@@MrAvant123 Both Biden and Trump screwed it up. Trump announced the withdrawal early and released 5000 Taliban POWs without getting anything in return. Biden went ahead without an effective plan, so yeah, on his watch.
Same. I was there in 2003, and then again in 2013. What we did to the Afghans that supported and worked with us was horrific. The Taliban hunted any/all of them down. Obama did the same thing to the Albu Nimr tribe in Iraq. Isis hunted them down for being instrumental in helping us fight AQ. Democrats have no business being in control of our country/military.
@user-qq6rr2je4q You can agree or disagree with who and why resulted in us going in all you want however, that has no impact what-so-ever with the comments you are pretending to respond to.
And they did it twice to A-Stan. Anyone who studies history knows how evil our govt is. Op Mockingbird, Kennedy, our govt is evil and ran by corporations. This goes back to the Banana wars of south America. They run drugs, they work with the mob and terrorist. They are the evil in the world. My Dad worked for the CIA for 21 years and warned us how evil they were when he got out.
This is an age-old problem. It is believed that the US taxpayer has deep pockets. The military industrial complex will exploit this belief until they have exhausted the last dollar. It’s like a gold rush. Let’s get in there boys and get it while the getting is good! The citizens have money! Until they don’t. I believe we are there now. Auto dealers have dropped prices on new trucks up to $30K. Yet they are unable to sell them. Young people are unable to afford homes, apartments are sky high, and many have resorted to living at their parent’s houses. The American dream is turning into a nightmare, and the powers that be are content to stay the course. We are tapped out and something must give. The war-hawks have sold out the people in their lust for profits. We need to convene tribunals, recover as much as we can, and make sure that this never happens again. 🫵 MAGA 🎉 🥳
LOL, as if it had nothing to do with Hunga Tonga Honga Pi'ia saturating the atmosphere causing mountainous regions to flood. Which would put extensive liability on the US, as a 'natural' disaster to clean up.
I love how every time we get an interview with anybody about the GWOT or its aftermath, there is always at least one story involving a Marine (or several) jumping in to help do something cool but massively illegal.
This sounds dumb but problem solving and making things happen is something the Marines start drilling into dudes day 1 in boot camp. This phrase is often thrown around. STEAL, or Strategic Transfer of Equipment to Alternate Locations. It was great in iraq and Afghanistan when we were with army and af units. They had such nice and shiny things😂 if we couldn't aquire it free of charge a few bags of candy or chips would usually find items marked destroyed in the field by supply clerks😂
@Reblwitoutacause oh yeah bud. We might of had pizza huts and Starbucks showing up, meaning everything that was needed to go start spreading hate, we were onto creature comforts. Which we kind of did. But we were getting mixes of woodland and desert camo uniforms, mopp suits, armor....still light years beyond anyone in Afghanistan or Iraq....even other countries we fought in sporadically. But just looking at that burger King connex showing up. Pre invasion, this was and is terrifying to anyone fighting us. Our logistics tail, halfway around the world from the US and we could fight 2 wars for literally decades. Any sober military would find this opponent horroific. It's not all that crazy until you really think about it. Short of war crime wespons, your not beating anyone like that.
@@mtmadigan82I was in Shindand Afghanistan near the Iranian border. It was a sizeable Air Force base, but we were Army aviation with the majority of aircraft and drones. Troops and civilians would fly in and have a short layover before flying on. We would be asked where they could spend some time before sometimes leaving hours later. Where’s the food court? We don’t have one. Where’s the Starbucks, or Tim Horton’s? You can get a coffee at the dining facility 24/7. Where is the gym, library, USO, etc? We didn’t have any of those facilities. The larger installations like Kandahar, or Bagram had everything. They had multiple gyms and even college courses available. When someone got their hands on a newspaper, it would go from the Task Force Commander, and work its way down the chain of command. By the time we left a few things were set up, like a very spartan gym. But outsiders were surprised that we were devoid of the luxuries that you find where the big boys are at. Wherever there is a general you will find abundance of facilities and options. Shopping, swimming pools, military equipment stores, and unreal food options. When my older brother died, I flew through Bagram to get to his funeral. I was literally blown away by how much it was built up and stocked. They were throwing newspapers away by the bundles, every day. I asked if I could take some of them to Shindand and was told flatly that when the new paper came out the others had to be collected. No scraps allowed for the little people. 😵💫
President Trump said he wanted a list of everyone involved in the decision making of pulling out on his desk by 3 o’clock inauguration day for firing. We shall see.
I was in Kabul when we evacuated. It was an absolute shitshow. I left on Aug 18 aboard a C-17 with 300 others cargo strapped to the floor of the cargo hold. We ended up in Qatar which was another clusterfuck. I have never been more ashamed to be an American.
How about “ never more ashamed of our commander in chief and the DEI leaders in our military that failed to plan and execute an intelligent effective plan of withdrawal “ You as a soldier on the ground knew how to properly act, but your leaders failed you and the American people. We appreciate your service…and what happened that day occurred because of massive incompetence in leadership and statesmanship
@@dominysynclair Al Udeed AB, where the c17 dropped us off at, was totally unprepared for receiving so many people. We were just stuck there for a few days sleeping wherever we could find space in tents or outside. We eventually were put on a flight to Kuwait and then a flight to Dulles. The hilarious part was we couldn't leave until we were able to get covid tests. And there were thousands of people trying to get that done.
It is terrible. But thankfully technology came up 100 fold since Vietnam, that list would have been much much bigger. Not that it makes any of it right, but God it would have been like the dumb soviets when they where there
lol the USA war on terror was the greatest single event to recruit more terrorists. Our war on terror is just like our war on drugs. Crafted by evil men to make the problem worse, so they can monetize “fixing it” Keep up stupid.
I have not had a good nights sleep since the fall. Got three of my four terps out. I lost contact with my forth terp and his family about six weeks later. Why has NO ONE been fired or held accountable. Hopefully, there will be some accountability with the next administration...
If you look at the record of this administration over the past 4 years not a single person has been fired for anything. Not for Afghanistan. Not for the border. Not for inflation. Not for crime or anything else.
Interpreters who helped UK troops have been left out because the illegals crossing by boat have swamped the system. They should have been top priority.
The 2021 Afghan collapse? Not hard to see why. NATO spent years building up an Afghan army- the genuine audited count was at 145,000 strong, no “ghost troops,” making real progress despite the chaos. Afghan commandos fought nonstop, some for 20 years straight, unlike most foreign soldiers who clock a few tours and head home. Then comes the 2020 Doha Agreement (a deal made in the absence of the Afghan Democratic Govt), releasing 5,000 Taliban fighters without Afghan input. The U.S. basically hands the enemy a weapon, pulls all air support, removes contractors, and leaves the Afghan Air Force grounded. Cutting off logistics? Like slashing an artery and waiting for the bleed-out. Then there’s Major Sohrab Azimi’s (Afg SOF) tragic case-his team fought to the end while U.S. aircraft circled above, unable to engage due to the so-called “peace deal with the Taliban.” With no air support and a disastrous Doha deal, Afghan forces were left to sink. Let’s be real-the Afghan Army didn’t collapse from a lack of courage; they were left high and dry, stripped of vital resources. In the end, 75,000 Afghan soldiers died fighting for their country, while the U.S. signed a deal with the Taliban.
Afghanistan was always going to belong to the Taliban. The fine print is in the history books. Soviets couldn’t do it with the largest military, and the US couldn’t do it with the largest budget. Yes, some of the ANA fought hard but many were addicts or unreliable. Nobody will ever be able to convince an Afghan to fight and die for American style liberal democracy lol.
This is a real question: what do you think we should have done differently? We couldn't stay there indefinitely. Was Trump to blame for even being willing to speak to our enemy? If we can't even realize now what the heck we should have done, we have even less chance of doing better in the future. I'm nobody, but I'd like to know, after many lives and energy and a trillion dollars, what the heck happened. I don't think it's talked about enough. We've all moved on.
@4321_dcba The deal was changed during the Biden administration. They changed the withdrawal date.The Taliban didn't agree to that change. Ergo they were operating under the idea there was no deal.
@@4321_dcba based on American culture. yeah speaking to the enemy and making this kind of deal was basically folding over to the enemy for no reason. I felt the plan of pulling out shouldn't have been like a few months deadline. thats just being setup for failure to the people on the ground. these type of pull outs take much longer to do probably. the US should of asked for an extension but its hard when they make a deal with a deadline.
It was the nation building that wrecked us (he actually just said that as I’m typing this.) We kicked the Taliban’s ass in like 2 months with a handful of SF teams and a couple CIA guys (with air assets) in combination with the Northern Alliance. We could have simply left an A team with each of the big tribal leaders to help them provide security against any Taliban resurgence and left it at that. By trying to turn Afghanistan into a little American we turned a small special operations war into a big war. Trying to nation build was just stupid. Afghanistan cannot be centrality ruled. It’s too big and too remote to run from Kabul. Karzai was nothing more than the mayor of Kabul. It was destined to fail.
