National Security Council releases 12 page summary of its review of the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan

[Fantine]

It was always going to be messy. Thst's why Trump didn't have the guts to act when he promised.

 

[CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN]

Trump let 5,000 Taliban prisoners out. And the Taliban let a bunch of ISIS prison out. What could go wrong when you let these groups out? Now the Taliban are treating women horrible.And taking over. And it's because of Trump. If Trump didn't do that. Than we could leave, with out all the craziness.

 

[Ana the Ist]

"summary"

It's rather scant on details. Quite honestly, it's one of the plainly dumbest pieces of political propaganda I've ever seen.

On page three, towards the bottom, it states....

"The departing Trump Administration had left the Biden Administration with a
date for withdrawal, but no plan for executing it."

Clearly a plan was in place....troops, personnel and equipment were being moved out in 2020. What happened? Did Biden fire all the generals? Surely they knew the plan before executing it?

Who in their right mind is dumb enough to imagine Trump was drawing up logistical details on troop withdrawal?

It's embarrassing anyone would believe this.

 

[Ana the Ist]

Trump let 5,000 Taliban prisoners out. And the Taliban let a bunch of ISIS prison out. What could go wrong when you let these groups out? Now the Taliban are treating women horrible.And taking over. And it's because of Trump. If Trump didn't do that. Than we could leave, with out all the craziness.

Do you think he released Taliban soldiers from prison and they started taking over Afghanistan?

 

[Ana the Ist]

That is a falsehood. Literally the opposite it was happened. Donald was convinced his electoral shenanigans were going to keep him in office and there was no reason to do a transition.

Do you imagine some administrator is calling up the ranking commander in Afghanistan and telling him how to withdraw?

I understand that people don't understand how these things work. That's a ridiculous idea though.

 

[Valletta]

It was always going to be messy. Thst's why Trump didn't have the guts to act when he promised.

No, it was not. The only way to guarantee "messy" was to pull the military out before the civilians. Joe Biden was the commander in chief and is fully responsible. Joe was in charge of the pullout, Trump was no longer president.

 

[Fantine]

I believe they had told the civilians to go home for months, but the civilians dragged their heels.

And the equipment left was deactivated before they left.

 

[Valletta]

I believe they had told the civilians to go home for months, but the civilians dragged their heels.

And the equipment left was deactivated before they left.

All equipment was not deactivated before U.S. troops went out. Civilians left behind were in a variety of roles, the Biden administration pays little attention to the plight of those abandoned and the public does not have a good idea of the numbers because of Biden secrecy. Certainly translators and others who had helped the U.S. were pleading Joe to hurry up the extensive paperwork. Joe was warned as you can see in the Reuter's article below:

“We have to follow through on our promises to the thousands of Afghans who risked their lives to help us. It’s time for the Biden (administration) to cut the red tape and get this done,” said Democratic congresswoman Sara Jacobs.

In desperation, U.S. scours for countries willing to house Afghan refugees

President Joe Biden's administration has been holding secret talks with more countries than previously known in a desperate attempt to secure deals to temporarily house at-risk Afghans who worked for the U.S. government, four U.S. officials told Reuters.

www.reuters.com

The biggest mistake was Joe ordering the military out before all civilians had been evacuated, and instead taking Afghanis without any background security checks who just happened to make it to the aircraft in Kabul. Abandoning Bagram Air Base was another huge tactical error by Joe.

 

[Fantine]

The report says:

As Secretary Blinken testified on September 13, 2021, “We were intensely focused on the safety of Americans in Afghanistan. In March, we began urging them to leave the country. In total, between March and August, we sent 19 specific messages with that warning, as well as offers of help, including financial assistance to pay for plane tickets.” From August 14 through August 31, the Department reached out directly to every American known to the U.S. Government, repeatedly and through multiple channels—making 55,000 phone calls and sending 33,000 e-mails during those 17 days alone—to help facilitate evacuations for those who wished to leave. Many were dual citizens whose families had lived in Afghanistan for generations and chose to stay, and some have chosen to reenter Afghanistan after the military withdrawal. Ultimately, the U.S. Government evacuated over 6,000 American citizens from the country.

