Do the Afghan people want the Taliban to govern their country?

Kyle here - it largely depends on who you ask. When the prior government was overthrown you saw a lot of citizens trying to escape. There was a recent story where a rumor went around that Turkey was needing volunteers following the earthquake and Afghans showed up to the airports in droves hoping to be selected to go to Turkey. Those rumors about seeking afghan volunteers were false.

But the Taliban has both a loyal following and a great portion of the population that exists almost beyond the idea and reach of any kind of central government. A lot of the educated Afghan populace and certainly any Afghan with ties to the coalition’s military force don’t want to live under Taliban rule. For most, life will continue as it always has with subsistence farming in their local community. Even under the former government the rural Afghan’s life was almost unaffected unless caught in the war. Even when the US was there, the Taliban were the de facto rulers in much of the country. It’s just speculation, but the backlash you see against the Taliban government largely comes from Afghans with access to news and social media and telecommunications and the internet. Much of the population just wants to be left alone.

TL:DR: it depends on who you ask and for most life will go on as before.

For more AMAs on this topic, subscribe to r/IAmA_Military, and check out our other topic-specific AMA subreddits here.

You might’ve been asked this last AMA, idk but do you support the pull out of Afghanistan? If not, how long would you had preferred that war to continue on? Also, if pulling out was so easy and blah blah then why didn’t previous presidents do it. Afghanistan was a needless war for the last 10 yrs only there to support the military industrial complex, and if I’m wrong please let me know. So trump could have pulled out but didn’t. Why didn’t he? Obama could’ve pulled out. Why didn’t he? Why does everyone blame Biden for finally be strong enough of a leader to pull out of Vietnam? Also, besides making more wealth for the complex as y’all chose to do after you got out of the army, what good was it to stay in Afghanistan?

Also, I’m a veteran of OIF, so as a veteran how do I go about making that my only life experience and somehow droll on about it for a few more years while sucking up funds from rubes? Podcast? Book deal?

Also, do y’all have any hobbies?

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What is internet access like, or rather freedom of information, among average civilians in Afghanistan? What are education levels like among average civilians in Afghanistan?

Kyle here - thanks for the question. I was 100% in support of withdrawal from Afghanistan. It was clear, probably around 2011, that US nation building had failed. I think Biden should be applauded for pulling out of Afghanistan, but withdrawal should have been conducted from the more defensible Bagram Airfield as opposed to HKIA. I find it despicable that the leaders in charge of conducting the withdrawal are still in charge despite the loss of life and clusterfuck that was the withdrawal.

As for saying the war is your only life experience, I’m sure it wasn’t and it wasn’t ours, either. If you’re accusing us of profiting from it, I can assure you we make no money doing this and it only costs us money with server space and recording software. There are no ads for square space or blue apron. For sure I made more money in the war after I got out, but only for a short time until I became a sort of hippie and near-pacifist. Went back to school and work in a totally unrelated career field. We do this as a way to stay in touch and bring on experts to talk about a topic that doesn’t get a lot of play in the mainstream news cycle. Kind of amateur-hobbyist journalism and history. As for hobbies, I like to fly fish, write, play video games, mandolin, practice jiu jitsu badly, and read. I can assure you I don’t identify very strongly or at all with the vet bro community which is often obnoxious. Take care, man.

This is Zach. I supported pulling out of Afghanistan. With that said, the way it was done was absolutely horrendous. After the Doha Agreement was signed, it was open season on ANDSF. The longer we stayed, the worse off things would have become. President Obama campaigned on leaving Afghanistan only to do an about-face when he entered office. President Trump campaigned on leaving Afghanistan and kicked the can down the road. Our belief is that military leadership kept telling them the war was winnable. President Biden's share of the blame comes from not having a withdrawal plan. With the Doha Agreement signed in February 2020, he had plenty of time to get a team together to work on such a plan. You can't campaign on your foreign policy expertise and then not have a plan. Per the Afghanistan papers, the war was essentially unwinnable after 2004.

​

As for money, our podcast makes none. We do this for catharsis. And I have a borderline unhealthy infatuation with golf.

Kyle here and that’s a great question. US occupation spurred the creation of many cell phone networks. Most Afghans, with the exception of the most rural, have cell phones and SIM cards. In 2016 3G was fairly rare except in the very populated areas. I’m not sure if the Taliban is working to restrict internet access or prohibit certain sites, but I can assure you Afghans on all sides of the conflict are very active on Twitter, but you need to follow the English speaking Afghan accounts which generally lead you to the Pashto and Dari posters if you’re not familiar with the language.

Education was slightly improved under US occupation for those in more populated areas. It expanded middle and high school to girls. Despite this, most estimates place literacy rates around 40% which is well below the world average. Illiteracy was very much taken advantage of by corrupt Afghan military and police commanders who were literate. Now the Taliban has banned girls from attaining education beyond elementary school, but there is infighting within Taliban leadership about this. Hope that helps and take care.

Kyle - I always wanted to destroy the earth and kill innocent people. Sometimes I’d find M1 Abrams tanks in the motor pool and start them up just to let them idle and burn fuel. Once they taught me the startup procedure for the F16s id let them idle, too. Severe psychopathy and other diseases of the DSM V restricted me from most other jobs, but a few lies to the doctor at MEPS and they put me right into military intelligence. Of course now that I left the military industrial complex I am homeless. I use public libraries to do research for and record this podcast. I rob people and panhandle to get by. Thanks for the question.

Hello guys, I’m new to following the pod (within the last week) so forgive me for any questions you’ve already answered or seem obvious!

Do you find your personal experiences in Afghanistan to be detached from the reality of an every day Afghan? In other words, do you feel like what you witnessed/experienced as warfighters from, for lack of better term, an invasion force painted a picture of what life for everyday afghans is like? Do you in any way think it’s possible you saw only the very worst of the country?

Also, are any of you fluent in more than one of the languages/dialects of the country? Do you find a large disparity in the opinions of afghans on the direction they want their country to head based on their cultural identity?

Golf is the third worst industrious pollution causing industry in the world. Switch over to disc golf and stop helping destroy local water sheds.

I guess all the stuff that happened in afghanistan happened by pure luck then with no plan. Being people that served I would imagine y’all know what pulling a major operation entails and I’d reckon y’all know that things never go according to plan. I think more people (especially vets and current service members) should be grateful the old dude fucking pulled us out. Sry it wasn’t perfect to everyone liking. I hate hearing the “well, it wouldn’t have been so fucked if trump was still in office”. Like what? Dude had 4 yrs to do exactly that and cowered out.

I appreciate y’all’s green gilled beliefs that it was top brass telling them the war was winnable but cmon, we all know it was top execs telling them they’ll get their cut of the profits to just stay in. War is a racket.

Anywho thanks for the response. Hope all is well in y’all’s lives.

Zach - First, thanks for following. As for your question, I'm not sure if anyone can relate to the reality of an everyday Afghan except for Afghans. We have an understanding of some of their cultural views and practices, and may even understand why they make certain decisions. But we can't say we have the same lived experiences. I think we saw the middle ground of the country if we saw it at all. Most of our time was relegated to being on a base or in an airplane. As for languages, everyone picks up a phrase or two, but for the most part we were heavily reliant on translators. Kyle does know Russian, which is more useful than one might initially think.

We didn't say things would be better if Trump were still in office. We have discussed many times the pipeline from general officer to PMC board seat member.

Kyle - We never said it would be better if Trump was in office and I personally despise the dude. Trump did orchestrate the Doha Agreement which started the end of the whole thing. Obama and Trump could have withdrawn any time and they both kept it going for either money and/or watered down intelligence reports to Congress. We regularly discuss how war is a racket on the podcast and most of our guests do, too. Personally I applaud Biden for finally pulling the plug, but it should have been done from Bagram which would have minimalized chances of casualties. And I don't like golf either, that's all Zach.

This is a response to a troll question who deleted his comment after my masterful response. It's all sarcasm for anyone looking to pile on.

I wasn’t implying y’all said the trump comment, I was just expressing frustration at the dumb shit I hear about the pull out.