@@helloidharbl6753 Right? The Hindu Kush is part of the Himalayan mountain range. It’s a very remote desolate place in many regions. They don’t call it the graveyard of empires for nothing.
To the commentary under the video about the equipment (was barely mentioned in the interview): I was a Logistics Officer in the Marine Corps for 20 years, and served combat tours in Afghanistan. The reason why we "left everything" is because it wasn't ours to take. NATO forces had literally given equipment and materiel to the Afghan government for them to use to fight on their own. The Afghan forces chose instead to surrender, giving all of the equipment to the Taliban.
I'm no expert, but I recall that being the case regarding the "abandoned" equipment... with _other_ things being destroyed. I heard some claim that secret info/docs was left behind. Enough for Taliban to clearly identify those who assisted the USA.
@@puravida5683 I did too brother. I made calls in Iraq that were not popular with some of my leadership but I definately beleived it saved lives and we still completed the mission. I was lucky to have a really good Bn CO. I was the OpsO and let the companies run their missions as they saw fit. I only made them change when they were doing the same thing too much. I also ordered a piece of equipment be blown up when leadership wanted me to recover it. I didnt have the equipment to recover it but they kept telling me to do it. Eventually I did send a recovery team but I made sure engineers were with them to blow it up. They did and all of my men came back. I got majorly chewed out up to Division level. Luckily also my Regt CO backed me.
Those so called “generals” are scumbag bureaucrats/politicians. They don’t care about honor and protecting their troops. Only concern is looking good and getting next promotion.
Probably the best analysis and logical flow chart of what happened and how none of the experts in the pentagon or the white house saw it coming. Either they did this by design, which is really evil, or it was gross incompetence followed by a poor attempt for a cover up.
@@kCI251… and what did Afghanistan have to do with it? Wasn’t all the bad guys in the plane from Saudi, including Osama? You don’t have an argument… young Americans were used to fight a war based on one man’s ego… and a lie.
You are marginally correct, Nobody understands that the most money made is in maintenance/ refeb contracts. It costs the army on average 1.8X the cost of new. to take a used vehicle and make it combat ready will cost nearly 2 times the cost of new. The majority of the wheeled vehicles left were due to be brought to the US and refurbished or demilled and scraped, I believe the scrap percentage was greater than 60%. It was just a junk yard that was picked apart for any usable part. So not only would we be paying to move non deployable equipment, a majority was going to be thrown away, (side note it costs roughly 100k per vehicle to be demilled.) I dont agree with leaving it because of optics but I know for a fact that getting the majority of the equipment back to service would have cost the taxpayers vastly more money than buying new. I know you will disagree but I spent 10 years making these decisions, managing the programs to referb or demill the exact equipment. It was old, It was broken, and would have cost a ton to make right. As someone who spent a lot of time trying to ensure that every soldier had everything they could need to come back alive (win or lose), Im perfectly OK with leaving the majority of equipment.
@ The majority of the military is made up of civil servants that work 9 to 5 and want nothing more than peace, but if peace is not an option then they will support our men and women regardless of the politics or bureaucrats. Im a welder, a machinist, a mechanic, and a certified engineer. I have never seen the pentagon an adamantly work to curb government waste. What I explained is based in simple math, you can continue to be upset but thats the facts.
1) that Kilcullen book is incredible 2) graduated 97E course during the Abu Ghirab scandal, it’s UNBELIEVABLE that the exact thing happened with Vietnam sources too
My younger brother was one of the Interrigators that investigated the Abu Ghraib case when he deployed there with 3rd ID in 2005. He then worked out of the prison after the investigation was over. I was with Special Forces in Afghanistan in 2002 during Annaconda then came back again in 2005 and 2007. I was working in the Rear D S2 at Headquarters 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vicenza one day in 2008 when a call came in reporting the attack in Wanat that was later talked about in the documentary Restrepo.I lost friends at Wanat, the attack on FOB Ranchhouse and Operation Rock Avalanche. I was myself medivaced after hitting an IED while doing PSD for EOD in Zabul Province about 5 months earlier. I read "Out of the Mountains while studying for my Bachelors Degree in Homeland Security Studies. It was surreal to read about events in that book that I was personally involved with ( Wanat among them) I think what made it even more so was how spot on Kilkullen was in just about everything in that book. I particularly liked the very detailed description of the Mumbai attack. My German Father in law was an Executive VP at MAN that makes all the trains and busses in Germany. He ran all MANs factories outside Germany an, in particular the one in Mumbai. He had been staying at and working out of that Hotel in Mumbai for almost a decade. He coincidentally and very luckily for him had to take a later flight that day or would have been right in the middle of that attack. It was still a real rough time as he lost a number of his friends and employees.
@heathclark318 Yes that's the book he is talking about. As I was just telling him I had to read it in college and it was surreal because I was personally involved in a few of the incidents mentioned in the book. I think the Battle of Wanat is mentioned in like the first chapter. I was working in the S2 Shop of the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vicenza( Rear Detachment) when the call reporting that attack came in. I had to brief our Brigade Commnder that he just lost 9 guys including one of his officers. Some of them were also close friends of mine and I helped the remaining member of the squad( who like myself had been medivaced after getting wounded, He was a Silver Star recipient)write the Eulogy for their Memorial). Kilkullen also gave a really good discussion on the Mumbai Attacks. My German father in law was an executive for a German Engine Manufacturer called MAN they make all the public transportation in Germany ( Busses and Trains). He ran the MAN factory in Mumbai and lived and worked out of that Hotel that was attacked. He just happened to have had his flight delayed that day or would have been right in the middle of the attack. He did lose some employees and friends though so he still had some trauma to deal with. One of the intresting facts about the Mumbai attack is that is was organized and to a degree ran by an American member of that Terror Group that was in bed with Pakistan ISI. Outside of the Frontline Documentary on that guy Kilkullen is the only one I have seen give that level of detail on the attack.
The backdrop prior putting boots on the ground in Afghanistan is the 90s where the military had no clear mission. The Pentagon felt they needed boots on the ground to justify their budget. It is also difficult to justify a large standing military when 100 Army Rangers and other special forces with support from the USAF can easily knock over a country.
And guess what. When we go back ( and we’ll have to one day) all the allies we abandoned , if they are still alive, won’t be throwing us a “welcome back “ parade. And we’ll be fighting an enemy that we gave weapons, ammo, training, airports. military bases, that will all be used against us. Who does this?
US won't be going back. Recruitment will be down for a generation and by the time people have forgotten and believe the next set of lies the US won't have the capacity to fight long wars on foreign soil.
Listen to Tyler Vargas on Shaw Ryan podcast. He said they “Had Eyes On The bomber” and was specifically told to stand down. The crowd was so packed it took over an hour for the terrorist to make his way through. They watched him the entire time and were not allowed to engage.
Honest question from a thankful civilian to members of our beloved military; If the sniper who had the bomber in his sights had disregarded the multiple orders to stand down or not cleared to fire, and instead fired his weapon and took out the bomber before he got the chance to detonate himself, would friendly forces been able to recover the unexploded suicide vest & the terrorists body to prove to those in charge that they were wrong in not permitting the sniper to engage & give the sniper & whoever else involved the proper recognition that they saved countless lives or would they have court-martialed the sniper for not following orders and/or murder? Thanks and may those 13 brave young men & women heroes never be forgotten 🙏 😪🇺🇲 May they rest in eternal peace.
And people like Bush, Cheney, and Blair all continue to sit and sip champagne and look at their portfolio. How they weren't star chambered is beyond me.
No difference from the withdrawal from Vietnam. As for the material we left behind, the Afghan Army whom we trained were supposed to receive it. Instead they almost immediately deserted and surrendered to the Taliban.
I remember decades ago sitting at an airport gate watching the news that we were invading Afghanistan, and my first thought was "Did Vietnam teach us nothing!?!" Then recently watching the botched withdrawal ... "Did Vietnam teach us nothing?"
All military assets lost must be replaced. This costs money. More assets must be created to face the increased threat level created by the withdrawal. More money. For someone this is win win, regardless of the loss of life!
Multiple presidents screwed up. This ain't a left right issue. It's what the rulers of empires do - throw their weight around, f a lot of people up and then carry on as normal.... because for them this is normal.
It's maddening that this was allowed to happen without any consequences for those responsible. Not only because of the lives lost (most important) but also because of the massive amount of military assets we left to the enemy. There should have been court marshalings over this.
Mike, you did your thing with this one bro. FINALLY we have a podcast that isn’t making this a red or blue thing. You’re just putting out right and wrong. As a Marine bro you did the right thing and I applaud you and Sean Glass. The man sitting in office at the time is part of the blame and so are the commanders on the ground. These politicians on both sides have no clue WTF goes on and how serious it is at the boots on the ground level. That’s why they have commanders and for the commanders to execute the order like that was absolutely fucking atrocious. People so damn stuck behind I am a republican and it was just Biden fault are so damn dumb! But hopefully this helps them out a little(probably will not because they are so ignorant but, hopefully.
I like what you said about leadership and taking responsibility. If you are down with what is happening speak up and put your rank on the table. Wouldn't that be so nice and refreshing. Rock on Sir, great interview!
Several years ago I had to call AAA for a tow in central California. The tow truck driver seemed really sharp to me, despite essentially being a truck driver. When I inquired a bit further I found out he was a former Afghan chopper pilot. His understanding on military aviation lingo was too good. He told me how he flew out of Afghanistan alone to north to escape, taking his chopper with him. It was an Apache. He hadn’t seen his wife and family since that time. I was so upset with that total CF that all I could do was to apologize on behalf of the US government for letting him and everyone else out there, down.
Correct, an entirely political War not based on any actual threat to the US , and was unwinnable from Day 1 that we never should have ever been involved with to begin with.
We didn't SPEND 20 years there, we WASTED 20 years there! We walked away without achieving victory, which our own government would not pursue, and left in disgrace. Our military will never recover from that debacle.
It was horrible pull out 100%… but the positive is almost all military does not trust our leadership, the same leadership that just signed an executive order to use US military on US citizens !
I hope the public understands one thing about the fall of Kabul. Most, if not all GWOT veterans who served, are angry about how it went down. Yet NO ONE is actually surprised. Every deployment, every unit, everyone saw the writing on the wall. This was going to happen regardless of your political affiliation. You could interchange Bush/Obama/Trump/Biden with each other's terms and you'd still get the same outcome. We all saw it on the ground, and many of our units requested what was needed to avoid this. The truth is, the US public didn't share the same sentiment as the US military, so the US politicians were too apprehensive to give the US military was what needed to ensure this wasn't going to happen. For nearly 17 years of the GWOT (not 20 years, because everyone was aligned and on the same page before Iraq), this happened. Now this is the price the world pays for a divided US. Stop the bullshit infighting and start working together again. Petty politics affects the wars we end up fighting.
I'm not arguing against your main points, but I believe that the Trump era plan included unfulfilled prerequisites before proceeding with withdrawal. I could be wrong, but that's how I remember it. Even so, those prerequisites may not have been sufficient anyway. I wouldn't know.
Plenty of blame for multiple presidents, no point in picking on one.... that's a distraction from the main game. America, like most other places, works best when everybody pulls together. Community is the main game.
Could you just imagine living your whole life in Afghanistan, then moving to America? It would have to feel like a dream to move into a house with central heating and air conditioning, for real.
Stupid war. Waste of lives and money. Served Army 93-97. Joined to see combat. Just missed out on Somalia. Got out before Bosnia. Was asked to rejoin after 9-11. I read many books on military conflicts by then. Told the recruiter. “ The Russians lost. Why would the US do any better” I was right over 20 years later. I knew I could get my chance of combat. But we would loose…
The Trump administration’s withdrawal plan from Afghanistan included a structured military departure that maintained Special Operations forces (ODA), intelligence (OGA), and civilian contractors to ensure continuous support for the Afghan National Army (ANA). This structure aimed to uphold the ANA’s operational integrity and continuity of command. Under the Biden administration, however, the initial focus was on cutting civilian support, a decision that left the ANA without critical logistical and operational backing. The loss of these civilian resources proved detrimental, contributing to the ANA’s rapid collapse and underscoring the essential role civilian contractors play in sustaining foreign military allies
Honest question, are you 100 percent SURE that was the Trumps administration’s plans or you’re saying that because you are a Trump supporter. Honestly if you can show me that was his plan IN WRITING. Okay. Other than that to say word of mouth or this is how you feel is part of the problem bro seriously. Let’s call it REAL here and just say right is right and wrong is wrong. And I absolutely HATED the way Biden went about it so quick within 1 year in office. Trump had how many years to do these amazing plans you speak of and acted on how many of them? Let’s just have a grown up conversation bro for real. Show me in writing that it was his plan and I’ll apologize. But I’ll be waiting also….
@@stephanarizona9094 All that being said he still made the initial deal with the terrorists and sidelined the democratically elected government, and Biden just fucked it up even more. Let’s be real here. Trump visited the country once and that was right before his reelection. But I agree Trump would’ve at least handled the withdrawal slightly better. Trump was never a big geopolitics guy or sentimental. The only reason he would’ve done anything is out of pride and to project power that’s all. But now he realised that he shouldn’t have signed the total withdrawal and constantly talks about keeping Bagram because it was a “Prime Real Estate”. Obama and Bush were the only guys that were more or less good to their allies.
Pullout was a disaster and Biden is a joke, but this is nonsense. The ANA collapsed because they never wanted to fight in the first place, short of having troops on the ground to babysitting them they were NEVER going to fight the taliban or be self-sufficient as a military. There were a million better ways to have executed this, but in scenario was the ANA ever going to be viable.
The way everything is set up in the gov. and pentagon allows blame and accountability to never fall all on any single entity but instead for blame to be shifted from one person to the next and that's by design. I'm also convinced no one in our gov. has a clue what they are doing and for them they get to just show up and play with the world's most vast resources of money & military firepower and whatever happens happens. No one person will ever face any blame or responsibility and they all know it, which over the years has caused them to get more and more brazen. Everyplace we've gotten involved with in the past 50 years has left a trail of death and destruction so far worse than it ever was before that I'm starting to think it's by design. One particular ally of ours was the only party that benefitted from us wrecking Libya, Syria,Iraq, Afghanistan etc. What we did to Syria in particular was so fuked up allowing CIA to flood it with what would be isis fighters trying to start a coup with the current regime. What does America gain from that exactly,nothing but a bunch of displaced refugees wanted flood Europe and our country.
I am old enough and was on acrive duty and warched the absolute clusterfuck wirh the fall of Saigon. Leaving the field under fire is the most difficult of all maneuvers.
That’s the man right there! General Stuart Scheller. He got charged with like 6 counts of BS and had to forfeit 5,000 dollars of pay for one month and was honorably discharged as long as somebody(I honestly forgot who) signed off on it. At that time from what I remember he did lose his wife and they eventually pulled off all his merchandise out the MCX. But yes he’s the man and he did the right thing and was 100 percent correct.
when i headed they where with drawling and seen the news reports my heart droped. cuz had a freind / class mate.still over there thought for sure would loss another one to the sand box. well 2 weeks after finaly troops got out. got a call he was still alive. but part of his squad wasn't so lucky. bitter sweet.
Afghanistan has to be the biggest military failure in the history of warfare. It was like playing the board game risk and placing just one company on each territory you owned, spreading yourself so thin and with the worse military tactics ever put in place. Professional soldiers not even being able to defeat untrained heroine addicts with a gun. An example of the tactics is there is a lovely road running between town X and town Y. Lets drive down the road and find all the land mines with our under armoured vehicles. Also, lets go to that village and use the main track leading into the village and then walk through the middle of the village. Oh look there is a lovely gully/waddie over there that will hide us, lets walk down the the very bottom of it. No one would ever think of putting AP mines down there. It goes on and on and every time you looked at a blown up vehicle it was on a track or choke point or the downed soldier was in the middle of a village or on a track. 652,860 square kilometres to go wherever you like and 0.01 of it being roads and tracks and you choose to walk/drive on them. Please comment.
The lesson was there in front of our faces from day one. Alexander the Great, the British Empire, and the Soviets in the 1980s. Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires.
Mike, what you said at the beginning I've maintained all along. The original mission was to dismantle Al Queada. Once that was accomplished, the US should have pulled out because that was accomplished. Then it was mission change to empire building, and that's exactly what Iran was. Both turned out basically the same, with Afghanistan being far worse. I do have some experience in this field in 67 in the Brown Water Navy and a little bit with the teams. Once again with with Special Boat units (84-90) at NAB Coronado & NS Mare Is.
I have to think that Cheney had a lot to do with that, even more so the invasion of Iraq. It was easy to convince Bush Jr to do it because Saddam tried to kill his father. Cheney probably claimed there would be a domino effect, with Syria going next and ultimately Egypt and Libya, maybe even Iran and Saudi Arabia.
CORRECTION: The 9/11 plot began in Sept 1997 Yemen (17-miles south of Al Qaidah town) inside the HQ compound of the British allied multi-billion dollar Hayel Saeed Anam Group at PO Box 5302, Taiz. How do I know? I was there, installing printing machinery in KSM's front company. Planning was immediately passed to the Hamburg Cell whose 1999 visit to Afghanistan was to frame the Taliban/OBL for the attacks. KSM's boss & the True 9/11 Mastermind was Abdul Rasul Sayyaf; Sayyaf was put on the CIA's payroll in Oct 2001 by CIA officer Gary Schroen & remains a 'strongly supported' NATO ally.
@@NotYourEverydayTrav I am - the man who used me as a patsy to setup KSM's front company in 1997 Yemen isn't. His name was David Dean, a 101st veteran of Hill 937 who was my employer's US sales agent. In Dec 2019 I discovered & exposed Dean's link to CIA contractor Billy Waugh (via MACV-SOG) & his role in setting up KSM's front company - he drowned himself in Lake Hartwell on Jan 8 2020.
@@NotYourEverydayTrav I'd always had concerns about my visit to Yemen but my multiple reports pre-9/11 were ignored, as was my post-9/11 report to Britain's counter terrorism command. I forgot about it & assumed I was wrong. My journey of discovery began in May 2015 when I found my old photos & instantly realised it was KSM I'd met in Yemen. I found my 1997 Yemen meeting place on google earth in Nov 2017 & only then found the name of the town - Al Qaidah. It's all on my twitter page, website & youtube channel which you can find via my name, Anthony C Heaford
I'm retired military. Aside from weapons and equipment left behind, as planned! Many of us left our lives, limbs and blood behind! Anyone who could read a History Book, knew that no invading force, has ever conquered Afghanistan! I wonder why, we conducted patrols in Poppy Fields!
The military officer will always point the finger at someone else 99.9% of the time - They did it. I remember a day when there was an incident with one of our birds and CAG came into the office and said I have drafted my letter of resignation - He took responsibility, why not this new generation of officers?? Don't worry he didn't get fired.
Personally, the way we pulled out of Afghanistan was beyond humiliating and embarrassing. The peoples faces and the children... the known end of the people after we left... absolutely horrific. I wish the "government so-called leaders" had to see those faces each and every night while trying to sleep. 😢
They always are. The National Strategy is set by the Department of State, then the military writes the National Security Strategy in a support to the National Strategy.
I was born in Bosnia in 1978. 13 when war begun. When I saw KFOR forces US/British and orher European nations tanks role through the streets desteying pavement as show of force I was furios as all I saw was foreign military in my country, and didn't care what their mission was. I was a Croatian living in Serbian controlled city Banja Luka. Dispite Serbia and Croatia being at war at time and Serbian population abusing and making others "missing", and ethnic cleansing I still hated foreing troops more. I survived only till end in same city due to good Serbian people who helped my parents keep their jobs as their names sounded Serbian. And he had connection from high ranking brass that new my familiy prior to war. After I realized the mission I was happy to see US planes chase Serbian planes due to no fly zone. It takes for host people to know mission specific and known they will not be collateral demage and be trated right. Came to US as war refugee in 1996... Later joined US Army as Infantry and deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 close to Pakistan in littke COP that was surrounded by Taliban. We stirred up the nest and its was daily combat for almost full 8 months...
Tali bany's had Afghan Opi um poppys wiped out in 2001, then the US went in and Afghan pop py yield s set new records. No wonder Eldeepo statio didnt want to leave
So we were in Afghanistan for 20yrs and nobody game played the withdrawal. Where were the plans to effectively withdraw????? That should be a basic OPORD at best. How do we get out???
it was a mess i was in the Iraq war in 2004-2005 with the guard in Kirkuk. It was a pretty good tour i mean compared to some of the other stuff that was going on in certain area's of Iraq and even Afghanistan at the time. Yeah we got IED's and shot at and rocketed but most all of us made it out alive. I grieve for those that lost their lives for a shitty war! Our unit was great and the SF support that we had was awesome also i went on a couple missions with those guy's they knew their shit!
There are absolutely zero justifications, reasoning, or excuses for having withdrawn from Afhanistan in the way that we did. Is there any individual known to have refused to participate in that fiasco?
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Being a veteran of the deployments to Afghanistan 2009-2010,2012. That withdraw was a slap in not just my face but every other veteran.
....and this was on Bidens watch !!!!!!!!!!!!
@MrAvant123 Yes he really pissed me off.
Couldnt agree more! I was the 2011-2012 and when the withdrawal happened, I couldn't even turn on the tv, or social media.
@@MrAvant123 Both Biden and Trump screwed it up.
Trump announced the withdrawal early and released 5000 Taliban POWs without getting anything in return.
Biden went ahead without an effective plan, so yeah, on his watch.
Same. I was there in 2003, and then again in 2013. What we did to the Afghans that supported and worked with us was horrific. The Taliban hunted any/all of them down. Obama did the same thing to the Albu Nimr tribe in Iraq. Isis hunted them down for being instrumental in helping us fight AQ. Democrats have no business being in control of our country/military.
Gen. Milley should be in prison for this mess.
I will not call him General Mark Milley because he doesn't deserve that rank. I wonder how many times he left the wire. I wonder if was a FOBBIT?
But not the people who decided to invade in the first place?
@user-qq6rr2je4q You can agree or disagree with who and why resulted in us going in all you want however, that has no impact what-so-ever with the comments you are pretending to respond to.
@user-qq6rr2je4q You don't understand 9-11?
9/11
What the US Government did was unforgivable. I can’t imagine another country trusting us ever again.
It hurts to agree with that statement.
You mean pulling out? How long should you waste blood and treasure on a lost cause? US intervention created the chaos you complain about.
Nor can I. I certainly wouldn't.
And they did it twice to A-Stan.
Anyone who studies history knows how evil our govt is. Op Mockingbird, Kennedy, our govt is evil and ran by corporations.
This goes back to the Banana wars of south America. They run drugs, they work with the mob and terrorist. They are the evil in the world. My Dad worked for the CIA for 21 years and warned us how evil they were when he got out.
the ukraine
Incompetent Leadership from top to bottom. The generals need Statements of Charges.
Equipment manufacturers' lobbyist paid a massive part in the decision to leave the equipment behind.
how much of the weapon systems today made by those companies have parts manufactured in china?
This is an age-old problem. It is believed that the US taxpayer has deep pockets. The military industrial complex will exploit this belief until they have exhausted the last dollar. It’s like a gold rush. Let’s get in there boys and get it while the getting is good! The citizens have money! Until they don’t. I believe we are there now. Auto dealers have dropped prices on new trucks up to $30K. Yet they are unable to sell them. Young people are unable to afford homes, apartments are sky high, and many have resorted to living at their parent’s houses. The American dream is turning into a nightmare, and the powers that be are content to stay the course. We are tapped out and something must give. The war-hawks have sold out the people in their lust for profits. We need to convene tribunals, recover as much as we can, and make sure that this never happens again. 🫵 MAGA 🎉 🥳
@Chiefhd63: Between that and Ukraine….they’re rolling in money.
LOL, as if it had nothing to do with Hunga Tonga Honga Pi'ia saturating the atmosphere causing mountainous regions to flood.
Which would put extensive liability on the US, as a 'natural' disaster to clean up.
bingo . so they can sell some more. That equipment left very little was left top condition. That stuff will be junk in 5 years
I love how every time we get an interview with anybody about the GWOT or its aftermath, there is always at least one story involving a Marine (or several) jumping in to help do something cool but massively illegal.
gotta love our Devil Dogs!
This sounds dumb but problem solving and making things happen is something the Marines start drilling into dudes day 1 in boot camp. This phrase is often thrown around.
STEAL, or Strategic Transfer of Equipment to Alternate Locations.
It was great in iraq and Afghanistan when we were with army and af units. They had such nice and shiny things😂 if we couldn't aquire it free of charge a few bags of candy or chips would usually find items marked destroyed in the field by supply clerks😂
Army, too.
@Reblwitoutacause oh yeah bud. We might of had pizza huts and Starbucks showing up, meaning everything that was needed to go start spreading hate, we were onto creature comforts. Which we kind of did. But we were getting mixes of woodland and desert camo uniforms, mopp suits, armor....still light years beyond anyone in Afghanistan or Iraq....even other countries we fought in sporadically. But just looking at that burger King connex showing up. Pre invasion, this was and is terrifying to anyone fighting us. Our logistics tail, halfway around the world from the US and we could fight 2 wars for literally decades. Any sober military would find this opponent horroific. It's not all that crazy until you really think about it. Short of war crime wespons, your not beating anyone like that.
