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US Troop Draw Down in Afghanistan by 2021

runswithscissors Legend Posts: 6,380	US Troop Draw Down in Afghanistan by 2021 Jul 8, 2022 19:50:44 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by runswithscissors on Jul 8, 2022 19:50:44 GMT Just goes to show you can't defeat primitive religious fanatics with words, threats, or bullets. Their faith is strong but defective. And they don't care.

demos
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US Troop Draw Down in Afghanistan by 2021 Jul 12, 2022 17:07:43 GMT

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Post by demos on Jul 12, 2022 17:07:43 GMT

SAS unit repeatedly killed Afghan detainees, BBC finds

SAS operatives in Afghanistan repeatedly killed detainees and unarmed men in suspicious circumstances, according to a BBC investigation. Newly obtained military reports suggest that one unit may have unlawfully killed 54 people in one six-month tour. The BBC found evidence suggesting the former head of special forces failed to pass on evidence to a murder inquiry...

Individuals who served with the SAS squadron on that deployment told the BBC they witnessed the SAS operatives kill unarmed people during night raids. They also said they saw the operatives using so-called "drop weapons" - AK-47s planted at a scene to justify the killing of an unarmed person...

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US Troop Draw Down in Afghanistan by 2021 Jul 13, 2022 15:54:17 GMT

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Post by demos on Jul 13, 2022 15:54:17 GMT

‘The Taliban Have Picked Up the Resource Curse’

For decades, Afghanistan’s people have been told of the vast riches beneath their feet, untapped mineral resources potentially worth billions of dollars that the world is clamoring to explore, exploit, and export to create jobs in a world-class, sustainable industry that would catapult them into a future of peace and prosperity. It’s not entirely a myth. Afghanistan does sit atop huge deposits of copper, iron, marble, talc, coal, lithium, chromite, cobalt, gold, lapis lazuli, gemstones, and more—making Afghanistan one of the world’s most resource-rich countries on paper. The tricky part, as it has been for the better part of two decades, is turning potential into reality...

Taliban to sign security agreement with Qatar

After expressing their opposition to any kind of foreign support in terms of providing security, the Taliban is now willing to sign a security agreement with Qatar. Taliban's acting Minister of Defense, Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid said that Kabul and Doha are expected to sign an agreement for security cooperation, reported Tolo News...

U.S. State Department does “not support organized violent opposition to the Taliban”

As resistance groups step up attacks on the Taliban in Afghanistan, the U.S. State Department said it does “not support organized violent opposition” to Taliban rule. Instead, the State Department called for all warring parties to negotiate. That policy both limits the effectiveness of anti-Taliban resistance – and further reduces the U.S. military and intelligence communities’ ability to monitor and strike Al Qaeda, the Islamic State and other regional and global terror groups based in Afghanistan. State noted its opposition to resistance to the brutal regime of the Taliban, which calls itself the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, in a response to questions from The Foreign Desk...

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That last item doesn't make the FDD guys very happy.

Last Edit: Jul 13, 2022 15:54:25 GMT by demos

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US Troop Draw Down in Afghanistan by 2021 Jul 14, 2022 15:47:53 GMT

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Post by demos on Jul 14, 2022 15:47:53 GMT

NEW DEFENSE BILL BARS PENTAGON FROM ASSISTING AFGHANISTAN IN ANY WAY

AHEAD OF A contentious final vote on the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., introduced an eleventh-hour amendment seeking to prevent a collapse of U.S. humanitarian aid to millions of Afghans. The amendment came in response to language in the military spending bill that prohibits Defense Department funds from being used to “transport currency or other items of value to the Taliban, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, or any subsidiary, agent, or instrumentality of either the Taliban or the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” effectively halting American aid to the Taliban-controlled country. While the bill’s language places emphasis on banning the transport of currency, it will also block Defense Department planes from transporting nearly every conceivable good — including food and lifesaving medical supplies — to Afghanistan, where tens of millions of people currently face starvation and medicine shortages...

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Absolutely ridiculous.

Last Edit: Jul 14, 2022 15:48:08 GMT by demos

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US Troop Draw Down in Afghanistan by 2021 Jul 18, 2022 17:00:30 GMT

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Post by demos on Jul 18, 2022 17:00:30 GMT

Report on Pentagon Role in Afghanistan Is Under Review

The Pentagon leadership is reviewing an assessment of the military's role in the Afghanistan conflict but hasn't decided if aspects of the highly classified document will be released, according to people familiar with the issue. The draft report, which was submitted to top Pentagon officials earlier this month, is one of a series of assessments—known as after action reports—that each agency is conducting to assemble a record of the American role in Afghanistan. The Pentagon's report was sent back earlier this year for revisions to broaden its scope, according to a Department official. But so far, none of the reports has been released, preventing a public accounting of the administration's decision-making and execution, particularly in the conflict's final days...

