Taliban approach Kabul's outskirts, attack north Afghan city

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By AHMAD SEIR, RAHIM FAIEZ and JOSEPH KRAUSS

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban seized two more provinces on Saturday and approached the outskirts of Afghanistan’s capital while also launching a multi-pronged assault on a major northern city defended by former warlords, Afghan officials said.

The insurgents have captured much of northern, western and southern Afghanistan in a breakneck offensive less than three weeks before the United States is set to withdraw its last troops, raising fears of a full militant takeover or another Afghan civil war.

The Taliban captured all of Logar province, just south of the capital, Kabul, and detained local officials, said Hoda Ahmadi, a lawmaker from the province. She said the Taliban have reached the Char Asyab district, just 11 kilometers (7 miles) south of Kabul.

The insurgents also captured the capital of Paktika, bordering Pakistan, according to Khalid Asad, a lawmaker from the province. He said fighting broke out in Sharana early Saturday but ended after local elders intervened to negotiate a pullout. He said the governor and other officials surrendered and were on their way to Kabul.



Internally displaced Afghans from northern provinces, who fled their home due to fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security personnel, take refuge in a public park Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Aug. 13, 2021. The Taliban have completed their sweep of the country's south on Friday, as they took four more provincial capitals in a lightning offensive that is gradually encircling Kabul, just weeks before the U.S. is set to officially end its two-decade war. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-taliban-f600d6faf28e9c2ccb454ad176987b19

[shotten99]

1. After reading the news today, this seems fitting

This will be final message from Saigon station. It has been a long and hard fight and we have lost. This experience, unique in the history of the United States, does not signal necessarily the demise of the United States as a world power. The severity of the defeat and the circumstances of it, however, would seem to call for a reassessment of the policies of half-measures which have characterized much of our participation here despite the commitment of manpower and resources, which were certainly generous. Those who fail to learn from history are forced to repeat it. Let us hope that we will not have another Vietnam experience and that we have learned our lesson. Saigon signing off.

[llashram]

20. quite

[CentralMass]

2. I'd say that this can safely be called a foreign policy blunder at this point.

Last edited Sat Aug 14, 2021, 12:12 PM - Edit history (1)

[totodeinhere]

10. We should have gone in, taken out Al-Qaeda, then left.

We should not have tried nation building. I think that both Democratic and Republican administrations are complicit in this. Yes, we should support women's rights around the world. But military intervention will not ensure women's rights in the long term.

[ColinC]

11. It would have been the same result but shorter.

The Taliban would have come back immediately when we left. We shouldn't have went in at all.

[former9thward]

21. Of course we should have gone in.

The Use of Force Resolution which authorized the Afghanistan invasion was approved by Congress almost unanimously. We were attacked and there had to a response against those who did it -- bin Laden and crew who were being sheltered by the Taliban. If we had not gone in, there would have been a hundred 9/11s.

[LanternWaste]

22. It does not follow.

That being another logical fallacy, not to mention the use of prophecy as a conclusion.

But still... nice try.

[cinematicdiversions]

3. Honestly if I was them I would wait for the twentieth anniversary on September 11th NT

[Jon King]

4. The major blunder was not evacuating the helpers before announcing withdrawal date.

I have no idea why the Afghans who helped the US and NATO were not processed for visas 3 months ago, evacuated, then announce the withdrawal date.

No doubt we could have done this a lot smoother.

[shotten99]

5. I'd assume they've had emergency evacuation plans ready and waiting for years now....

Of course, that's an assumption.

[Jon King]

6. True, I think the major issue is how quickly the Afghan military fell.

Sounds like the administration's experts told them the Afghan military could hold on for at least 6 months. They thought they had those months to evacuate the helpers.

No one thought the Afghans would be overtaken within a few weeks.

[shotten99]

7. Vietnamization doesn't work. You'd think we'd learn from history.

If anything, this only proves that further investment in Afghanistan was a moot point. I'm painfully ambivalent about this situation. Removing the Taliban was the right response in 2001, but Bush literally hamstrung us by charging into Iraq before this mission was complete. The question is: if 20 years isn't enough to establish a functioning state, then how long would it take?

[CentralMass]

8. There is always blowback and this current situation will inevitable lead to some future intervention

[Jon King]

9. The Afghan men all treat women horribly, I think that is a major factor why they quit.

In the end, the Afghan men do not respect women much more than the Taliban. Seems the Afghan men are just fine with letting the Taliban come back and run things. Sure the Taliban will kill some Afghan men to scare everyone into compliance, but overall the men will still be much better off than the females. This is on the Afghan men, they just do not care enough about their women and girls to fight for them.

[LisaL]

18. Then those experts are really bad experts.

NT

[videohead5]

12. The Afghanistan Army

Has over 300,000 soldiers. Much bigger than the Taliban. They are well trained and well equipped. For some reason they will not fight?

[Slammer]

13. more to morale than weapons

They were well-equipped with weapons.

But they were reportedly often deployed without food or water.

And their government frequently has gone through long stretches where they've refused to pay members of their military.

[ancianita]

17. They

are Muslim first, well trained fighters second; their hearts and minds have not changed, because they're in an eternal believer war.
If Afghanistan calls itself an Islamic Republic (We couldn't stop it from doing that in 2004), a theocracy with 99.7%, then its people believe that Islam is the government, including the government soldiers.

[Polybius]

14. I wish the media would stop talking so much about this until we leave for good

It's almost as if they are trying to convince us to stay.

[Javaman]

15. Saigon all over again

[ancianita]

16. Not this time.

As I've learned in my months of reading, the U.S. has dedicated military evac bases in Qatar & can handle 1,000's per day. This will be done.

We did learn from Vietnam because a) we've established evacuation bases with thousands of helicopters, and for all the bad reports,
b) we've made sure that the Taliban won't get near Kabul for another 30 days. Or months.

According to today's Guardian:

...In Kabul, US embassy staff have been ordered to begin shredding and burning sensitive material, as units from a planned re-deployment of 3,000 American troops started arriving to secure the airport and oversee the evacuations. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said “elements” of a battalion were now in Kabul, the vanguard of three Marine and Army battalions that the US was sending to the city.

The US is also moving an additional 4,500 to 5,000 troops to bases in the Gulf countries of Qatar and Kuwait, including 1,000 to Qatar to speed up visa processing for Afghan translators and others who fear retribution from the Taliban for their past work with Americans, and their family members...

US military intelligence suggests Kabul could come under pressure within 30 days. If trends continue, the Taliban are likely to gain full control of the country in months, it says. Refugees from the insurgents’ relentless offensives elsewhere have flooded the capital.

The UK said about 600 troops would be deployed on a short-term basis to support British nationals leaving. Earlier on Friday, many countries including Spain, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands announced the withdrawal of staff from their respective embassies...

Canada said the first plane-loads of asylum seekers have already landed in Toronto on Friday, as part of its promise to take in up to 20,000 Afghan refugees, including women leaders and government workers.s.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/14/us-troops-start-to-arrive-for-afghanistan-evacuation-as-taliban-close-in-on-kabul

The thing about starting early is the logistics, and not giving a head start to the Taliban to attack wherever we are evacuating. It won't be another rooftop clusterfuck like Vietnam, and we'll have airlifted and processed tens of thousands more this time.

[llashram]

19. quite stunning the speed of

Taliban in reasserting total control