Christmas came early!

**lyman** · 08-28-2021, 09:35

well good news, of sorts, is in about 2 years the only road vehicle that will likely be running will be the Toyota's,,

1/2 the aircraft will be down for maintenance or no spare parts,

**Vern Humphrey** · 08-28-2021, 01:10

Originally posted by lyman

well good news, of sorts, is in about 2 years the only road vehicle that will likely be running will be the Toyota's,,

1/2 the aircraft will be down for maintenance or no spare parts,

They can make enough money off drugs and crime to hire qualified maintenance people -- after they spend the pallets of cash we left behind.

**Sandpebble** · 08-28-2021, 02:09

Quite a shopping list .

All those arms were for an Army we wasted twenty years unsuccessfully training and they would have been left behind even if we'd departed Afghanistan last May as promised by a previous administration .

Even Trump didn't see the US trained Afghan Army quitting so quickly .

The Taliban weren't given all this... they took it . And we may not like it... or them ... but they just took their own country back . It was inevitable .

I am truly heartbroken for all those American Mothers who wonder if their children died in vain .... but here we are 20 years later and come full circle . Four administrations and who gets all the blame ?

Interesting comment Vern about the Taliban being able to hire maintenance people ..... we now have a large amount of Halliburton and Blackwater stock holders that would like to see a little action

**dogtag** · 08-28-2021, 03:34

This give away to an enemy smack sof High Treason

**Art** · 08-28-2021, 04:20

Not removing or destroying everything bigger than a SAW is negligence on an almost unbelievable scale, if for no other reason than we knew how corrupt the Afghan govt was. It all should have been removed months ago. Before the "bugout" the Biden administration (if you paid attention) estimated that the Afghan government could well collapse within 18 months.

In a previous post I stated that one of the things that could prove most damaging to us in the future is the Taliban acquisition of all that up to the minute night vision and IR equipment. Maintenance on that gear consists of replacing the battery. That stuff gave us our advantage on the ground in night engagements.

The idea that at least the ground vehicles can't be maintained is fools gold. The Cubans have been driving around in '56 fords ever since the revolution. The Cubanos even operate a WWII vintage Vought OS2U Kingfisher reconnaissance/bomber floatplane. The Battleship Texas commission has been trying to get one of those to stick on the old girl's catapult for years. The Vietnamese are still operating some of our equipment left over from that war, they are especially fond of the M113 APC, of which they have at least 200 operational and the M106 Mortar Carrier.

The real silver lining is that the various factions in Afghanistan are already starting to kill each other.

**Roadkingtrax** · 08-28-2021, 04:38

Originally posted by dogtag

This give away to an enemy smack sof High Treason

The Afghanistan Military must pay!

These are not US assets.

**Art** · 08-28-2021, 05:16

Originally posted by Roadkingtrax

The Afghanistan Military must pay!

These are not US assets.

Some are, some aren't. I'll guarantee we didn't take as much as a scooter out of Baghram when we left, and a dollar to a doughnut we didn't leave a thermite grenade on the engine block of everything bigger than a scooter when we turned out the lights either.

NATO strength in Afghanistan when we pulled the plug was actually 10,000. The 2,500 you hear mentioned are just ours. The remaining 7,500 are other NATO troops, Brits, Frenchmen, Germans ect. Since we didn't bother to give them a heads up until the very last minute I bet a bunch of their gear might be in Taliban hands too....wait....I bet they might have actually used some thermite grenades, or C-4 or maybe just plain old mo-gas or diesel to torch their gear.

Watch TV to see the other NATO guys at the Kabul Airport. I've seen Brits and Austrians there in the news feeds.

**Roadkingtrax** · 08-28-2021, 05:44

You know what we did the vehicles left at Bagram?

I don't think you do.

**Art** · 08-28-2021, 06:04

Originally posted by Roadkingtrax

You know what we did the vehicles left at Bagram?

I don't think you do.

No, but I know they left on 24 hours notice, didn't tell anybody, including our allies until the last second (which gave them a monster case of the red-a$$) and slipped out in the dead of night. That isn't conducive to loading up all your heavy equipment. I think the smart money is on my side, judging from past US history. I'll also say the smart money is a lot of the equipment left in the interior was ours simply because I trust we wouldn't have willingly left encripted gear to the Afghans. However our incompetence never ceases to amaze me.

So the bottom line is neither of us knows exactly how much left behind was ours and how much was the Afghans but I figure its a sure thing a lot of it was ours. If we didn't prioritize getting the "civvies" out before the troops its a pretty safe bet we didn't get the equipment out either.

**Vern Humphrey** · 08-28-2021, 06:17

Originally posted by Art

No, but I know they left on 24 hours notice, didn't tell anybody, including our allies until the last second (which gave them a monster case of the red-a$$) and slipped out in the dead of night. That isn't conducive to loading up all your heavy equipment. I think the smart money is on my side, judging from past US history. I'll also say the smart money is a lot of the equipment left in the interior was ours simply because I trust we wouldn't have willingly left encripted gear to the Afghans. However our incompetence never ceases to amaze me.

So the bottom line is neither of us knows exactly how much left behind was ours and how much was the Afghans but I figure its a sure thing a lot of it was ours. If we didn't prioritize getting the "civvies" out before the troops its a pretty safe bet we didn't get the equipment out either.

But we DO know there are videos of Taliban driving MRAPs and similar vehicles in the streets of Kabul.

**Roadkingtrax** · 08-28-2021, 06:27

Originally posted by Vern Humphrey

But we DO know there are videos of Taliban driving MRAPs and similar vehicles in the streets of Kabul.

Ask the Afghan military? They are not ours.
I

**Art** · 08-28-2021, 06:35

From "the more things change the more they stay the same" department. 1883 vs 2021.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWIK7e89QsI

**Roadkingtrax** · 08-28-2021, 06:36

Originally posted by Art

No, but I know they left on 24 hours notice, didn't tell anybody, including our allies until the last second (which gave them a monster case of the red-a$$) and slipped out in the dead of night. That isn't conducive to loading up all your heavy equipment. I think the smart money is on my side, judging from past US history. I'll also say the smart money is a lot of the equipment left in the interior was ours simply because I trust we wouldn't have willingly left encripted gear to the Afghans. However our incompetence never ceases to amaze me.

So the bottom line is neither of us knows exactly how much left behind was ours and how much was the Afghans but I figure its a sure thing a lot of it was ours. If we didn't prioritize getting the "civvies" out before the troops its a pretty safe bet we didn't get the equipment out either.

What heavy equipment exactly? It's fun speaking in platitudes about withdrawal details that the general public didn't get a detailed breakdown of, but the reality is what we brought was never going home. Now, what will happen with all that shampoo left on the base exchange shelf?

None of this is a surprise, and it's pretty much what we do.

**Art** · 08-28-2021, 06:46

Originally posted by Roadkingtrax

....None of this is a surprise, and it's pretty much what we do.

Well we certainly made that s sure thing this time didn't we?

Christmas came early!

Christmas came early!

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment