I don't understand why the US government was so oblivious as to what the Taliban would do.

[Kablooie]

Not knowing anything myself I would still expect Taliban to move in quickly and take control of anywhere US troops left unprotected.

Why didn't Biden, the military and intelligence agencies know this? It seemed so obvious to me.

[Sneederbunk]

1. If August 31 was the deadline, why haven't people been leaving before now?

[ansible]

2. Incompetence nt

[LanternWaste]

5. Easy enough to dismiss any other possibilities.

Or, if not easy, at least convenient to particular narratives.

[reality1]

19. Incompetence of those asked to evacuate

The embassy told U.S. citizens to evacuate a full week before the collapse. Unless they're trapped in another city they bear some responsibilty. All their travel expenses were to be paid. I heard the alert here in the U.S. so I know they heard it.

Even a day before it felt like a collapse was imminent but they didn't go to the embassy. We need more accurate reporting on who these U.S. citizens might be, where they are at and what took them a WEEK to get out.

[comradebillyboy]

3. Perhaps they did know and didn't want to

put in the 100,000 or more troops needed to keep it from happening.

[Sympthsical]

4. They did know

From the NY Times two days ago:

WASHINGTON — Classified assessments by American spy agencies over the summer painted an increasingly grim picture of the prospect of a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and warned of the rapid collapse of the Afghan military, even as President Biden and his advisers said publicly that was unlikely to happen as quickly, according to current and former American government officials.

By July, many intelligence reports grew more pessimistic, questioning whether any Afghan security forces would muster serious resistance and whether the government could hold on in Kabul, the capital. President Biden said on July 8 that the Afghan government was unlikely to fall and that there would be no chaotic evacuations of Americans similar to the end of the Vietnam War.

The drumbeat of warnings over the summer raise questions about why Biden administration officials, and military planners in Afghanistan, seemed ill-prepared to deal with the Taliban’s final push into Kabul, including a failure to ensure security at the main airport and rushing thousands more troops back to the country to protect the United States’ final exit.

One report in July — as dozens of Afghan districts were falling and Taliban fighters were laying siege to several major cities — laid out the growing risks to Kabul, noting that the Afghan government was unprepared for a Taliban assault, according to a person familiar with the intelligence.

Intelligence agencies predicted that should the Taliban seize cities, a cascading collapse could happen rapidly and the Afghan security forces were at high risk of falling apart. It is unclear whether other reports during this period presented a more optimistic picture about the ability of the Afghan military and the government in Kabul to withstand the insurgents.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/17/us/politics/afghanistan-biden-administration.html

[reality1]

20. ok

#1 revisionist alternative history. A month ago Biden tells the public that Afghanistan could collapse at any time, it then does but
people blame Joe for undermine the confidence of the Afghan government and soldiers. Joe is blamed for the collapse. GOP call fro immediate impeachment.

#2 A month ago Joe tell U.S. public that the sham of a government could collapse at any time and he's authorized 10k troops to go in and support.
Taliban immediately restart attacks on U.S. troops. Massive bloodletting. BOTH Dems and GOP ask Biden to resign for such an insane blunder

You folk that keep posting this stuff aren't saying WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE? Lets talk about it

[Bev54]

6. Because they were not anticipating Ghani to flee the country with all the money

He is the one who continued to assure the US that the forces in Kabul and the government would hold on. I think he made these plans to leave long before and that is why he was not paying his forces and keeping the money for himself.

[RockRaven]

7. The politicians, diplomats, and generals have largely been lying to the American people

about what is possible or probable in Afghanistan. The entire time.

[Me.]

9. JUst AS With Vietnam

[leftstreet]

10. +1 And the checks never bounce! n/t

[Me.]

8. You Only Have The Media & So Called Pundits Saying THey Didn't

THough it it is generally acknowledged that it happened faster than all expectation. But TFG gave them the Taliban a planning head's up. And even now people from his adm n are coming out saying the peace deal was a ploy.

[RockRaven]

11. The media has to pretend it was unexpected because otherwise they have to admit that they

have been spoon-feeding the American people absolute bullshit for the last twenty years.

[Me.]

12. Exactly

[relayerbob]

15. Yep

This would have been the result if we had left in 2002, 2009, now or 2050 ... or 2250.

[Xolodno]

13. I'll bet the farm that they knew the Taliban would eventually take control.

The timetable was the question they couldn't answer.

This was doomed from the start. A western style government on an Islamic populace? That sides with Sunni's? When Saudi Arabia just recently allowed women to drive? What the fuck?

I won't be surprised if this region gets partitioned in a decade and the Pashtu have a smaller chunk as a result.

[relayerbob]

14. The locals didn't bother to tell the Americans they were cutting deals

And, indeed have been working with Russians for some time for this outcome.

The outcome was never in doubt, just the speed of the collapse of the Afghan governments' capitulation. A lot of US cash has left that country in the pockets of their corrupt officials.

https://apnews.com/article/europe-russia-taliban-f25c1a8b030fb0721f9b8891f8d329e8

[twin_ghost]

16. It doesn't Matter.

Afghanistan is a problem for the Afghani people. It isn't America's damn problem to save the world. Joe Biden is right!

[LiberalFighter]

17. The Taliban were not expecting it to happen this fast either.

[LiberalFighter]

18. The Afghan president left the country without notice.

[reality1]

21. Lets talk about this

#1 revisionist alternative history. A month ago Biden tells the public that Afghanistan could collapse at any time, it then does but
people blame Joe for undermining the confidence of the Afghan government and soldiers. Joe is blamed for the collapse. GOP call for immediate impeachment.

#2 A month ago Joe tell U.S. public that the sham of a government could collapse at any time and he's authorized 10k troops to go in and support.
Taliban immediately restart attacks on U.S. troops. Massive bloodletting. BOTH Dems and GOP ask Biden to resign for such an insane blunder

You folk that keep posting this stuff aren't saying WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE? Lets talk about it

[Kablooie]

22. What should have been done was to elect Gore as president.

All these wars stem from the Bush presidency.
9/11 might have been stopped in time and
Our climate future would likely be different today as well.