@@mtmadigan82I was in Shindand Afghanistan near the Iranian border. It was a sizeable Air Force base, but we were Army aviation with the majority of aircraft and drones. Troops and civilians would fly in and have a short layover before flying on. We would be asked where they could spend some time before sometimes leaving hours later. Where’s the food court? We don’t have one. Where’s the Starbucks, or Tim Horton’s? You can get a coffee at the dining facility 24/7. Where is the gym, library, USO, etc? We didn’t have any of those facilities. The larger installations like Kandahar, or Bagram had everything. They had multiple gyms and even college courses available. When someone got their hands on a newspaper, it would go from the Task Force Commander, and work its way down the chain of command. By the time we left a few things were set up, like a very spartan gym. But outsiders were surprised that we were devoid of the luxuries that you find where the big boys are at. Wherever there is a general you will find abundance of facilities and options. Shopping, swimming pools, military equipment stores, and unreal food options. When my older brother died, I flew through Bagram to get to his funeral. I was literally blown away by how much it was built up and stocked. They were throwing newspapers away by the bundles, every day. I asked if I could take some of them to Shindand and was told flatly that when the new paper came out the others had to be collected. No scraps allowed for the little people. 😵💫
And nobody got fired or demoted or anything . House cleaning is in order .
President Trump said he wanted a list of everyone involved in the decision making of pulling out on his desk by 3 o’clock inauguration day for firing. We shall see.
@@farmrrick Nov5 we started at the top.
It was planned.
CG of 82nd ABD should be in prison.
Austin, Milley, other generals involved, zero honor. They don’t know the word.
They redefined the word to suit their own character.
They are political ‘Brown Nosers’ that feel absolutely no responsibility to their troops.
They warned Trump of what was happening and what would happen
I was in Kabul when we evacuated. It was an absolute shitshow. I left on Aug 18 aboard a C-17 with 300 others cargo strapped to the floor of the cargo hold. We ended up in Qatar which was another clusterfuck. I have never been more ashamed to be an American.
What happened in Qatar?
How about “ never more ashamed of our commander in chief and the DEI leaders in our military that failed to plan and execute an intelligent effective plan of withdrawal “
You as a soldier on the ground knew how to properly act, but your leaders failed you and the American people. We appreciate your service…and what happened that day occurred because of massive incompetence in leadership and statesmanship
What’s your name? I want to formally thank you for your service (I’m also screening for fake valour in case it hasn’t been obvious enough yet)
@rav9681 not giving you my name, sorry.
I'm not in the military anymore(got out in 2010), I was working in Kabul as a contractor.
@@dominysynclair Al Udeed AB, where the c17 dropped us off at, was totally unprepared for receiving so many people. We were just stuck there for a few days sleeping wherever we could find space in tents or outside. We eventually were put on a flight to Kuwait and then a flight to Dulles.
The hilarious part was we couldn't leave until we were able to get covid tests. And there were thousands of people trying to get that done.
Knowing everyone who died over the last 20 years was for nothing is a hard pill to swallow.
Softened only by knowing that no one would die again, and the knowledge that the burden of this war would not to others.
It is terrible. But thankfully technology came up 100 fold since Vietnam, that list would have been much much bigger. Not that it makes any of it right, but God it would have been like the dumb soviets when they where there
lol the USA war on terror was the greatest single event to recruit more terrorists. Our war on terror is just like our war on drugs. Crafted by evil men to make the problem worse, so they can monetize “fixing it” Keep up stupid.
@@jadams1722ww1 was the war to end all wars
Thank George Bush
I have not had a good nights sleep since the fall. Got three of my four terps out. I lost contact with my forth terp and his family about six weeks later. Why has NO ONE been fired or held accountable. Hopefully, there will be some accountability with the next administration...
I hope so !!! I think there may wry well be and that’s why they’re trying everything to not lose office
Bush, Obama, Trump, Biden.. all.. failed our interpreters
Sadly, you are not alone in this regard. OEF 2009/2010
If you look at the record of this administration over the past 4 years not a single person has been fired for anything. Not for Afghanistan. Not for the border. Not for inflation. Not for crime or anything else.
Interpreters who helped UK troops have been left out because the illegals crossing by boat have swamped the system. They should have been top priority.
The 2021 Afghan collapse? Not hard to see why. NATO spent years building up an Afghan army- the genuine audited count was at 145,000 strong, no “ghost troops,” making real progress despite the chaos.
Afghan commandos fought nonstop, some for 20 years straight, unlike most foreign soldiers who clock a few tours and head home.
Then comes the 2020 Doha Agreement (a deal made in the absence of the Afghan Democratic Govt), releasing 5,000 Taliban fighters without Afghan input. The U.S. basically hands the enemy a weapon, pulls all air support, removes contractors, and leaves the Afghan Air Force grounded. Cutting off logistics? Like slashing an artery and waiting for the bleed-out. Then there’s Major Sohrab Azimi’s (Afg SOF) tragic case-his team fought to the end while U.S. aircraft circled above, unable to engage due to the so-called “peace deal with the Taliban.” With no air support and a disastrous Doha deal, Afghan forces were left to sink. Let’s be real-the Afghan Army didn’t collapse from a lack of courage; they were left high and dry, stripped of vital resources. In the end, 75,000 Afghan soldiers died fighting for their country, while the U.S. signed a deal with the Taliban.
Afghanistan was always going to belong to the Taliban. The fine print is in the history books. Soviets couldn’t do it with the largest military, and the US couldn’t do it with the largest budget. Yes, some of the ANA fought hard but many were addicts or unreliable. Nobody will ever be able to convince an Afghan to fight and die for American style liberal democracy lol.
This is a real question: what do you think we should have done differently? We couldn't stay there indefinitely. Was Trump to blame for even being willing to speak to our enemy?
If we can't even realize now what the heck we should have done, we have even less chance of doing better in the future. I'm nobody, but I'd like to know, after many lives and energy and a trillion dollars, what the heck happened. I don't think it's talked about enough. We've all moved on.
@4321_dcba The deal was changed during the Biden administration. They changed the withdrawal date.The Taliban didn't agree to that change. Ergo they were operating under the idea there was no deal.
@@4321_dcba based on American culture. yeah speaking to the enemy and making this kind of deal was basically folding over to the enemy for no reason. I felt the plan of pulling out shouldn't have been like a few months deadline. thats just being setup for failure to the people on the ground. these type of pull outs take much longer to do probably. the US should of asked for an extension but its hard when they make a deal with a deadline.
@@TheScorpioTechno why would the US sign a deal with the Taliban that is Outrageous .
It was the nation building that wrecked us (he actually just said that as I’m typing this.) We kicked the Taliban’s ass in like 2 months with a handful of SF teams and a couple CIA guys (with air assets) in combination with the Northern Alliance. We could have simply left an A team with each of the big tribal leaders to help them provide security against any Taliban resurgence and left it at that. By trying to turn Afghanistan into a little American we turned a small special operations war into a big war. Trying to nation build was just stupid. Afghanistan cannot be centrality ruled. It’s too big and too remote to run from Kabul. Karzai was nothing more than the mayor of Kabul. It was destined to fail.
Belgium in 10 yrs was the political expectation at the time, Bangladesh in 30 was what they were told allegedly 😂
Bingo.
People look at Afghanistan on a regular map and think "Oh. It's just a desert".
They have no idea what's really there.
@@helloidharbl6753 Right? The Hindu Kush is part of the Himalayan mountain range. It’s a very remote desolate place in many regions. They don’t call it the graveyard of empires for nothing.
Very true.
To the commentary under the video about the equipment (was barely mentioned in the interview): I was a Logistics Officer in the Marine Corps for 20 years, and served combat tours in Afghanistan. The reason why we "left everything" is because it wasn't ours to take. NATO forces had literally given equipment and materiel to the Afghan government for them to use to fight on their own. The Afghan forces chose instead to surrender, giving all of the equipment to the Taliban.
I'm no expert, but I recall that being the case regarding the "abandoned" equipment... with _other_ things being destroyed.
I heard some claim that secret info/docs was left behind. Enough for Taliban to clearly identify those who assisted the USA.
Why would an F15 simulator be donated to the Afghans?
THANK YOU for the comment! IDK why people do not understand this concept. Withdraw was still crazy/sad.
liar
I think the "surrender" was secret Taliban forces hiding in the government and military.
How many Generals in their careers have been in position to protest missions and decisions but didnt because it would hurt their careers?
Most ....those men will have to answer to GOD , eventually
@@LBrawn AGREED.
I did as a Marine Major! To save the lives of my Marines, in a suicide mission. I was relieved, passed over for LTC, and forced to retire.
@@puravida5683 I did too brother. I made calls in Iraq that were not popular with some of my leadership but I definately beleived it saved lives and we still completed the mission. I was lucky to have a really good Bn CO. I was the OpsO and let the companies run their missions as they saw fit. I only made them change when they were doing the same thing too much. I also ordered a piece of equipment be blown up when leadership wanted me to recover it. I didnt have the equipment to recover it but they kept telling me to do it. Eventually I did send a recovery team but I made sure engineers were with them to blow it up. They did and all of my men came back. I got majorly chewed out up to Division level. Luckily also my Regt CO backed me.
Those so called “generals” are scumbag bureaucrats/politicians. They don’t care about honor and protecting their troops. Only concern is looking good and getting next promotion.
