Biden was warned of the collapse in Afghanistan - did not listen to the experts

[hislegacy]

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Months before President Joe Biden announced the U.S.’s complete withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, Washington’s watchdog warned that the Afghan air force would collapse without critical American aid, training and maintenance. The report was declassified Tuesday.

The report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko, submitted to the Department of Defense in January 2021, underscores that American authorities had been alerted that Afghanistan’s air force did not have the capabilities to survive after a U.S. withdrawal. In particular, the report points to U.S. failure to train Afghan support staff, leaving the air force unable to maintain its aircraft without American contractors.



****Please Note: The subject of the thread is BIDEN and what he knew**** Please do not attempt to derail the thread.

 

[pescador]

But he got the people out...

 

[The IbanezerScrooge]

Curious you didn't use the title of the article as the thread title because the "Didn't listen" part is just your opinion and we already know your opinion on Biden AND the article didn't even say this info was even presented to Biden (to be fair I'm sure it was at some point through the DoD). It was presented to the DoD in January. Biden didn't become president until January 20th.

Did it ever occur to you that Biden did, in fact, listen, discussed the situation with heads of the DoD and relevant other experts and weighed all of it against the agreement that had already been made with the Taliban and the effect not honoring that agreement would have and came to the conclusion that pulling out was still the best course of action?

I'm sure it didn't.

 

[hislegacy]

But he got the people out...

Not all of our citizens got out.

They are just being ignored right now.
he and he alone own this disaster

 

[miamited]

Hi @hislegacy

And your point is? I don't think Afghanistan has ever had a particularly strong air fleet. That it would collapse without allied support is likely just one of the things that Afghanistan is going to have to deal with. Do you think that we should have stayed in the arena just to support the Afghan air force? I believe that pretty much everyone familiar with the situation knew that Afghanistan would fall from the democratic government that we had tried to prop up in Afghanistan, but there apparently comes a time when one national government has to pull out the props unless we want to assimilate Afghanistan as the 51 state of the U.S.

As I recall, pretty much all of the people who studied the effects of any pull out, said that the Afghanistan government would collapse, but it wasn't expected to happen quite so quickly. Yes, I would imagine that Pres. Biden, if not 'knew' certainly expected the Afghanistan experiment to fail after we left. That was any experiment started under the Bush administration and carried through several others, that many felt it just wasn't ever going to work and gave up. Pres. Trump was actually the first person to actually make any headway in putting the draw out on the table. Pres. Biden finished the job. That actually happens with a lot of administrations. Where a succeeding administration finishes up some project of a previous one.

God bless,
Ted

 

[JustOneWay]

From the OP link:

Biden announced in April that the last 2,500-3,500 U.S. troops would leave along with NATO’s 7,500 troops, following a deal reached with the Taliban by the Trump administration

When will we lay some blame at the feet of the previous administration for Afghanistan?

 

[grasping the after wind]

From the OP link:



When will we lay some blame at the feet of the previous administration for Afghanistan?

When we ignore the facts.

 

[pescador]

From the OP link:



When will we lay some blame at the feet of the previous administration for Afghanistan?

Some of us already have. It was Trump who arranged the withdrawal of US troops (to occur in May!) not President Biden.

 

[pescador]

When we ignore the facts.

See my post above.

 

[miamited]

Hi all,

Well, I believe that the nation, as a whole, wanted to be out of Afghanistan. It's now done! Maybe it wasn't done the way each of us individually would have done it...but it is done. We no longer, after 20 years, have any fighting forces at risk in Afghanistan. Yes, the nation is going to revert back to the kind of government that most of the nations around it also have. It is a predominantly muslim part of the globe and pretty much every government in the middle east, save Israel, has a strong muslim flavor.

But, the war in Afghanistan is done. We're out! Now it's time to accept that whatever gripe one might have as to 'how' it was done, be put to bed. Time to move forward to the next issue. Afghanistan, as a theater of war, is over! There will not be any more body bags filled with American soldier's remains coming back from Afghanistan. It's over! It's done. We've listened to all the complaints about how poorly it was done, but it is done. Now it's time to sweep all that issue, faults and all, out the door and move on.

Now it's time for our military to refocus on finding and routing out terror cells and terrorist activities. We have the best military in the world to do that. Let's go Biden!!!!

God bless,
Ted

 

[JustOneWay]

My point is that without examining the very reason for the Afghanistan pullout, it is disingenuous to just talk about Biden's failures. Every one of Biden's decisions stem from a withdraw agreement. If it was a no-win scenario for Afghanistan for America to pull out, why did the previous administration sign a withdraw agreement? If we want to understand this, we discuss it all. Simply attacking Biden is nothing more than partisan smears without examining the withdraw agreement.

 

[grasping the after wind]

Some of us already have. It was Trump who arranged the withdrawal of US troops (to occur in May!) not President Biden.

I am pretty sure Biden was the President when the US left Afghanistan. I am beginning to think that if some of the people I see posting on CF were to drink and drive erratically causing an accident they would insist it was the fault of the car's previous owner.

