The Afghan military was probably infiltrated by the Taliban for years and years

[bluewater]

People are people and people are intelligent.

And the intelligent thing for the Taliban to have done was to have their people, people sympathetic to their cause, join the Afghan army these past years.

Free training, spies, sleeper agents, people waiting for the opportunity to undermine morale and take their units out of the fight at the climatic moment -- why wouldn't any resistance group anywhere want all those things?

This would explain the current sudden collapse and, honestly, have made it inevitable.

imho

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. What undermines morale is running an army without a clear mission, without paying the rank-and-file,

and without a clear chain of command. You don't even need an outside influence.

[bluewater]

3. Demographics and underdevelopment muddied any mission

The population of Afghanistan is around 37,466,414 as of 2021,[6] which includes the roughly 3 million Afghan citizens living as refugees in both Pakistan and Iran

Approximately 46% of the population is under 15 years of age, and 74% of all Afghans live in rural areas.[4] The average woman gives birth to five children during her entire life, the highest fertility rate outside of Africa. About 6.8% of all babies die in child-birth or infancy.[4] The average life expectancy of the nation was reported in 2019 at around 63 years

Afghanistan ranks 210th in GDP per capita at $2474, and that's the purchasing power parity number that takes into account local prices.

Afghanistan was just too big at 39 million people and too poor for "nation building" to work.

[relayerbob]

2. Oh, about 20 years or so

[bluewater]

4. Nod

Makes sense.