Probably the best analysis and logical flow chart of what happened and how none of the experts in the pentagon or the white house saw it coming. Either they did this by design, which is really evil, or it was gross incompetence followed by a poor attempt for a cover up.
"The #1 Problem" was the U.S being there in the first place!
#911
@@kCI251you still believe that?
@@kCI251… and what did Afghanistan have to do with it? Wasn’t all the bad guys in the plane from Saudi, including Osama? You don’t have an argument… young Americans were used to fight a war based on one man’s ego… and a lie.
Its an easy answer. Defense contractors get to make more weapons to replace the ones left. More weapons equals more money
Best point yet - simple 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👌
You are marginally correct, Nobody understands that the most money made is in maintenance/ refeb contracts. It costs the army on average 1.8X the cost of new. to take a used vehicle and make it combat ready will cost nearly 2 times the cost of new. The majority of the wheeled vehicles left were due to be brought to the US and refurbished or demilled and scraped, I believe the scrap percentage was greater than 60%. It was just a junk yard that was picked apart for any usable part.
So not only would we be paying to move non deployable equipment, a majority was going to be thrown away, (side note it costs roughly 100k per vehicle to be demilled.) I dont agree with leaving it because of optics but I know for a fact that getting the majority of the equipment back to service would have cost the taxpayers vastly more money than buying new.
I know you will disagree but I spent 10 years making these decisions, managing the programs to referb or demill the exact equipment. It was old, It was broken, and would have cost a ton to make right. As someone who spent a lot of time trying to ensure that every soldier had everything they could need to come back alive (win or lose), Im perfectly OK with leaving the majority of equipment.
@@Noone-jn3jp you must be a pentagon bureaucrat
@ The majority of the military is made up of civil servants that work 9 to 5 and want nothing more than peace, but if peace is not an option then they will support our men and women regardless of the politics or bureaucrats.
Im a welder, a machinist, a mechanic, and a certified engineer. I have never seen the pentagon an adamantly work to curb government waste. What I explained is based in simple math, you can continue to be upset but thats the facts.
@@2bigbufords FYI This is publicly available information if you knew where to look.
1) that Kilcullen book is incredible
2) graduated 97E course during the Abu Ghirab scandal, it’s UNBELIEVABLE that the exact thing happened with Vietnam sources too
Out of the Mountains?
@@heathclark318 "Counterinsurgency" published in the early GWOT
My younger brother was one of the Interrigators that investigated the Abu Ghraib case when he deployed there with 3rd ID in 2005. He then worked out of the prison after the investigation was over. I was with Special Forces in Afghanistan in 2002 during Annaconda then came back again in 2005 and 2007. I was working in the Rear D S2 at Headquarters 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vicenza one day in 2008 when a call came in reporting the attack in Wanat that was later talked about in the documentary Restrepo.I lost friends at Wanat, the attack on FOB Ranchhouse and Operation Rock Avalanche. I was myself medivaced after hitting an IED while doing PSD for EOD in Zabul Province about 5 months earlier.
I read "Out of the Mountains while studying for my Bachelors Degree in Homeland Security Studies. It was surreal to read about events in that book that I was personally involved with ( Wanat among them) I think what made it even more so was how spot on Kilkullen was in just about everything in that book. I particularly liked the very detailed description of the Mumbai attack. My German Father in law was an Executive VP at MAN that makes all the trains and busses in Germany. He ran all MANs factories outside Germany an, in particular the one in Mumbai. He had been staying at and working out of that Hotel in Mumbai for almost a decade. He coincidentally and very luckily for him had to take a later flight that day or would have been right in the middle of that attack. It was still a real rough time as he lost a number of his friends and employees.
@heathclark318 Yes that's the book he is talking about. As I was just telling him I had to read it in college and it was surreal because I was personally involved in a few of the incidents mentioned in the book. I think the Battle of Wanat is mentioned in like the first chapter. I was working in the S2 Shop of the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vicenza( Rear Detachment) when the call reporting that attack came in. I had to brief our Brigade Commnder that he just lost 9 guys including one of his officers. Some of them were also close friends of mine and I helped the remaining member of the squad( who like myself had been medivaced after getting wounded, He was a Silver Star recipient)write the Eulogy for their Memorial). Kilkullen also gave a really good discussion on the Mumbai Attacks. My German father in law was an executive for a German Engine Manufacturer called MAN they make all the public transportation in Germany ( Busses and Trains). He ran the MAN factory in Mumbai and lived and worked out of that Hotel that was attacked. He just happened to have had his flight delayed that day or would have been right in the middle of the attack. He did lose some employees and friends though so he still had some trauma to deal with. One of the intresting facts about the Mumbai attack is that is was organized and to a degree ran by an American member of that Terror Group that was in bed with Pakistan ISI. Outside of the Frontline Documentary on that guy Kilkullen is the only one I have seen give that level of detail on the attack.
Austin isn’t capable of making a sound decision. A DEI puppet right there.
and you are a trump communist who hates America.
From the very beginning I hoped that it didn’t be another Vietnam, but it did.
The backdrop prior putting boots on the ground in Afghanistan is the 90s where the military had no clear mission. The Pentagon felt they needed boots on the ground to justify their budget. It is also difficult to justify a large standing military when 100 Army Rangers and other special forces with support from the USAF can easily knock over a country.
And guess what. When we go back ( and we’ll have to one day) all the allies we abandoned , if they are still alive, won’t be throwing us a “welcome back “ parade. And we’ll be fighting an enemy that we gave weapons, ammo, training, airports. military bases, that will all be used against us. Who does this?
US won't be going back.
Recruitment will be down for a generation and by the time people have forgotten and believe the next set of lies the US won't have the capacity to fight long wars on foreign soil.
Listen to Tyler Vargas on Shaw Ryan podcast. He said they “Had Eyes On The bomber” and was specifically told to stand down. The crowd was so packed it took over an hour for the terrorist to make his way through. They watched him the entire time and were not allowed to engage.
God damn....really? I need to watch that one. That's pathetic
Honest question from a thankful civilian to members of our beloved military; If the sniper who had the bomber in his sights had disregarded the multiple orders to stand down or not cleared to fire, and instead fired his weapon and took out the bomber before he got the chance to detonate himself, would friendly forces been able to recover the unexploded suicide vest & the terrorists body to prove to those in charge that they were wrong in not permitting the sniper to engage & give the sniper & whoever else involved the proper recognition that they saved countless lives or would they have court-martialed the sniper for not following orders and/or murder? Thanks and may those 13 brave young men & women heroes never be forgotten 🙏 😪🇺🇲 May they rest in eternal peace.
@@mongolikechewchew2475court martial.. no question
Do you seriously believe they knew a terror attack was about to happen and was told to stand down?
@@caseystuckman1184
According to the soldiers that were there , yes
And people like Bush, Cheney, and Blair all continue to sit and sip champagne and look at their portfolio. How they weren't star chambered is beyond me.
Bush,Cheney & Rumsfeld should be in prison.
We had no debt before 2001.
The fact that poppy yields grew almost every year says a lot.
No difference from the withdrawal from Vietnam. As for the material we left behind, the Afghan Army whom we trained were supposed to receive it. Instead they almost immediately deserted and surrendered to the Taliban.
At least South Vietnam lasted 2 years after we left.
I remember decades ago sitting at an airport gate watching the news that we were invading Afghanistan, and my first thought was "Did Vietnam teach us nothing!?!" Then recently watching the botched withdrawal ... "Did Vietnam teach us nothing?"
All military assets lost must be replaced. This costs money. More assets must be created to face the increased threat level created by the withdrawal. More money. For someone this is win win, regardless of the loss of life!
Thanks Joe Biden, Susan Rice, DNC, Obama behind the scenes.
Multiple presidents screwed up. This ain't a left right issue. It's what the rulers of empires do - throw their weight around, f a lot of people up and then carry on as normal.... because for them this is normal.
It's maddening that this was allowed to happen without any consequences for those responsible. Not only because of the lives lost (most important) but also because of the massive amount of military assets we left to the enemy. There should have been court marshalings over this.
Mike, you did your thing with this one bro. FINALLY we have a podcast that isn’t making this a red or blue thing. You’re just putting out right and wrong. As a Marine bro you did the right thing and I applaud you and Sean Glass. The man sitting in office at the time is part of the blame and so are the commanders on the ground. These politicians on both sides have no clue WTF goes on and how serious it is at the boots on the ground level. That’s why they have commanders and for the commanders to execute the order like that was absolutely fucking atrocious. People so damn stuck behind I am a republican and it was just Biden fault are so damn dumb! But hopefully this helps them out a little(probably will not because they are so ignorant but, hopefully.
It's old men in cushy air conditioned rooms calling shots 1000s miles away. Ft both.
