Why Was there so little Resistance when Afghanistan Collapsed?

[rangerrebew]

Why Was there so little Resistance when Afghanistan Collapsed?
August 17, 2021 | John McLaughlin
The Newsletter
 

Cipher Brief Expert John E. McLaughlin served as Acting Director of Central Intelligence from July to September 2004 and as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence from October 2000 to July 2004.  He is the Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

OPINION — Among the many questions in the aftermath of the Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan, two stand out: How and why did the Afghan security forces collapse so quickly and will the U.S. withdrawal lead to a resurgence of terrorism there?

On the first question, many commentators have expressed astonishment that years of training by U.S. and allied forces, along with the provision of advanced and costly military equipment, did not create a force able to resist the Taliban resurgence. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the dynamics of war. My views on this were forged in a very different conflict, Vietnam, where I served in the U.S. Army during 1968, the bloodiest year of that war.

I took away the view that in war, training, sophisticated equipment and personal courage are not enough to ensure effective combat performance. In the end, it is all very personal and is about whether you are ready to risk your life to defeat the enemy. You come to that readiness through some combination of four means: strong identification with a cause you support and respect (usually embodied in a government you trust), gifted military leadership you trust that shares those values and inspires you to overcome fear, a government that can compel you to serve with the threat of sanctions and a conviction that you must destroy the adversary to save yourself. When most of those are not present simultaneously, as they seldom were for many South Vietnamese soldiers, the level of bravery, fine training and equipment become close to irrelevant.

https://www.thecipherbrief.com/column_article/why-was-there-so-little-resistance-when-afghanistan-collapsed

[DefiantMassRINO]

They should have armed and trained the women.  They are the ones who benefit the most from a secular, democratic Afghanistan.

[Free Vulcan]

And I think the Chinese were and are supplying classified data from their spies in our govt so that the Taliban could run circles around the Afghan army whether they fought or not.

[heelboy22]

And I think the Chinese were and are supplying classified data from their spies in our govt so that the Taliban could run circles around the Afghan army whether they fought or not.

Thanks, Swalwell!

[dfwgator]

Because most Afghanis support the Taliban.

[Bigun]

Because most Afghanis support the Taliban.

Over our form of woke BS; 

They won't ever go for this "Heather Has Two Daddies", Abdul is really a girl BS!

[Cyber Liberty]

My theory is the Afghan soldiers on the ground took stock of their situation.  They were trained to fight US-style, with plenty of technology and arms.  When they saw their supply of ammo and other materiel continually diminishing they knew their ability to fight was being stripped away.  When Sloe Joe decided to pull the maintenance of their Air Force, their suspicions were confirmed.

At that point their options were to fight to the death, or flee.  They fled, unsurprisingly, leaving their materiel behind.

[Bigun]

My theory is the Afghan soldiers on the ground took stock of their situation.  They were trained to fight US-style, with plenty of technology and arms.  When they saw their supply of ammo and other materiel continually diminishing they knew their ability to fight was being stripped away.  When Sloe Joe decided to pull the maintenance of their Air Force, their suspicions were confirmed.

At that point their options were to fight to the death, or flee.  They fled, unsurprisingly, leaving their materiel behind.

  Exactly the same thing that happened in South Vietnam all these many years ago.  We cut their lifelines.

[HoustonSam]

My theory is the Afghan soldiers on the ground took stock of their situation.  They were trained to fight US-style, with plenty of technology and arms.  When they saw their supply of ammo and other materiel continually diminishing they knew their ability to fight was being stripped away.  When Sloe Joe decided to pull the maintenance of their Air Force, their suspicions were confirmed.

At that point their options were to fight to the death, or flee.  They fled, unsurprisingly, leaving their materiel behind.

Without being there, I also suspect this was a large part of it.  If the US Military trains a foreign military to fight in the logistics-heavy manner of the US Military, then withdraws the necessary logistics support, it seems inevitable that the trained foreign military will fail.  The foreign military has simply been trained to continue reliance on the US Military.

The training must equip the foreign military to operate with no US support.  Perhaps our own military is so reliant on technology and logistics that it is no longer capable of training others to operate without those advantages.