You all seem to be on the money about having a better plan on pulling out but goddamn the dude got us the fuck out of there. Instead of any praise it seems that everyone just cried about how bad he did it. I get it wasn’t perfect. But fuck man, I was in the army, I’ve never seen anything go perfectly. But of course he was the dumbass that got us out of a pointless war and it wasn’t all step right up and board this 777 sir, would you like a drink for the flight home? War is hell, right? That’s what I’ve been told at least. Did they have this much dumbass talk when we pulled out of Vietnam? It didn’t go smoothly from what I remember but fuck if I know. It was the rights first golden god that pulled out troops so I doubt anybody tried to sow seeds of doubt as hard as those pissants did to Biden. Plus they didn’t have Fox News using every second of the day to criticize every fucking thing. Man I tell y’all, I’m just fucking tired of this current shit. They got everyone so divided there’s no fucking way we’ll ever be a full functioning country anymore. Just a fucking Ponzi scheme ran by the most corrupt assholes in the world and by that I mean the lobbyists and the leaders of the corporate world. They run this shit man, not us and def not the spineless politicians.

Look, rant over, if y’all wanna do some real good possibly, start bringing attention to the $21 Trillion missing from the fed that no one seems to give a fuck about. But of course we don’t have money for universal healthcare or education. God fucking forbid we have an educated and healthy population, what sense would that make. And you know why they don’t search for that 21 TRILLION. It’s bc they took it. The politicians and higher ups and lobbyists. They robbed us all blind y’all and then created all this other bullshit to keep up distracted. Shit would be funny if it wasn’t so fucking sad.

If us govt ceased afghanistan's deposit than how afghans surviving without any financial aid since fall of Kabul? I mean from where they r getting money if no country has financial or trade ties with them?

Do folks have access to the internet on their phones? If so to what degree does it seem people able to educate themselves remotely instead of having to rely on whether or not the govt. decides to allow people in schools?

The Afghan people continue to receive aid through NGOs, albeit at a greatly reduced scale. And Afghanistan continues to trade with its neighbors. Despite public calls to outlaw opium production, that has not been the case, which provides an illicit and covert money supply for Afghans and the Taliban. If you're asking about the frozen funds designated for Afghanistan, we don't see that getting released any time soon.

Zach - Internet access is available in all provinces with varying levels of stability. All the figures we have found suggest only about a quarter of Afghans use the internet, specifically on their phones. We have followed certain Afghans who do exactly this, using technology to help provide education to remote and/or underserved areas of Afghanistan. I great account to follow for such activity is The Helmand Journal. He is doing a lot of good work and has opened at least a half dozen schools that I can think of. But he's only one person.

Very interesting, thanks for the response.

First off, thanks for everything you guys do with the podcast and whatnot. It's hard sometimes to get personal accounts and opinions from the warfronts when you live in the middle of the US and don't travel much.

What were your initial motivations in enlisting in the military? How much did you support the military going in, and how disillusioned were you by the time you left?

Bonus question for levity, what are y'all's favorite ice cream flavors?

Zach - My parents both retired from the Army and tried to steer me away from joining. After pissing away an academic scholarship, I went to the recruiter. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do but I knew I wasn't ready to continue trying to be a student. I took the ASVAB, scored really high, and joined. I don't know if I had a choice but to support the military when I joined, considering its impact on my upbringing. It's safe to say I certainly became disillusioned by the time I got out, but not necessarily with the military, but rather with senior leaders and policymakers.

​

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

European here. Thanks to the unnecessary mess the U.S. has created (Bin Laden did not even hide in Afghanistan) has lead to all kinds of turmoil in the region including hundreds of thousands of young male Afghans flee to Western Europe seeking for Asylum in the last 10 years. Some of them are criminal, unfortunately in relative numbers Afghans are most likely to commit a crime among all nationalities of immigrants. (at least in my county)

Now that you bailed and Taliban has taken over, the new Taliban Gov. Won't take rejected Asylum Seekers as well as criminals back and the European high Court has even decided that it is inhumane to send anyone back to Afghanistan and now everyone stays.

So you pretty much screwed us here. What should we do with them now? can you pick them up maybe?

Btw: thanks for having our back against putin. (I hope you will)

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Not the AMA guy but this wasn’t done by them. Those decisions are made far, far above the level anyone of these guys worked at.

Hey fellas, I was a sigint guy that worked with taac south quite a bit, now in the cyber world. Do you think the intel community as a whole is losing the race when it comes to attracting talent? What do you think the ramifications could be of a “lesser” IC? Looking at all of you and myself, contracting pays okay but once you have a truly marketable skill, your earning potential explodes and the government just doesn’t match that.