I like what you said about leadership and taking responsibility. If you are down with what is happening speak up and put your rank on the table. Wouldn't that be so nice and refreshing. Rock on Sir, great interview!
Several years ago I had to call AAA for a tow in central California. The tow truck driver seemed really sharp to me, despite essentially being a truck driver. When I inquired a bit further I found out he was a former Afghan chopper pilot. His understanding on military aviation lingo was too good. He told me how he flew out of Afghanistan alone to north to escape, taking his chopper with him. It was an Apache. He hadn’t seen his wife and family since that time. I was so upset with that total CF that all I could do was to apologize on behalf of the US government for letting him and everyone else out there, down.
Great point about a short term mission set going into A-Stan. We effed ourselves when deciding to occupy the A-O.
Replace Afghanistan with Vietnam and it’s the same conversation.
Correct, an entirely political War not based on any actual threat to the US , and was unwinnable from Day 1 that we never should have ever been involved with to begin with.
We didn't SPEND 20 years there, we WASTED 20 years there! We walked away without achieving victory, which our own government would not pursue, and left in disgrace. Our military will never recover from that debacle.
@bobcliftn: And $1.131T.
@@skipperclinton1087 The money is nothing. The lives that were flushed down the toilet is another matter entirely.
Also in Korea?
Vietnam
It was horrible pull out 100%… but the positive is almost all military does not trust our leadership, the same leadership that just signed an executive order to use US military on US citizens !
I hate it when the warfighters understand history and operational planning better than the illegitimate-CinC, SECDEF and SECSTATE. Hate it.
what needed to be done was to never even go over there.
Tony's first rule of warfare: "Never enter a war you're not willing to win."
Well said. One hopes accountability will follow. It cannot just be left to be forgotten.
I lost a lot of good friends USA and UK in Afghanistan and it breaks my heart to this day. The laughter and smiles are gone, families broken apart.
Isn’t this the result of war?
Thank You For Your Time And Knowledge 💯🤝
I hope the public understands one thing about the fall of Kabul. Most, if not all GWOT veterans who served, are angry about how it went down. Yet NO ONE is actually surprised.
Every deployment, every unit, everyone saw the writing on the wall. This was going to happen regardless of your political affiliation. You could interchange Bush/Obama/Trump/Biden with each other's terms and you'd still get the same outcome. We all saw it on the ground, and many of our units requested what was needed to avoid this.
The truth is, the US public didn't share the same sentiment as the US military, so the US politicians were too apprehensive to give the US military was what needed to ensure this wasn't going to happen. For nearly 17 years of the GWOT (not 20 years, because everyone was aligned and on the same page before Iraq), this happened. Now this is the price the world pays for a divided US.
Stop the bullshit infighting and start working together again. Petty politics affects the wars we end up fighting.
I'm not arguing against your main points, but I believe that the Trump era plan included unfulfilled prerequisites before proceeding with withdrawal.
I could be wrong, but that's how I remember it. Even so, those prerequisites may not have been sufficient anyway. I wouldn't know.
Plenty of blame for multiple presidents, no point in picking on one.... that's a distraction from the main game.
America, like most other places, works best when everybody pulls together. Community is the main game.
Montagnards, Kurds, allies, etc, seem to be disposable.
Could you just imagine living your whole life in Afghanistan, then moving to America? It would have to feel like a dream to move into a house with central heating and air conditioning, for real.
Can you imagine what it's like to be cut off from your culture and to never be able to go home again?
That made me mad and still does to think about it now. I hope we never fall to this level of incompetence again.
Stupid war. Waste of lives and money. Served Army 93-97. Joined to see combat. Just missed out on Somalia. Got out before Bosnia. Was asked to rejoin after 9-11. I read many books on military conflicts by then. Told the recruiter. “ The Russians lost. Why would the US do any better” I was right over 20 years later. I knew I could get my chance of combat. But we would loose…
Wow, same years i was in! What MOS and where were you stationed?
@ 55B Ammo. After Airborne school went down the street to my 36th Eng company 608th ord company at Ft.Benning Ga. You?
The Trump administration’s withdrawal plan from Afghanistan included a structured military departure that maintained Special Operations forces (ODA), intelligence (OGA), and civilian contractors to ensure continuous support for the Afghan National Army (ANA). This structure aimed to uphold the ANA’s operational integrity and continuity of command. Under the Biden administration, however, the initial focus was on cutting civilian support, a decision that left the ANA without critical logistical and operational backing. The loss of these civilian resources proved detrimental, contributing to the ANA’s rapid collapse and underscoring the essential role civilian contractors play in sustaining foreign military allies
Honest question, are you 100 percent SURE that was the Trumps administration’s plans or you’re saying that because you are a Trump supporter. Honestly if you can show me that was his plan IN WRITING. Okay. Other than that to say word of mouth or this is how you feel is part of the problem bro seriously. Let’s call it REAL here and just say right is right and wrong is wrong. And I absolutely HATED the way Biden went about it so quick within 1 year in office. Trump had how many years to do these amazing plans you speak of and acted on how many of them? Let’s just have a grown up conversation bro for real. Show me in writing that it was his plan and I’ll apologize. But I’ll be waiting also….
@@stephanarizona9094 All that being said he still made the initial deal with the terrorists and sidelined the democratically elected government, and Biden just fucked it up even more. Let’s be real here. Trump visited the country once and that was right before his reelection. But I agree Trump would’ve at least handled the withdrawal slightly better. Trump was never a big geopolitics guy or sentimental. The only reason he would’ve done anything is out of pride and to project power that’s all. But now he realised that he shouldn’t have signed the total withdrawal and constantly talks about keeping Bagram because it was a “Prime Real Estate”. Obama and Bush were the only guys that were more or less good to their allies.
Pullout was a disaster and Biden is a joke, but this is nonsense. The ANA collapsed because they never wanted to fight in the first place, short of having troops on the ground to babysitting them they were NEVER going to fight the taliban or be self-sufficient as a military. There were a million better ways to have executed this, but in scenario was the ANA ever going to be viable.
It's a shame trump didn't handle this while he was in office
@@austinkopas8557it doesn't or can't happen overnight nor in 4 years. It's a 6 year op.
The way everything is set up in the gov. and pentagon allows blame and accountability to never fall all on any single entity but instead for blame to be shifted from one person to the next and that's by design. I'm also convinced no one in our gov. has a clue what they are doing and for them they get to just show up and play with the world's most vast resources of money & military firepower and whatever happens happens. No one person will ever face any blame or responsibility and they all know it, which over the years has caused them to get more and more brazen. Everyplace we've gotten involved with in the past 50 years has left a trail of death and destruction so far worse than it ever was before that I'm starting to think it's by design. One particular ally of ours was the only party that benefitted from us wrecking Libya, Syria,Iraq, Afghanistan etc. What we did to Syria in particular was so fuked up allowing CIA to flood it with what would be isis fighters trying to start a coup with the current regime. What does America gain from that exactly,nothing but a bunch of displaced refugees wanted flood Europe and our country.
Fire Biden, Harris and the rest of the democrats in the senate and Congress.
Mike, Another great interview. Keep up the great content. Best to you and your family.
We tried to enable democracy in a tribal system .
mainstream media ended up telling millions of Americans that at least one of these groups were worth supporting financially.
I am old enough and was on acrive duty and warched the absolute clusterfuck wirh the fall of Saigon. Leaving the field under fire is the most difficult of all maneuvers.
lol what happened to the one leader in the marine core that did put his rank on the table. They destroyed him
That’s the man right there! General Stuart Scheller. He got charged with like 6 counts of BS and had to forfeit 5,000 dollars of pay for one month and was honorably discharged as long as somebody(I honestly forgot who) signed off on it. At that time from what I remember he did lose his wife and they eventually pulled off all his merchandise out the MCX. But yes he’s the man and he did the right thing and was 100 percent correct.
Inside the 6-minute mark….couldn’t we have just destroyed those documents about our Afghan-helpers, prior to our pulling out?
when i headed they where with drawling and seen the news reports my heart droped. cuz had a freind / class mate.still over there thought for sure would loss another one to the sand box. well 2 weeks after finaly troops got out. got a call he was still alive. but part of his squad wasn't so lucky. bitter sweet.
Thank you for your service.
Your words are wisdom from the blood and ashes of the used and innocents berth by greed and corruption and mistakes
I wonder there was an under the table deal to 'leave everything' for keeping out of the Israel/Iran situation.
Yup, or China and Russia?
