Taliban Seizes US Weapons and Military Equipment as Afghan Takeover Accelerates

[corbe]

Taliban Seizes US Weapons and Military Equipment as Afghan Takeover Accelerates

Expert says Kabul could fall to Taliban by 20th anniversary of 9/11


Afghan security forces sit in a Humvee amid ongoing fighting with Taliban militants / Getty ImagesAdam Kredo • August 12, 2021

3:43 pm


The Taliban has seized scores of American weapons and military equipment from Afghan security forces as the terrorist group accelerates its takeover following the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the country.

Taliban terrorists are now in possession of U.S.-made military vehicles, anti-aircraft guns, armored tanks, and artillery. The munitions were provided to Afghan security forces to secure the country as the United States ends its two-decade war there. The Taliban have overwhelmed Afghan forces, taking over key Afghan provinces and using U.S. weapons to power the offensive.

"These captured systems will increase the mobility and lethality of the Taliban, making them a more formidable adversary," said Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. "We have already seen the Taliban using captured humvees to patrol Kunduz and Sar-e Pol."

<..snip..>

https://freebeacon.com/national-security/taliban-seizes-us-weapons-and-military-equipment-as-afghan-takeover-accelerates/

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Biden gifting the enemy.  Again.

[mountaineer]

Bill Roggio
@billroggio
Kandahar City is now Taliban controlled. Lashkar Gah is not far behind, if it isn't Taliban controlled right now. The situation is grave. Afghan forces have collapsed in the north, south, and west. Taliban can now focus on the east and the road to Kabul. This is close to endgame.
6:42 PM · Aug 12, 2021

Replying to
@billroggio
Qalat (Zabul), Tarin Kot (Uruzgan) and Lashkar Gah (Helmand) are next. There is little stopping the Taliban in the south now. Shorabak base in Washir, Helmand, and Kandahar Airfield in Dand will now come in the crosshairs. Given what we have seen elsewhere, it looks grim.

twitter.com/billroggio/status/1425950744499347467

[mountaineer]

Not to worry - the State Department is trotting out stern hashtags!

U.S. Embassy Kabul
@USEmbassyKabul
Escalating Taliban violence, including executions of surrendered Afghan troops, shows a lack of respect for #HumanRights.  Don’t erase Afghanistan’s human rights gains of the last 20 years.
3:35 AM · Aug 12, 2021

[Right_in_Virginia]

It would be nice if the Afghanis had at least a handful of freedom fighters.

What an incredible waste of blood and treasure.  At least we can say we held out longer than the Soviets.

China ---- you're up!

[Right_in_Virginia]

https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1425923773199495176?s=20

[skeeter]

https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1425923773199495176?s=20

Proving it was never worth it, it was never going to be worth it. It was all a farce.

[mountaineer]

Kyle Bass
@Jkylebass
Kabul will “fall” into the hands of the Taliban in the next few months. We knew this from the start. The fact that the Chinese will receive them with open arms is also a given. Afghanistan is the Tigris and Euphrates of rare earth minerals. #China
10:20 PM · Aug 12, 2021·

China Preparing to Recognize Taliban if Kabul Falls: Sources
The move comes at the expense of the U.S., which has held up the Taliban’s international legitimacy as its remaining source of leverage while the militant group storms across Afghanistan.
By Paul D. Shinkman|
Aug. 12, 2021, at 12:52 p.m.

China is prepared to recognize the Taliban as the legitimate ruler of Afghanistan if it succeeds in toppling the Western-backed government in Kabul, U.S. News has learned, a prospect that undercuts the Biden administration's remaining source of leverage over the insurgent network as it continues its startling campaign to regain control.

Beijing has publicly pressured the Taliban to continue working toward a peace agreement with President Ashraf Ghani's government – an outcome China appears to genuinely prefer and one the U.S. has pressed with growing urgency. However, new Chinese military and intelligence assessments of the realities on the ground in Afghanistan have prompted leaders in the Chinese Communist Party to prepare to formalize their relationship with the insurgent network, according to multiple U.S. and foreign intelligence sources familiar with the Chinese assessments.