Have there been any consequences to the many lies the armed forces told everyone about the situation in Afghanistan?

Well George W. isn't doing an AMA so kind of hard to ask him?

1. Bin Laden was in Afghanistan and then fled to Pakistan.
2. I don't know what you should do with rejected Afghan asylum seekers. I couldn't tell you the first thing about your country's laws.

No it isn’t, write him a letter lol.

Zach - It seems the military as a whole is losing the race to attract good talent. I got paid about 5x more to do my job as a contractor than I did as a soldier. Why stick around when I know where the payday is? Furthermore, I now work in a completely different field in the civilian world. There are overlaps to my time as an analyst but I did not get my job because I was an analyst. I got my job because I had experience leading people from my days as a squad leader. That's becoming more common, at least among my friends. The military, specifically the Army, is starting to learn you can't treat soldiers like shit for $35,000 a year and expect them to stick around. If not for contracts, the situation would probably be worse.

Well, the Taliban is running the show in Afghanistan again and thousands of people are dead. So there have been a few consequences. But none for the leadership that did the lying.

Why was the USA over there? Why did the USA use contractors instead of actual military? How much was spent on those contractors and how much did those contractors spend on lobbying? Why did the USA murder so many innocent women and children? Why did the USA decide it was okay to torture? Why were soldiers guarding poppy fields? How many untold civilians deaths were there? How many civilians deaths did the politicians actually know about? Why is the USA using sanctions to kill civilians? How many more people are still in there even though they've "pulled out"? Why does the USA feel entitled to withhold billions of dollars of money from the Afghanistan people for supposed reparations to 9/11, when they had nothing to do with it?

Most importantly. How can anyone fight for a country whose sole purpose is to establish U.S hegemony in the Global South ostensibly for freedom but in reality for imperialist agenda

I wish they wouldn't have deleted it. It sounds like it was an important question about the military destroying the planet.

Watch the movie W. It will show you why and how the war happened. Rice and Rumsfeld were running the show.

I'll try to answer all of these.

1. The US initially went to Afghanistan following the events of 9/11 to eliminate Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida.
2. Contractors became a useful tool to bypass troop limits in war zones. $108b, per the Costs of War.
3. Civilian deaths had numerous causes, most commonly from drone strikes, crossfire, and botched missions. Estimated civilian deaths from the Costs of War are around 70,000 people.
4. The US didn't decide it was okay to torture. Certain individuals did. Torture is wrong.
5. Conducting patrols through poppy fields was common. Guarding them was not.
6. The US is trying to pressure the Taliban government to become more tolerant and inclusive before releasing additional funds. Mind you, our government is still sending them money, just not as much.
7. We don't have a good number but there are quite a few Americans still in Afghanistan.
8. That money isn't for reparations. And it's being withheld from the government for the above stated reasons.
9. American foreign policy has certainly become more expeditious since World War II and that creates myriad problems. Problems that are not well known to people who enlist at 20 years old.

Kyle - I went in during a really big unemployment crisis in 2011. I was young and had no idea what to do with my life and thought I wanted to see what the Army is about despite reading all the famous war novels warning against it. I really just wanted to try it and go and have the experience. They were offering a bonus to linguists and going to study languages in Monterey CA seemed nice. And it was nice and it was difficult and at the end of it I could speak Korean. Well, Kim Jong Il died at the time and the army asked any native Korean speaker to switch to a linguist job and they’d promote them. So I finished school and since everyone had been promoted into the slots above me, my only chance at promotion was to switch jobs. Lol. Hard to explain but that was the first sign it was a shit show. Then I was assigned to fort hood which is a terrible place to be. Then I worked the Afghan mission in spy planes or remotely with drones. I met a lot of good people who are my friends to this day, but you quickly realized all the missions didn’t really matter because at the time no one could tell you why we were even in Afghanistan. I knew I wanted out so used my security clearance to do more Intel work when I realized that everyone knew the war was a failure and we just had to keep going through the motions. See documentary: hypernormalisation. We all knew it was a sham and kept going. I realized I wanted no part it in it, quit, went home and became an RN and got my masters degree with my GI bill. All that killing and death and hard work for a mission everyone knew didn’t matter.