[Cyber Liberty]

Without being there, I also suspect this was a large part of it.  If the US Military trains a foreign military to fight in the logistics-heavy manner of the US Military, then withdraws the necessary logistics support, it seems inevitable that the trained foreign military will fail.  The foreign military has simply been trained to continue reliance on the US Military.

The training must equip the foreign military to operate with no US support.  Perhaps our own military is so reliant on technology and logistics that it is no longer capable of training others to operate without those advantages.

There's a misfit, for sure.  It's the difference between training an "Army" and not understanding the "practical Army."  It's a guaranteed failure that costs a lot of lives.  And thanks to this bunch's incompetence a lot of lost lives will be US Citizens.

[Smokin Joe]

Without being there, I also suspect this was a large part of it.  If the US Military trains a foreign military to fight in the logistics-heavy manner of the US Military, then withdraws the necessary logistics support, it seems inevitable that the trained foreign military will fail.  The foreign military has simply been trained to continue reliance on the US Military.

The training must equip the foreign military to operate with no US support.  Perhaps our own military is so reliant on technology and logistics that it is no longer capable of training others to operate without those advantages.

I agree...

From the OP:

I suspect that this was also the situation for many Afghan soldiers, which I say with no intention of questioning their personal courage. To be sure, other factors were also at work. U.S. air support, on which they became vitally dependent, had begun to disappear.

US air support went with Bagram. Afghani air was dependent on contractors for maintenance, who pulled out on June 29th. Even artillery was denied them, because of the obvious advantages and versatility of air power. Fight to the death, or strip off your gear and blend in (hope no one rats you out) and try to get out of the country, one way or another. If you are found out, your chances of survival are slim.

Given that in Vietnam either air attacks or artillery from firebases were the sledgehammers that troops could usually rely on, and those were off the table there, as they were in Afghanistan, it is no surprise that the fall should come as a tsunami, not a rising tide in either case. This could have been prevented, and possibly even been converted to a serious blow to the Taliban had people learned from History. But then, the Taliban advance could have been slowed by choosing mid to late winter for the pullout, just using weather factors to our advantage.


For all the planning that supposedly went into this, it sure wasn't planned very well.

[txradioguy]

The answer to this is a lot simpler than most people think.   

We never got rid of the shadow governments in each province.  The Taliban had shadow governors police forces…judges and even prisons. 

There was half assed attempts to get rid of them…mainly when we stumbled upon a Taliban prison they’d set up and we rolled up the current people running it. 

Those shadow governments served to keep the people afraid and demotivated to help us.  They also bought off and intimidated local units of Afghan Army and National Police into either joining their side or looking the other way.  Those that did neither were killed sending everyone else a message. 

The Taliban took over so quickly because the framework to immediately occupy each provincial capitol was already in place long before the US retreat ever began.

[Cyber Liberty]

The answer to this is a lot simpler than most people think.   

We never got rid of the shadow governments in each province.  The Taliban had shadow governors police forces…judges and even prisons. 

There was half assed attempts to get rid of them…mainly when we stumbled upon a Taliban prison they’d set up and we rolled up the current people running it. 

Those shadow governments served to keep the people afraid and demotivated to help us.  They also bought off and intimidated local units of Afghan Army and National Police into either joining their side or looking the other way.  Those that did neither were killed sending everyone else a message. 

The Taliban took over so quickly because the framework to immediately occupy each provincial capitol was already in place long before the US retreat ever began.

They had them since before the first bomb was dropped in 2001.

[Fishrrman]

TX radio probably comes closest as to why the fall happened so quickly.

My take:
I reckon the lion's share of Afgans are muslims. How many are not?
As are... the taliban. Radical muslims, yes, but muslims all the same.

And what were WE?
Why, "kafirs", of course... infidels.

Infidels are and remain infidels, to both moderate and radical muslims.
Infidels, fighting against... islamics.

To make matters worse, at the end we became "woke" infidels, forcing upon the Afghans such things as transgenderism, symbolized by the "rainbow flag".

Perhaps Afghans were just tired of the infidels, and actually believed the taliban might offer a better alternative.

Kinda like the American fools who, tired of Mr. Trump's "mean tweets", believed ol' white joe would be a better alternative.

And now, BOTH countries are collapsing...

[txradioguy]

They had them since before the first bomb was dropped in 2001.

Correct!