The Taliban Takeover in Afghanistan: A Tale of Two Withdrawals
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- čas přidán 10. 05. 2024
- In Afghanistan, the Taliban have now become the recipients of war materiel left behind by the United States.
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There was a time when America could exit conflicts without the humiliation and shame that just played out in Afghanistan with the Taliban. President Joe Biden communicated the need to end our military involvement in Afghanistan after 20 years of war. History demonstrates that the U.S. withdrawal from the Korean War provides a good example of a fighting retreat conducted with honor and heroism.
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Prologue - 00:00
The Taliban Takeover - 4:54
Battle of Chosin Reservoir - 6:42
Conclusion - 12:44
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#Taliban #Afghanistan #Biden
ONE: THE 2021 U.S. WITHDRAWAL FROM AFGHANISTAN
It’s difficult to characterize the United States precipitous withdrawal from Afghanistan as anything but a shameful debacle. It’s also difficult to determine who was responsible for the lack of a strategic withdrawal plan. President Joe Biden typically blamed former President Donald Trump and that it was his fault for negotiating a troop withdrawal with the Taliban. Yet what isn't spoken about is that President Trump’s withdrawal proposal was phased and conditional. If the Taliban failed to meet any of those conditions, American military forces would rain down on them. Shortly before Trump left office when the Taliban violated one of these conditions, an American air strike was conducted against the Taliban. When addressing the nation in the aftermath of the debacle, Biden spent nearly all his time on the need to end our involvement in Afghanistan after 20 years of war. That, of course, is misdirection. It’s not about the withdrawal, but how it’s done.
TWO: WHAT WENT WRONG?
There was no perfect way to withdraw, but military experts agree that a team of operations officers should have been tasked with formulating a strategic withdrawal plan. First and foremost would have been the evacuation of all American civilians. Second, one of the core military strategies is to not leave anything behind that might be of use to the enemy. Everything you can’t take with you is burned or destroyed by combat engineers. Yet, combat engineers were not employed and the Taliban is now the recipient of the war materiel left behind, materiel upon which America spent tens of billions during the war years. Estimates vary, but it is believed that the Taliban now owns over 100 U.S. helicopters, more than 7,000 machine guns, over 3,000 Humvees, 36 planes, and countless forms of other weaponry. Uncle Sam, i.e., the American taxpayer, is now the Talibans quartermaster. Third, in a landlocked country like Afghanistan the last thing you’d abandon when evacuating is a secure, defensible air base. The United States had that in Bagram Air Base - a 12,000 foot long runway, with three large hangars, a control tower, housing units, a swimming pool, restaurants, a hospital, a dental clinic, and more, all surrounded by walls, razor-wire fences, and clear fields of fire. Moreover, Bagram Air Base is not in the middle of nowhere, but about 35 miles from Kabul by road. American forces abandoned Bagram Air Base in the middle of the night without even informing Afghan allies. This enabled Afghan civilians to loot the base before the Afghan army learned of the American departure.
THREE: BATTLE OF CHOSIN RESERVOIR
All this contrasts sharply with another American withdrawal, which occurred in early December 1950 when 20,000 men of the 1st Marine Division found themselves surrounded by more than 120,000 Chinese Communist troops in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.
FOUR: LESSONS LEARNED
In Korea, one Marine division in the most dire of circumstances out-fought 12 Chinese divisions in a well-executed withdrawal that left nothing behind for the enemy. Yet, in Afghanistan, in far better circumstances, we withdrew precipitously and left behind enough war material for a generation of Taliban fighters. It's worth asking: what’s happened to our leadership between then and now?
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What will historians write about the Afghanistan withdrawal over the coming decades? Was there no perfect way to withdraw? Or did the U.S. withdraw hastily?
This was very informative and has me wondering what will become of the future of Afghanistan. Americans have forgotten this takeover and unaware of the billions of dollars spent by the U.S. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and research on this important part of history. Keep the up the excellent work!!
100% agree in terms of what lies ahead for Afghanistan post-withdrawal. It was eye opening to learn about the proportion of U.S. funds being spent over two decades to attempt to rebuild the nation. Thank you for watching!
Excellent comparison and eye opening to a topic that loses steam when it’s not in headlines anymore. Seeing leadership then and now highlights morality and how far gone are we? Well done!
Thank you for watching Bruce! Agreed on how important it is to examine our leadership across these two historical events.
Great work!!! Quality is truly second to none. Insightful and informative. This channel only continues to get better and better with each video you put out.
Thank you for the kind words and for being an advocate of the channel! Best is ahead!
You’ve left me thinking long after the end of this video. A truly captivating overview of a topic that should continue to make headlines.
Completely agree with you Hannah. It's a topic that hasn't gotten enough air time since the chaotic events unfolded.
Great perspective and, opening up the discussion without making it a left vs right conversation, but bigger than that. Aside from the destroying of war material, the two withdrawals are starkly in contrast when you add in the evacuation of a civilian population... Retreat, Hell... semper fi
@jasonblydell1 Really appreciate your feedback. The question of our leadership is a relevant one. I can see many different elements that need to be thoroughly investigated by military and academic historians to help us avoid this story being replicated as it was in Afghanistan. My hope is that we do not limit our focus to the chaotic end of these stories in the ongoing investigations in order to learn from them. It is in the beginning that the end is often told. Semper Fi
Excellently edited! Great work!
Thank you for supporting the channel @ Grant Smucker. Best is ahead!
Love HindSight History!! Keep up the great content.
Thank you for supporting the channel @Austin Barrett!
What an insane juxtaposition. Incredibly insightful video! Thank you Nick O!
Thank you @Nathan Reid Hughes for supporting the channel!
Is 13 soldiers
Thank you @RoyMarksberry & good call out!