As for the equipment;

“The $7.12 billion figure cited in the Department’s recent report to Congress corresponds to ANDSF (Afghan National Security Forces) equipment and not U.S. military equipment used by our forces,” Army Major Rob Lodewick, a Defense Department spokesperson, said in a statement. “Nearly all equipment used by U.S. military forces in Afghanistan was either retrograded or destroyed prior to our withdrawal and is not part of the ‘$7.12 billion’ figure cited in the report.”

Sounds like what was left behind belonged to the Afghans, even if it had been given to them by the U.S.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/27/politics/afghan-weapons-left-behind/index.html

 

[disciple Clint]

Did you read the report?

(I suspect you didn't because the report was not written by or for, nor issued by President Biden.)

Anyone who believes that report must not have ever watched any news service during the event. The well know facts simply do not support that report in any way.

 

[Ana the Ist]

The report says:


As for the equipment;


Sounds like what was left behind belonged to the Afghans, even if it had been given to them by the U.S.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/27/politics/afghan-weapons-left-behind/index.html

Afghanistan was a comedy of errors from the start.

Not enough troops to win, roadside IEDS everywhere and a neighboring state just as willing to harbor the Taliban as it was willing to endure US troops. We tried to get the local warlords to play ball....they weren't very interested. We burned their poppy fields, creating economic dependence, and leaving a gaping hole in the international heroin market that got filled by fentanyl synthesizing chem labs in Estonia. By the time we had control of the country....the warlords were back to raping little boys on US military bases and we told our soldiers to just let it slide. Disgusting. Every attempt to set up a government or competent defense force resulted in politicians fleeing to foreign nations with millions or more warlords farming opium or buying little boys.

When news of the child rape threatened to hit the public eyes....little Malala got sent around on a TV tour to tell everyone how much she enjoyed learning.

By the time Obama was finishing up and Trump was about to send the political left into a spiral....we were fully aware that this wasn't going to work, and a way out was needed. Trump kept his mouth shut about the ton of manure we made, cut a deal, and began an exit. He also rather kindly pardoned a number of disillusioned soldiers who got charged with "war crimes" over there. I like to imagine he understood the hypocrisy of charging men with war crimes while also telling them to ignore the boy rape in the building next door.

Then Biden came in....for whatever reason (the Taliban probably questioned if we would hold our end of the deal made under Trump and sped up their offensive) he fumbled the exit into a really humiliating display of how low our military has sunk. Frankly, it's sad what our soldiers went through....and I'm certain good people got left behind...but afghanis aren't exactly my favorite culture and if the Taliban is what keeps them from raping little boys around the the clock then they deserve the Taliban.

This summary is a joke.

 

[Fantine]

Anyone who believes that report must not have ever watched any news service during the event. The well know facts simply do not support that report in any way.

There are many news services that have extreme slants. I would believe the report before many news services.

Ana, it's interesting how you left GW Bush out of your war history. Obama inherited the war.

What I am wondering is why we increased our military budget after ending a war. Our defense budget is 300% higher than our closest competitor. Hint, hint Kevin McCarthy.

 

[disciple Clint]

There are many news services that have extreme slants. I would believe the report before many news services.

Ana, it's interesting how you left GW Bush out of your war history. Obama inherited the war.

What I am wondering is why we increased our military budget after ending a war. Our defense budget is 300% higher than our closest competitor. Hint, hint Kevin McCarthy.

We are not talking slants here, I said any again I repeat any news service.

 

[Semper-Fi]

Do you think he released Taliban soldiers from prison and they started taking over Afghanistan?