The move comes as the Taliban has been routing Afghan forces – as of Thursday afternoon it had overrun 10 major provincial capitals, including one near Kabul, sometimes uncontested, along with key territory that connects with China's border. And it also undermines U.S. attempts to try to pressure the insurgent group to return in good faith to diplomatic negotiations in Doha, Qatar, where America's envoy returned this week for new talks.  ...

US News & World Report

[Kamaji]

https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1425923773199495176?s=20

Given the headline, perhaps that tweet should read "Pentagon spent $88 Billion rearming the Taliban."

[IsailedawayfromFR]

The biggest problem is not that Afghanistan has fallen.

It is that America is an unreliable partner.

Those who have a choice in the future to align with the US will pause before they decide whether the US is better than China or Russia

[Smokin Joe]

It would be nice if the Afghanis had at least a handful of freedom fighters.

What an incredible waste of blood and treasure.  At least we can say we held out longer than the Soviets.

China ---- you're up!

Then the Chinese can capture our abandoned weapons and analyze them. Whatta freebie! Hooda thunkit?

[cato potatoe]

Get ready for 20 million Afghani "refugees."

[Cyber Liberty]

Once again, our Military Brass fails to destroy the ordnance on the way out.  Not the sharpest marbles in the bag.

[corbe]

US scrambles to avoid Vietnam moment in Kabul as panic spreads through Afghan capital

by Jamie McIntyre, Senior Writer
August 13, 2021 07:18 AM

‘A TEMPORARY MISSION WITH A NARROW FOCUS’: With the Taliban offensive gaining momentum at a startling pace, and more provincial capitals falling with each passing day, the United States is dispatching three infantry battalions, roughly 3,000 troops, already forward deployed in the region, to the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul for what is described as a short term mission to provide security for emergency evacuations.

“These forces are being deployed to support the orderly and safe reduction of civilian personnel at the request of the State Department and to help facilitate an accelerated process of working through SIV [Special Immigrant Visa] applicants,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby. “This is a temporary mission with a narrow focus. As with all deployments of our troops into harm's way, our commanders have the inherent right of self-defense, and any attack on them can and will be met with a forceful and appropriate response.”

In addition, a joint Army-Air Force support element of around 1,000 personnel will deploy to Qatar to facilitate the processing of SIV applicants, and a combat brigade numbering around 3,500 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg will be on standby in Kuwait, in case things go south.

The evacuees will be airlifted out on U.S. military planes, a move the Pentagon previously said would be unnecessary.

<..snip..>

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/us-scrambles-to-avoid-vietnam-moment-in-kabul-as-panic-spreads-through-afghan-capital

[Cyber Liberty]

We may once again enjoy the spectacle of helicopters being shoved off the flight decks of aircraft carriers.

[Right_in_Virginia]

The biggest problem is not that Afghanistan has fallen.

It is that America is an unreliable partner.

Those who have a choice in the future to align with the US will pause before they decide whether the US is better than China or Russia

Don't allow Biden screwing up our exit to erase the 20 years of blood and treasure we spilled all over that God-forsaken shit hole.  That's pretty damn reliable a partner if there ever was one.

If 20 years of our patience is not enough for another nation to align with us over China....let them go.  The best thing we can do for them is to make sure they can say "Please! Don't kill me" in Chinese and understand China's patience will be measured in months, not years.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Then the Chinese can capture our abandoned weapons and analyze them. Whatta freebie! Hooda thunkit?

Stealing an election is not without consequences.

[Kamaji]

Don't allow Biden screwing up our exit to erase the 20 years of blood and treasure we spilled all over that God-forsaken shit hole.  That's pretty damn reliable a partner if there ever was one.

If 20 years of our patience is not enough for another nation to align with us over China....let them go.  The best thing we can do for them is to make sure they can say "Please! Don't kill me" in Chinese and understand China's patience will be measured in months, not years.

That is very true.  And, in particular, the lives of the men and women who served honorably should never be forgotten, and their contributions - including the ultimate sacrifice in too many cases - should never be minimized or downplayed.

[DefiantMassRINO]

Wow, the QTip-in-Chief certainly didn't learn from the withdrawal from Iraq.

The Taliban is making better use of my tax dollars than the US government.

Should the US add itself to its list of terrorist nations for providing materiel support to the Taliban?