Afghanistan has to be the biggest military failure in the history of warfare. It was like playing the board game risk and placing just one company on each territory you owned, spreading yourself so thin and with the worse military tactics ever put in place. Professional soldiers not even being able to defeat untrained heroine addicts with a gun. An example of the tactics is there is a lovely road running between town X and town Y. Lets drive down the road and find all the land mines with our under armoured vehicles. Also, lets go to that village and use the main track leading into the village and then walk through the middle of the village. Oh look there is a lovely gully/waddie over there that will hide us, lets walk down the the very bottom of it. No one would ever think of putting AP mines down there. It goes on and on and every time you looked at a blown up vehicle it was on a track or choke point or the downed soldier was in the middle of a village or on a track. 652,860 square kilometres to go wherever you like and 0.01 of it being roads and tracks and you choose to walk/drive on them. Please comment.
There's a reason it's know as 'The graveyard of empires'.
British
Soviet
USA
For each of them it's been a harbinger of their decline.
Spot on, so true. Lay waist and warn👌. Should not had tried to civilise the place.
The lesson was there in front of our faces from day one. Alexander the Great, the British Empire, and the Soviets in the 1980s. Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires.
20% Truth 80% Cap 🧢
Who was USAF Centcom commander?
Exactly.
It’s the commander in chiefs fault not the centcom commander. The blame falls on sleepy Joe and Kamala Harry…
This comes from much higher than centcom.
"Agencies don't talk well to each other..."
This is what Homeland Security was supposed to solve.
What is an OIC?
That was thee most graphic thing i saw with the Gripping of fingers and hands to the c17 leaving for the last time😢
Really embarrassing and criminal to me and yet no one busted fired or in jail
Over 60 thousand Russian children were adopted by American parents and they got new home and new family in US
blood on JB and leaderships hands.
Mike, what you said at the beginning I've maintained all along. The original mission was to dismantle Al Queada. Once that was accomplished, the US should have pulled out because that was accomplished.
Then it was mission change to empire building, and that's exactly what Iran was. Both turned out basically the same, with Afghanistan being far worse.
I do have some experience in this field in 67 in the Brown Water Navy and a little bit with the teams.
Once again with with Special Boat units (84-90) at NAB Coronado & NS Mare Is.
I have to think that Cheney had a lot to do with that, even more so the invasion of Iraq. It was easy to convince Bush Jr to do it because Saddam tried to kill his father. Cheney probably claimed there would be a domino effect, with Syria going next and ultimately Egypt and Libya, maybe even Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Every Politician responsible for this huge crime MUST BE CHARGED AND BROUGHT TO JUSTICE ⚖️
I learned a lot from this video
Excellent video
CORRECTION: The 9/11 plot began in Sept 1997 Yemen (17-miles south of Al Qaidah town) inside the HQ compound of the British allied multi-billion dollar Hayel Saeed Anam Group at PO Box 5302, Taiz. How do I know? I was there, installing printing machinery in KSM's front company. Planning was immediately passed to the Hamburg Cell whose 1999 visit to Afghanistan was to frame the Taliban/OBL for the attacks. KSM's boss & the True 9/11 Mastermind was Abdul Rasul Sayyaf; Sayyaf was put on the CIA's payroll in Oct 2001 by CIA officer Gary Schroen & remains a 'strongly supported' NATO ally.
Are you still alive
@@NotYourEverydayTrav I am - the man who used me as a patsy to setup KSM's front company in 1997 Yemen isn't. His name was David Dean, a 101st veteran of Hill 937 who was my employer's US sales agent. In Dec 2019 I discovered & exposed Dean's link to CIA contractor Billy Waugh (via MACV-SOG) & his role in setting up KSM's front company - he drowned himself in Lake Hartwell on Jan 8 2020.
@ interesting, extremely interesting. I’d be curious to see your uncoverings. What avenue of exposing did you take? Video?
@@NotYourEverydayTrav I'd always had concerns about my visit to Yemen but my multiple reports pre-9/11 were ignored, as was my post-9/11 report to Britain's counter terrorism command. I forgot about it & assumed I was wrong. My journey of discovery began in May 2015 when I found my old photos & instantly realised it was KSM I'd met in Yemen. I found my 1997 Yemen meeting place on google earth in Nov 2017 & only then found the name of the town - Al Qaidah. It's all on my twitter page, website & youtube channel which you can find via my name, Anthony C Heaford
@@NotYourEverydayTrav It's a long story... there's official correspondence, youtube videos, social media & my website - all easy to find
We did the same thing in Saigon
I'm retired military. Aside from weapons and equipment left behind, as planned! Many of us left our lives, limbs and blood behind! Anyone who could read a History Book, knew that no invading force, has ever conquered Afghanistan! I wonder why, we conducted patrols in Poppy Fields!
Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, who's next ?
I'm guessing Spanish speaking country
Iran or Venezuela in the next decade. Ukraine project is over, Taiwan to risky. But who knows.
Everyone seems to be overlooking Mexico as a direct involvement. We will be directly involved there within the next several years.
@@dreb222 oh this too, many Republicans and even dems have support military action against the cartels like back in Colombia
0:59 still doesn't explain those 5 mossad assholes jumping and dancing arround when the towers got hit
How accountability and legal proceedings for government failures is not a in the rules is sickening,
Who Ran The Withdrawal Should
Of been in jail by now?
who brokered the god awful plan WITH the Taliban should be in jail. Never forget Trump negotiated with terrorists....
The military officer will always point the finger at someone else 99.9% of the time - They did it. I remember a day when there was an incident with one of our birds and CAG came into the office and said I have drafted my letter of resignation - He took responsibility, why not this new generation of officers?? Don't worry he didn't get fired.
A withdrawal, or retreat is a tactical Military mission. Any General should be able to have a plan for this situation.
Personally, the way we pulled out of Afghanistan was beyond humiliating and embarrassing. The peoples faces and the children... the known end of the people after we left... absolutely horrific. I wish the "government so-called leaders" had to see those faces each and every night while trying to sleep. 😢
The Afghanistan withdrawal was simply the largest arms deal ever
The State Department was in charge, not the DOD. Think about that for a moment.
They always are.
The National Strategy is set by the Department of State, then the military writes the National Security Strategy in a support to the National Strategy.
I sometimes question the worth of deploying there.
There's no money to be made by lobbyists if you laid waste to Afghanistan.
I was born in Bosnia in 1978.
13 when war begun.
When I saw KFOR forces US/British and orher European nations tanks role through the streets desteying pavement as show of force I was furios as all I saw was foreign military in my country, and didn't care what their mission was.
I was a Croatian living in Serbian controlled city Banja Luka.
Dispite Serbia and Croatia being at war at time and Serbian population abusing and making others "missing", and ethnic cleansing I still hated foreing troops more.
I survived only till end in same city due to good Serbian people who helped my parents keep their jobs as their names sounded Serbian.
And he had connection from high ranking brass that new my familiy prior to war.
After I realized the mission I was happy to see US planes chase Serbian planes due to no fly zone.
It takes for host people to know mission specific and known they will not be collateral demage and be trated right.
Came to US as war refugee in 1996...
Later joined US Army as Infantry and deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 close to Pakistan in littke COP that was surrounded by Taliban.
We stirred up the nest and its was daily combat for almost full 8 months...
So when is people gonna talk about the Doha agreement 🤷🏾♂️ with us not involving the Afghanistan government in the negotiations
THANK YOU! Finally an informed person. It’s total BS. Then Biden says, “oh the Afghans didn’t fight”….
Though Trump didn't include the Afghan government in the negotiations, the Afghan government did eventually agree to what Trump negotiated.
Another demented Joe Biden disaster. I did not here his name in your explanation… although granted I did skip some of the video.
They left it for the Afghan army thinking that the Afghan army would stand up and fight the Taliban, but that didn't happen.
Air cover
Tali bany's had Afghan Opi um poppys wiped out in 2001, then the US went in and Afghan pop py yield s set new records. No wonder Eldeepo statio didnt want to leave
The real reason for the whole war
No comment on the 70+ WPPS guys left at KIA for 3 weeks after the pullout?
THE BIO METRIC DATA SHOULD OF LEFT ON A PLANE TO AMERICA INSTEAD OF
GIVEN TO THE TALIBAN?
So we were in Afghanistan for 20yrs and nobody game played the withdrawal. Where were the plans to effectively withdraw????? That should be a basic OPORD at best. How do we get out???
it was a mess i was in the Iraq war in 2004-2005 with the guard in Kirkuk. It was a pretty good tour i mean compared to some of the other stuff that was going on in certain area's of Iraq and even Afghanistan at the time. Yeah we got IED's and shot at and rocketed but most all of us made it out alive. I grieve for those that lost their lives for a shitty war! Our unit was great and the SF support that we had was awesome also i went on a couple missions with those guy's they knew their shit!
There are absolutely zero justifications, reasoning, or excuses for having withdrawn from Afhanistan in the way that we did. Is there any individual known to have refused to participate in that fiasco?
It is a shame that anyone can walk across our border but we could not get our allies out of Afghanistan.
Mr. Ritland, what's your opinion on the book, "Saving Aziz"?
You can be over there for 1000 years you’re not gonna change those people they do not like us and I know why