Taliban leader was freed from Guantanamo Bay in 2014 swap by Obama​

 

[Fantine]

Republicans Inflate Cost of Taliban-Seized U.S. Military Equipment - FactCheck.org

The Taliban seized an arsenal of U.S.-made military equipment when it overran the Afghan army, but not nearly as much as numerous Republicans have claimed.

www.factcheck.org

 

[disciple Clint]

Republicans Inflate Cost of Taliban-Seized U.S. Military Equipment - FactCheck.org

The Taliban seized an arsenal of U.S.-made military equipment when it overran the Afghan army, but not nearly as much as numerous Republicans have claimed.

www.factcheck.org

Is there supposed to be some comfort in minimizing the dollar value? What was the value of the 13 American military members who needlessly lost their lives?

 

[Ana the Ist]

There are many news services that have extreme slants. I would believe the report before many news services.

You don't even need to watch the news to understand this report is bogus. Biden fumbled the exit....got allies and an unknown number US citizens murdered as a result. His attempt to pass the buck would only be more insulting if he claimed to have written it himself.

Ana, it's interesting how you left GW Bush out of your war history. Obama inherited the war.

I thought the crimes of Bush were pretty well known....but ok, I'll gladly admit what everyone should already know....

Bush, Cheney, and the CIA had people tortured in various POW camps and secret CIA blacksite prisons. The Abu Ghraib scandal that was explained as a sort of one time abuse of power by bad military personnel was in reality a leak of what was happening in multiple locations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Do you feel better now?

What I am wondering is why we increased our military budget after ending a war.

Probably because the attempt to make our military more "woke" has resulted in a huge loss of recruits and service members. This administration can't admit to the public that it's policies seem to fail, every time, immediately upon implementation....so I'm guessing they hope to offset the loss of boots on the ground with more expensive technology. That's just a guess though...based on the evidence.

Our defense budget is 300% higher than our closest competitor. Hint, hint Kevin McCarthy.

I'm sorry....are you saying we increased our military spending compared to old budgets or compared to other nations?

I thought it was the former a moment ago....but then you brought up this unrelated point and now I'm not sure.

 

[USincognito]

All equipment was not deactivated before U.S. troops went out.

You mean the equipment that belonged to the ANDSF? The stuff we'd given them over 20 years so the 800,000 strong force could defend against the Taliban? You do realize it had to be operational for them to use, right?

Civilians left behind were in a variety of roles, the Biden administration pays little attention to the plight of those abandoned and the public does not have a good idea of the numbers because of Biden secrecy.

That's just a straight up falsehood. A fair number of holders of American passports lollygagged and stayed in the hinterlands while the State Department made numerous phone calls and sent numerous e-mails telling them they needed to get to Kabul to evacuate. I feel bad for those who didn't get out when they could, but they had been warned.

Certainly translators and others who had helped the U.S. were pleading Joe to hurry up the extensive paperwork. Joe was warned as you can see in the Reuter's article below:

This:
>> Two U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said countries were hesitant to take in the Afghans because of concerns about the quality of security vetting and health screening for COVID-19 before they were allowed to fly.

The Biden administration was exploring having Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan take in thousands of applicants, but that effort has made little progress.

“There’s concerns that you might expect: ‘Who are these people? How do you know these people? Can you assure that these people will get visas to the United States? Who’s going to care for and feed these people. What happens if these people wander off this facility you’ve got them in?” a senior State Department official said. <<
tells me that a large part of the problem was finding third party countries to hold them in while their SIV paperwork was processed. If those sovereign nations didn't want Afghan nationals in their country for any reason, the blame doesn't lie with President Biden.

Abandoning Bagram Air Base was another huge tactical error by Joe.