Kyle - That’s a good point, but for many who want to get into the Intel field the military is the only way they can. And it’s weird to think of Intel being privatized considering, outside of corporate espionage, intelligence is in service of the state and I think it’s strange any of it is contracted out to private entities. True intelligence is conducted by the guys on the ground, often local nationals, who risk life and limb to tell us things for either patriotism or the USD. The “analysts” are just bureaucrats with a job title that sounds cool to people who don’t know and the roles in the Intel agencies are better suited to Mormon types who are squeaky clean and idealistic and believe in the cause. Because I never believed in the “cause” I’m not a very safe asset for the state to keep around. I work in a totally unrelated field now.

That’s true. I don’t work in that field either. I was just curious hahah.

Y’all have a good one, can’t wait to check out the next episode

Kyle - Hey European! Sorry for the refugees, but I can’t speak for why the EU continues to accept them. Afghans have been a refuge seeking people since prior to the Russian invasion, so there has always been an Afghan refugee issue. I think the US is obligated to help those afghans who helped us and the other NATO countries during the war effort by providing safety, housing and some job opportunities. But, as you know especially in Europe, those things are sadly hard to find anywhere even by native citizens of the west. Don’t think it’ll get better. Much of the world has been destabilized and people, either to escape war or as opportunists, will use whatever loophole they can to reach the glorious welfare states of the west one way or another. As for whether it is our fault? Yes, I believe a lot of it is the US’ fault. I’m sure it’s nice to live in Europe, though where there is no history of meddling in the affairs of poor countries.

I appreciate your answering these questions. But, I think there's a bit too much military and not enough truth in these answers.

I have no idea where yall stand politically or, in relation to the war. I'm not a listener of yalls podcast but the idea that the USA had to invade a sovereign nation, spend trillions (while children starved at home), kill thousands of people (let alone INNOCENT PEOPLE), to find and stop Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda, is absolutely absurd.

Those same militants you were trying to fight and kill were built by the government to fight a proxy war against Russia.

How do you feel, knowing that at the hand of your government, millions have died. Not for de facto, "oh, the ends justify the means", bull shit. But, for pure profit and greed? You yourself say the M.O has changed since WW2. None of what the USA has done since then has been to benefit anyone but their own agenda. So, in all seriousness, how does it feel to fight for that? To die for that? To have your friends blown up, for that?

I'm not a soldier and I'd rather blow my fucking brains out than participate in an unjustified war, but I cannot imagine fighting and thinking you're on the side of good, and then slowly discovering it's anything but that. I don't fault y'all. I just would be devastated.

>2. Contractors became a useful tool to bypass troop limits in war zones.

Do you mean to avoid the questions from the public, at home?

Black Rock made well over $15 BILLION per year, and gave back over 2 million in bribes (lobbying). How does this look like anything other than laundering billions in tax dollars to the elite?

>4. The US didn't decide it was okay to torture. Certain individuals did. Torture is wrong.

The USA government didn't know about the torture?

>5. Conducting patrols through poppy fields was common. Guarding them was not.

And yet, it happened. While some soldiers were caught smuggling drugs. Seems suspicious, don't you think? Not to even mention the CIA, Iran contra, crack cocaine scandal and how it relates to the military invading and the opiates crisis exploding at the same time ... just a conspiracy on my end. But, not unfounded.

>6. The US is trying to pressure the Taliban government to become more tolerant and inclusive before releasing additional funds. Mind you, our government is still sending them money, just not as much.

You don't truly believe this, do you? Abortions rights are stripped away, trans rights stripped away, gay rights stripped away, children plunged back into poverty with the stroke of a pen, homeless climbing rapidly and you truly believe your government has a vested interest in the human rights of a country it just finished raping? Really?

>7. We don't have a good number but there are quite a few Americans still in Afghanistan.

So the USA is, in fact, not pulled out?

>8. That money isn't for reparations. And it's being withheld from the government for the above stated reasons.

So, to be clear, the USA government, is controlling what, 7 billion dollars of poor farmers and civilians because "Taliban bad"? Really?