 

[pescador]

Hi all,

Well, I believe that the nation, as a whole, wanted to be out of Afghanistan. It's now done! Maybe it wasn't done the way each of us individually would have done it...but it is done. We no longer, after 20 years, have any fighting forces at risk in Afghanistan. Yes, the nation is going to revert back to the kind of government that most of the nations around it also have. It is a predominantly muslim part of the globe and pretty much every government in the middle east, save Israel, has a strong muslim flavor.

But, the war in Afghanistan is done. We're out! Now it's time to accept that whatever gripe one might have as to 'how' it was done, be put to bed. Time to move forward to the next issue. Afghanistan, as a theater of war, is over! There will not be any more body bags filled with American soldier's remains coming back from Afghanistan. It's over! It's done. We've listened to all the complaints about how poorly it was done, but it is done. Now it's time to sweep all that issue, faults and all, out the door and move on.

Now it's time for our military to refocus on finding and routing out terror cells and terrorist activities. We have the best military in the world to do that. Let's go Biden!!!!

God bless,
Ted

Great post!

 

[pescador]

I am pretty sure Biden was the President when the US left Afghanistan. I am beginning to think that if some of the people I see posting on CF were to drink and drive erratically causing an accident they would insist it was the fault of the car's previous owner.

Apparently you don't understand the situation. Let me explain it to you. The former President (Trump) committed the United States to withdraw from Afghanistan in May; that is a legal obligation. President Biden was legally committed to that obligation, made on behalf of the United States by his predecessor.

I'm certain that if he didn't comply then all the "trumpies" would jump up and down, saying that President Biden wasn't following the law by honoring the commitment of the US government.

P.S. following the automobile analogy, if the previous owner had disconnected the tie rod, then the accident would be unavoidable.

 

[wing2000]

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Months before President Joe Biden announced the U.S.’s complete withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, Washington’s watchdog warned that the Afghan air force would collapse without critical American aid, training and maintenance. The report was declassified Tuesday.

The report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko, submitted to the Department of Defense in January 2021, underscores that American authorities had been alerted that Afghanistan’s air force did not have the capabilities to survive after a U.S. withdrawal. In particular, the report points to U.S. failure to train Afghan support staff, leaving the air force unable to maintain its aircraft without American contractors.



****Please Note: The subject of the thread is BIDEN and what he knew**** Please do not attempt to derail the thread.

...this was a known risk from the day the United States government decided to build an Afghan air force. Multiple administrations have attempted to train and equip Afghan forces for the day when the American's would leave....with very limited success.

What is the alternative? Keep the NATO's Air Forces in an Afghan air support mission forever?

 

[JustOneWay]

I am pretty sure Biden was the President when the US left Afghanistan. I am beginning to think that if some of the people I see posting on CF were to drink and drive erratically causing an accident they would insist it was the fault of the car's previous owner.

If the previous owner was the governor of the state, and the governor made a law that the next owner of that car must destroy it within 8 months, what's a car owner to do?

 

[JustOneWay]

Not all of our citizens got out.

They are just being ignored right now.
he and he alone own this disaster

If you are not actively trying to help those missing citizens, then you are also ignoring them.

 

[wing2000]

I am pretty sure Biden was the President when the US left Afghanistan. I am beginning to think that if some of the people I see posting on CF were to drink and drive erratically causing an accident they would insist it was the fault of the car's previous owner.

I am pretty sure four American administrations contributed. The best prepared army and Air Force means nothing if there is no political stability.

Maybe Americans should remember these 20 years the next time an American President tries to force our way of governance on a country. I am pessimistic that Americans will ever learn....

 

[wing2000]

From the op's link

Since the 2001 U.S-led invasion that ousted the Taliban and during the long war that ensued, Washington spent more than $145 billion on reconstruction in Afghanistan and nearly $1 trillion on its military engagement. Billions went to building up the Afghan military forces.

 

[hislegacy]

Apparently you don't understand the situation. Let me explain it to you. The former President (Trump) committed the United States to withdraw from Afghanistan in May; that is a legal obligation. President Biden was legally committed to that obligation, made on behalf of the United States by his predecessor.

I'm certain that if he didn't comply then all the "trumpies" would jump up and down, saying that President Biden wasn't following the law by honoring the commitment of the US government.

P.S. following the automobile analogy, if the previous owner had disconnected the tie rod, then the accident would be unavoidable.

He was legally bound to pulling out in May, huh?

Why didn’t he pull out in May if you are correct?

Show a yes link and proof that he was legally committed to what his predecessor agreed to and if so, why he did NOT pull out in May.

here is where all the ‘but Trump’ fails miserably

Joe had every right to move the withdrawals from May to August. That same right could have been used to move the date back to where his commanders and advisors were telling him.

No, he gets in national television and says bold face there wasn’t one voice of opposition to his withdrawal plans.

but his loyal followers cannot possibly address those facts. All that Joe has left is what about Trump

That is why his popularity is falling like a rock.

His own party leadership spoke out about your theory

Top Democrat on Senate committee slams Biden admin, US withdrawal from Afghanistan