CENTCOM: Keeping Bagram Airbase Was ‘Untenable’ Under White House Rules for Afghanistan Withdrawal - USNI News

The sprawling size of the U.S. airbase at Bagram and its isolation from Kabul meant that keeping it under American control was “untenable under the situation” once President Joe Biden ordered all U.S. forces out of Afghanistan, U.S. Central Command’s top officer told a House panel Wednesday...

news.usni.org

>> Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said, “the Bagram option [for use later in a large-scale evacuation of civilians] went away” without an order to send in up to 5,000 more American troops to back up the 650 left behind to defend the embassy in Kabul and retake the airbase.

“I did not see any tactical utility” to holding Bagram, <<

>> Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said remaining at Bagram “meant staying at war in Afghanistan.” He added, “there was no risk-free status quo option” of staying in the country after the announced withdrawal date.

To stay into September could have meant committing up to 25,000 more American service members to reopen bases and retake Kabul from the Taliban, said Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He added it was always the intention to evacuate the civilians through Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul and not use Bagram. <<
Bagram had to be abandoned or we'd have needed to deploy 5 Brigades worth of personnel just to maintain Bagram and Kabul.

 

[Valletta]

You mean the equipment that belonged to the ANDSF? The stuff we'd given them over 20 years so the 800,000 strong force could defend against the Taliban? You do realize it had to be operational for them to use, right?

That's just a straight up falsehood. A fair number of holders of American passports lollygagged and stayed in the hinterlands while the State Department made numerous phone calls and sent numerous e-mails telling them they needed to get to Kabul to evacuate. I feel bad for those who didn't get out when they could, but they had been warned.

This:
>> Two U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said countries were hesitant to take in the Afghans because of concerns about the quality of security vetting and health screening for COVID-19 before they were allowed to fly.

The Biden administration was exploring having Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan take in thousands of applicants, but that effort has made little progress.

“There’s concerns that you might expect: ‘Who are these people? How do you know these people? Can you assure that these people will get visas to the United States? Who’s going to care for and feed these people. What happens if these people wander off this facility you’ve got them in?” a senior State Department official said. <<
tells me that a large part of the problem was finding third party countries to hold them in while their SIV paperwork was processed. If those sovereign nations didn't want Afghan nationals in their country for any reason, the blame doesn't lie with President Biden.

CENTCOM: Keeping Bagram Airbase Was ‘Untenable’ Under White House Rules for Afghanistan Withdrawal - USNI News

The sprawling size of the U.S. airbase at Bagram and its isolation from Kabul meant that keeping it under American control was “untenable under the situation” once President Joe Biden ordered all U.S. forces out of Afghanistan, U.S. Central Command’s top officer told a House panel Wednesday...

news.usni.org

>> Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said, “the Bagram option [for use later in a large-scale evacuation of civilians] went away” without an order to send in up to 5,000 more American troops to back up the 650 left behind to defend the embassy in Kabul and retake the airbase.

“I did not see any tactical utility” to holding Bagram, <<

>> Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said remaining at Bagram “meant staying at war in Afghanistan.” He added, “there was no risk-free status quo option” of staying in the country after the announced withdrawal date.

To stay into September could have meant committing up to 25,000 more American service members to reopen bases and retake Kabul from the Taliban, said Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He added it was always the intention to evacuate the civilians through Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul and not use Bagram. <<
Bagram had to be abandoned or we'd have needed to deploy 5 Brigades worth of personnel just to maintain Bagram and Kabul.

Joe ordered the military out before the civilians and caused many deaths. His administration dragged on the paperwork for translators, their families, and others who helped us and he left them behind. Private efforts were able to get out some of those Joe abandoned. Joe has consistently lied, now he's trying to rewrite history and blame Trump--Joe was the commander in chief. Don't join him in claiming truth is falsehood. I saw him looking at this watch during the funeral. Quit making excuses for Joe and his administration, they made horrific mistakes and continue to make major foreign policy errors.

 

[Ana the Ist]

Taliban leader was freed from Guantanamo Bay in 2014 swap by Obama​

I'm aware some were released from prison....but that not really related to the Taliban retaking Afghanistan.