>expeditious

This is the part that really got me going (as you can clearly see). This is such a BS equivocation. I'm trying really hard to participate in good faith but for you (who, let's be clear, are also a victim of the American agenda), to insinuate anything other than murder for hire, is really, really frustrating.

Kyle - Cherry Garcia is the best ice cream, but chocolate chip cookie dough is second.

What’s your favorite Afghan meal?

This is Zach. Chopan kabob is an all timer for me.

Kyle - Kabuli Pulao

Wondering about the pull out disaster. Do you have opinions about how it came about? Failure in DC or in the field? Any hindsight about what could have been done differently?

>There are no ads for square space or blue apron.

This got me good😂. Also don't forget BetterHelp. And DraftKings. And Liquid IV.

I hate to love podcasts.

Oh boy, where to start? The decision to evacuate from Kabul instead of Bagram was heavily criticized, and unfortunately we all learned why. Removing servicemembers from Afghanistan before diplomats was also a poor decision. Acting as if everything was okay up until nothing was okay might have been the worst real-time decision. There were reports of State Department personnel acting as if everything was business as usual while the Taliban marched into Kabul.

​

A withdrawal should have started much sooner and been conducted out of Bagram. The Departments of State and Defense should have begun identifying and moving out SIV holders earlier. But that would have required an objective understanding of just how bad things were on the ground.

So to launch off of Zach's comments, what's the team's take on why senior military leaders continued to state that the war was winnable (also see nearly two decades of "turning the corner")?

What does the team make of the holdups with passing the Afghan Adjustment Act?

It costs us $366 a year to make this podcast. So if BlueApron wants to send us $366 dollars we won't stop them from hocking their overpriced meal kit business. (What the fuck even is Square Space)

Are y'all active in r/army ? And also, are y'all familiar with their lord and savior u/CSM_Airbone? If not, please check his comment history.

>though where there is no history of meddling in the affairs of poor countries.

Y'all just got yaselves a new fan.

This is Zach. I'm a casual observer in the r/army subreddit. And ol sarmage is a hero and an inspiration.

Nobody wants to be the guy holding the bag when the bottom falls out. Duffel Blog for reference.

​

Politicians holding up a bill to help those who helped us sounds about right.

Airbone. 🫡

>(What the fuck even is Square Space)

It's a very nice website used to make very shitty websites.

Like this?

It's just... So perfect. :')

The owner is definitely holed up in a shack in a corn field in Nebraska. A true contemporary Unabomber.

How exactly were people supposed to get to Bagram from Kabul?

What was the greatest act of humanity that you witnessed?

Kyle - Only guy I’d call a hero was an airman on board one of our ISR planes. They were setting up a strike on a high value target. Everything was ready. They’d been after this guy for months and wanted him dead. They clear the strike on this dude’s car. Missile goes off the rails time to target is stated. This airman sees one or two kids in the backseat. Calls for a strike cancel and they send the missile to another laser on the side of the mountain. People were pissed bc they didn’t get their guy but he saved two kids lives that day. Absolute hero.

Holy shit, this actually made me a little emotional. How did he see the kids in the backseat? Did he use FLIR?

“withdrawal out of bagram” = big e4 mindset. Not possible to secure a geo area that large with the force policy makers left the DoD. No contribution from foreign militaries an hour north. HKIA was the only real option.

Late to the AMA, what effects do you think troop and battle space rotations had on the "winnability" of the Afghan war? What challenges did these rotations present for you as contractors and the continuity brain trusts in your AOs? Do you think the government and/or the military has the ability to internalize the lessons learned from the entirety of the Afghan war? Which INT is the most accurate, timely, and reliable? How would you like to solve the gaps between tactical collectors/analysts, strategic analysts, and decision makers?

The “should’ve been bagram” response is common from folks that never had to secure anything larger than a fighting position. HKIA kissed the Green Zone where every embassy was located. No other location could’ve been secured with the force presence in country.

It's common from anyone who just wants to act like they could have done better.

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Yeah it was on FLIR like normal but he saw someone moving in the backseat and then eventually a couple of kids got out. Wild.

Can you translate what you just said? What is a "big e4 mindset?"

Wow yes, thank you for mentioning Hypernormalisation! I hope you’ve just turned a lot of people on to Adam Curtis docs here.

A boot.