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US Troop Draw Down in Afghanistan by 2021 Jul 21, 2022 18:11:07 GMT

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Post by demos on Jul 21, 2022 18:11:07 GMT

Afghanistan Still Wants Its Frozen Funds

The United States and the Taliban continue to negotiate the release of billions of dollars of Afghanistan’s central bank reserves that could help get the moribund economy back to work and bring some relief from the widespread hunger and poverty that are hammering millions of Afghans. But discussions keep stalling on the Taliban’s insistence that they control the cash, even though they have a habit of pilfering money and financial aid to give to their soldiers and supporters. Afghanistan had reserves of more than $9 billion in banks in the United States and Europe when the Western-supported government collapsed last August...

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US Troop Draw Down in Afghanistan by 2021 Jul 25, 2022 16:02:35 GMT

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Post by demos on Jul 25, 2022 16:02:35 GMT

Podcast about the Afghan War from Lawfare; seven episodes up so far:

Allies

After 20 years of war, the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan ended in chaos at an airfield in Kabul. Thousands of Afghans who worked with the American soldiers as translators, interpreters and partners made it onto U.S. military planes. But despite the decades-long efforts of veterans, lawmakers and senior leaders in the military, even more were left behind. Now they live in hiding from the Taliban. From Lawfare and Goat Rodeo, this is Allies. A podcast about America’s eyes and ears over 20 years of war in Afghanistan. This show will take you from the frontlines of the war to the halls of Congress to find out: How did this happen?

Last Edit: Jul 25, 2022 16:02:41 GMT by demos

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US Troop Draw Down in Afghanistan by 2021 Jul 27, 2022 14:59:52 GMT

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Post by demos on Jul 27, 2022 14:59:52 GMT

US and Taliban make progress on Afghan reserves, but big gaps remain

U.S. and Taliban officials have exchanged proposals for the release of billions of dollars from Afghan central bank reserves held abroad into a trust fund, three sources familiar with the talks said, offering a hint of progress in efforts to ease Afghanistan's economic crisis. Significant differences between the sides remain, however, according to two of the sources, including the Taliban's refusal to replace the bank's top political appointees, one of whom is under U.S. sanctions as are several of the movement's leaders...

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US Troop Draw Down in Afghanistan by 2021 Aug 2, 2022 13:53:48 GMT

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Post by demos on Aug 2, 2022 13:53:48 GMT

Did the Taliban know al-Zawahri was in Afghanistan?

Undoubtedly, U.S. officials said. It wasn't clear Monday how long al-Zawahri had been in Afghanistan, but his presence there had been widely rumored for some time, said Asfandyar Mir, a Central Asia expert with the U.S. Institute of Peace. Not only that: The house where Al-Zawahri was living with his family was owned by a top aide to senior Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani, according to a senior U.S. intelligence official...

Taliban condemns drone strike as violation of U.S. troop withdrawal agreement

The United States carried out a drone strike on a residence in Kabul over the weekend, the Taliban's chief spokesman said on Monday. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement that the attack took place on Sunday and the ruling Islamist extremists strongly condemned it as a violation of “international principles" and the 2020 agreement on a U.S. troop withdrawal.

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US Troop Draw Down in Afghanistan by 2021 Aug 3, 2022 15:01:26 GMT

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Post by demos on Aug 3, 2022 15:01:26 GMT

What Zawahri’s killing means for Afghanistan’s frozen $3.5B

A consequence of killing al Qaeda leader AYMAN AL-ZAWAHRI in Kabul is that the Biden administration may not soon return the $3.5 billion it took from the Afghan people... Your host asked the National Security Council and State Department if Zawahri’s location meant an end to U.S.-Taliban negotiations over the money, or if the administration planned to hold on to the $3.5 billion for the foreseeable future. State declined to comment, and we didn’t hear back from the NSC before we hit “send” on this newsletter...

Taliban’s ties to al-Qaeda leader confound U.S. path on Afghanistan

For President Biden, the killing of al-Qaeda’s top leader in a drone strike last weekend marked a welcome triumph as officials steel themselves for the first anniversary of the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. But the attack, which revealed to the public the presence of veteran militant Ayman al-Zawahiri in the heart of Taliban-controlled Kabul, injected a disturbing new element into the administration’s fraught dealings with Afghanistan in the post-American era...

What Zawahri’s Death Tells Us About Afghanistan’s Future

The successful strike on Sunday against Ayman al-Zawahri —a man with no shortage of American blood on his hands — is a celebratory moment for President Joe Biden’s administration. For watchers of Afghanistan, it is also illuminating, like a flashbulb on the darkness that has enveloped Afghanistan since the American pullout a year ago...

