Afghanistan's military collapse: Illicit deals and mass desertions

[Nevilledog]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/08/15/afghanistan-military-collapse-taliban/


*snip*

The Taliban capitalized on the uncertainty caused by the February 2020 agreement reached in Doha, Qatar, between the militant group and the United States calling for a full American withdrawal from Afghanistan. Some Afghan forces realized they would soon no longer be able to count on American air power and other crucial battlefield support and grew receptive to the Taliban’s approaches.

“Some just wanted the money,” an Afghan special forces officer said of those who first agreed to meet with the Taliban. But others saw the U.S. commitment to a full withdrawal as an “assurance” that the militants would return to power in Afghanistan and wanted to secure their place on the winning side, he said. The officer spoke on the condition of anonymity because he, like others in this report, was not authorized to disclose information to the press.

The Doha agreement, designed to bring an end to the war in Afghanistan, instead left many Afghan forces demoralized, bringing into stark relief the corrupt impulses of many Afghan officials and their tenuous loyalty to the country’s central government. Some police officers complained that they had not been paid in six months or more.

“They saw that document as the end,” the officer said, referring to the majority of Afghans aligned with the government. “The day the deal was signed we saw the change. Everyone was just looking out for himself. It was like [the United States] left us to fail.”

*snip*

[maxsolomon]

1. Trump's deal. Biden abided by it.

Biden even delayed the withdrawal by a couple months.

And now Trump says Biden should "resign in disgrace"?

He's a shameless, sociopathic liar who counts on Americans to have the memories of fruit flies.

And half of us do.