Hi all, I'm a former British Royal Air Force engineer, I served two tours in Kandahar, 2008 and 2013, there's a good chance we bumped into each other (on the boardwalk!). When there, it was my job, among other things, to maintain the arrestor equipment on the runway, but beacause the air traffic control was operated by US staff there was usually a breakdown in comms which resulted in a few close calls involving aircraft! My question: what is your most memorable interaction with any of the UK forces out in Afghan?

We couldn't accomplish anything with 2500 advisors in country. Which is why 5000 soldiers and marines were sent back in for the evacuation. If Bagram requires more people, and it would have, then you send more people.

I don't say this to be flippant, but how was everyone supposed to get to Kabul from every corner of the country? Had those in charge accepted the reality following Doha Agreement, things are different. Instead, they sat on their hands and did nothing and we were left with August 2021.

Deployment cycles certainly had an effect on the war's winnability. Wesley Morgan's book The Hardest Place directly addresses the difficulties faced in the Pech Valley due to our rotations. We consider theater-level changeover to be a bigger issue. A new ISAF commander would show up and they would have a new plan, which means it's time to scrap the old one. Any progress made over the previous year would be halted to pivot to the new priorities. And an even bigger contributing factor, probably the biggest, to the war being lost was the inability to build a stable government. That responsibility fell on the State Department.

This is Zach. I didn't make it out to Kandahar until 2016, and I'm not sure there were any Brits in TAAC-South. But, we did have a situation where an Australian major (he's a cousin to us after all) was trying to tell an American civilian to calm down and called her a cunt. Cultural differences are a son of a bitch. I'll never forget that.

You were born after September 2001 weren't you?

>if y’all wanna do some real good possibly,

This is your version of bitching that something good still wasn't done to your satisfaction.

You have chosen the worst possible forum to air these grievances, and you did it in an accusatory way when your interlocutors clearly share your sensibilities. Why on Earth did you not go do this in some boot-licking thread instead?

All good points. It’s unfortunate you’re being downvoted. But that speaks more on how Americans still feel about their failed war

Was Rice or Rumsfeld charged for their illegal war or crimes against humanity?

How much money have you made going there? You mentioned contractors got paid 5x more than soldiers. So I’m assuming no one really goes there unless it’s for the money.

Its okay, I knew itd be unpopular. Thank you though. Your support makes it worth it

I was born last week

Contracts in general varied from year and job. I made upwards of $180k when I was there. The largest contract I heard of was for logisticians. Some of them were still clearing north of $300k a year at the end. I met one such person in 2016. He’d been contracting for 12 years and was heading home for good. He had a house in Dallas and 2 cars paid in full with no additional debt. He was retiring at 33.

No because they made people rich in the process.

Do you think this partially explains why the Pentagon / Defense Department keeps failing their audit?

You can say the same for Putin and his oligarchy

If so I’d wager that it’s a small contributor.

Agree. Thank you for responding.

For someone from the Middle East region I can’t think of any moral reason for US contractors to be in Afghanistan or Iraq for that matter unless it’s for financial reason.

Honestly these jobs should’ve been handed over to local or regional contractors. Years could’ve been spend to teach and train them if their roles didn’t exist. The US missed an opportunity to actually help these countries.

20 yrs later both countries are worst off. Regardless of how you personally feel you can’t blame why the US and the West are not looked on kindly before or after these illegal wars.

The people being evacuated were Western aligned elites in Kabul. How many people got out from around the country?

You think you're so smart from your smug perch, in reality, the war was lost 20 years ago.

Not everyone on Reddit is an American. Millions protested against the war on terror in Europe and the Global South after 9/11. It’s the American people that were completely fooled into yet more endless (and failed) wars.

I’m not even sure what you’re talking about. I meant that they should use their platform in order to bring attention to something that could really help. If we could get 21 trillion dollars back then it could immensely improve our country. Although, I guess I did assume that they wanted to effect change in a positive way. My bad. I didnt intend an accusatory manner, and really I think you just took it the wrong way. Projection causes a lot of misunderstandings in these forums I think, so I forgive you for misunderstanding my intent. Also I’m not a boot licker. I don’t understand why I would try to have an interaction with these people on a random boot licker sub but I guess that makes sense to you so cool.

Have a good day man. Try some reading comprehension next time.