Taliban Killings Skyrocket in Forgotten Afghanistan

The Taliban’s killings of former members of the Afghan military and rights groups have spiked in recent months, according to a recent report compiled by Afghan diplomats and civil service staff. The militant group is seeking to crack down on perceived regime opponents while also clashing with resistance groups...

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US Troop Draw Down in Afghanistan by 2021 Aug 4, 2022 13:22:10 GMT

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Post by demos on Aug 4, 2022 13:22:10 GMT

Taliban claim they [were] unaware of al-Qaida leader in Afghanistan

The Taliban said Thursday they are investigating what they described as “claims” that al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahri was killed in a U.S. drone strike in the Afghan capital. However, the group insisted in a statement that it “has no knowledge of the arrival and residence” of al-Zawahri in Afghanistan... They said they “ordered the detection and intelligence agencies to conduct serious and comprehensive investigations on various aspects of the mentioned event.” The statement also contained assurances to the West, saying that “there is no danger from the territory of Afghanistan to any country including America.” It said that the Taliban want the implementation of the Doha Agreement...

Unlikely, but interesting response.

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US Troop Draw Down in Afghanistan by 2021 Aug 5, 2022 15:23:39 GMT

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Post by demos on Aug 5, 2022 15:23:39 GMT

FBI director expresses concern over potential attacks on US emanating from Afghanistan

FBI Director Christopher Wray on Thursday expressed concern over potential terrorist attacks on US soil emanating from Afghanistan, citing "growing intelligence gaps" since the US pulled its troops out of the country in 2021. During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham asked Wray, "Are you worried about an attack on the homeland emanating from places like Afghanistan?" "We are," Wray responded. "Especially now that we're out, I'm worried about the potential loss of sources and (intelligence) collection over there"...

Apparently we have good enough sources to find and target Zawahiri. So, are we back to the pre-911 dilemma where CIA and FBI weren't sharing intelligence?

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US Troop Draw Down in Afghanistan by 2021 Aug 11, 2022 18:36:40 GMT

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Post by demos on Aug 11, 2022 18:36:40 GMT

Pentagon contractors in Afghanistan operated with minimal disclosure and oversight

The rapid collapse of the Afghan National Security Forces last summer and return to power by the Taliban laid bare the failed U.S.-led state-building efforts since 2001. The human and financial costs of the 20-year conflict were staggering — approximately 243,000 people died because of the war and the cost to U.S. taxpayers exceeded $2.3 trillion.

But the war wasn’t a failure for Pentagon contractors who enjoyed $108 billion in contracts for work in Afghanistan, with little oversight, according to a new paper by Brown University’s Cost of War Project.

The paper, authored by Heidi Peltier, finds that 13 companies received over $1 billion each in Pentagon contracts for work in Afghanistan. And those are just some of the contracts disclosed in federal databases. Over one-third of Pentagon contracts for work in Afghanistan — worth $37 billion — went to recipients who are not uniquely identifiable in publicly available contracting databases...

Here is the Brown paper.

To sum up, Afghanistan ended up being a money pit and a boondoggle for defense contractors and corrupt government officials (issues that were repeatedly pointed out but never acted upon by Congress or anyone else in authority).

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US Troop Draw Down in Afghanistan by 2021 Aug 15, 2022 18:52:57 GMT

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Post by demos on Aug 15, 2022 18:52:57 GMT

House Republicans ramp up pressure over Afghanistan exit

One year after the United States’ chaotic exit from Afghanistan last August, Republican lawmakers are putting renewed pressure on the Biden administration to answer questions about the withdrawal. In a new report from the House Foreign Affairs Committee minority, Republicans allege that President Joe Biden misled the American public about the consequences of a withdrawal, did not properly prepare for the withdrawal and failed to evacuate many Afghans who worked with the U.S. during the 20-year war there, including elite military personnel...

White House knocks new GOP report on Afghanistan withdrawal

The White House is firing back at a GOP report slamming the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan by circulating its own memo arguing the decision strengthened national security and did not compromise the United States’ ability to extinguish terrorist threats. The White House memo, which dismisses the GOP report as “partisan” and “riddled” with inaccuracies, lays out Biden’s logic for ending America’s longest war and pushes back on specific claims in the report led by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee...

Here's a copy of the White House memo.

And the cherry on top:

Trump calls Afghanistan Taliban takeover most 'humiliating event in the history of the United States'

Former President Trump on the one-year anniversary of the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan is now calling the power grab "the most embarrassing, incompetent, and humiliating event in the history of the United States." Trump made the remark on his Truth Social account after the Islamic fundamentalist group swept into the capital of Kabul prior to the U.S. military’s tumultuous departure from the country one year ago today...

