdrawal. And, that is not just Biden's leadership that is to blame.  Also responsible is the US military leadership. Catastrophic, incompetent, and dangerous failure of leadership! On that, there is no debate. More From BBC:


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