My dude, you negotiated our withdrawal.

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US Troop Draw Down in Afghanistan by 2021 Aug 15, 2022 19:11:51 GMT

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Post by demos on Aug 15, 2022 19:11:51 GMT

So here is his full statement on Truth Social:

The Afghanistan disaster of exactly one year ago was the most embarrassing, incompetent, and humiliating event in the history of the United States. Not the fact that we left, I was the one that got our soldier count down to 2 thousand in preparation for leaving, but the way we left, taking the military out first, 13 dead soldiers (with many badly injured), leaving many Americans behind, and giving the enemy over 85 Billion Dollaes worth of the best military equipment in the world. So Sad!

What's interesting is thinking this would've come off any better if Trump was still President. DOD kept delaying withdrawal and did not want to plan for one (e.g., see the Syria "withdrawal"); that didn't change under Biden. And while people suspected the Afghan government was going to fall, no one predicted anything so precipitous. Hence the resulting cluster.

Also, we didn't give the Taliban $85 billion worth of equipment (that's been previously addressed in this thread).

Last Edit: Aug 15, 2022 19:12:48 GMT by demos

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US Troop Draw Down in Afghanistan by 2021 Sept 11, 2022 23:19:43 GMT

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Post by demos on Sept 11, 2022 23:19:43 GMT

Very big news:

US 'agrees' to release Afghan funds through Swiss bank

Sources privy to negotiations say that Washington is working on a plan to deposit $3.5 billion with the Bank of International Settlements and have the money distributed under a third-party monitoring system. The United States has agreed to release a part of Afghanistan’s frozen assets, which were seized after the Taliban came to power last year, TRT World has learned from reliable sources. The $3.5 billion in fund is to be likely released to the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) based in Basel, Switzerland, a source privy to the matter said...

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Given the number of humanitarian crises in Afghanistan now, this money is greatly needed.

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US Troop Draw Down in Afghanistan by 2021 Sept 12, 2022 22:54:05 GMT via mobile

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Post by petep on Sept 12, 2022 22:54:05 GMT

Sept 11, 2022 23:19:43 GMT demos said:

Very big news:

US 'agrees' to release Afghan funds through Swiss bank

Sources privy to negotiations say that Washington is working on a plan to deposit $3.5 billion with the Bank of International Settlements and have the money distributed under a third-party monitoring system. The United States has agreed to release a part of Afghanistan’s frozen assets, which were seized after the Taliban came to power last year, TRT World has learned from reliable sources. The $3.5 billion in fund is to be likely released to the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) based in Basel, Switzerland, a source privy to the matter said...

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Given the number of humanitarian crises in Afghanistan now, this money is greatly needed.

Do you think any significant portion of that money will filter thru the corruption and actually help people.

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US Troop Draw Down in Afghanistan by 2021 Sept 12, 2022 23:26:14 GMT

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Post by demos on Sept 12, 2022 23:26:14 GMT

Sept 12, 2022 22:54:05 GMT petep said:

Do you think any significant portion of that money will filter thru the corruption and actually help people.

Given the terms of the agreement yes.

Also, a good chunk of the money we seized belongs to individual Afghans.

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US Troop Draw Down in Afghanistan by 2021 Sept 12, 2022 23:31:40 GMT via mobile

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Post by petep on Sept 12, 2022 23:31:40 GMT

Sept 12, 2022 23:26:14 GMT demos said:

Sept 12, 2022 22:54:05 GMT petep said:

Do you think any significant portion of that money will filter thru the corruption and actually help people.

Given the terms of the agreement yes.

Also, a good chunk of the money we seized belongs to individual Afghans.

I suspect some democrat politicians will be getting now donations to their personal foundations from Afghanistan after this.

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US Troop Draw Down in Afghanistan by 2021 Nov 30, 2022 17:40:47 GMT

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Post by demos on Nov 30, 2022 17:40:47 GMT

An Afghan soldier fleeing the Taliban spent months reaching the U.S. to request asylum. He was arrested at the Texas border.

Two brothers stand across from each other at the Val Verde Correctional Facility in this border city, speaking reverently through the fixed telephones. They are separated by the visiting room’s thick glass partition, too energized to sit.

One brother, Abdul Wasi Safi, wears an inmate’s bright orange uniform. The other brother, Sami-ullah Safi, wears a blue blazer, jeans and a look of determination to bring his brother home safely.

About 18 months ago, Abdul Wasi Safi, whose family calls him Wasi, was a newly minted officer in Afghanistan’s special forces, working alongside U.S. troops to combat the Taliban in the longest U.S. military engagement in its history...

*sigh*

We just continue to fail these people.