Afghan Army Analogy

Discussion in 'Postwar' started by Owen, Jun 29, 2010.

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  1. m kenny

    m kenny Senior Member

    I made my posts apolitical. That is I took no stand that could be described as leaning/supporting left or right'. Those who detect a bias against their belief system are simply confirming they are the problem. A pox on the lot of you.
     
  2. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    This thread is supposed to be about the training & performance (or lack of it) of the Afghan Army.

    Is it so hard to discuss that & not where you lot have taken it ?
     
  3. m kenny

    m kenny Senior Member

    A civil war was raging right from the start of Western involvement. The western armies propped up one side but utterly failed to defeat the opposition. Afghanistan was never a democracy and the whole war was a complete and utter failure-or as we used to say a defeat.
     
  4. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery


    nice balanced view
    bitter and twisted springs to mind
     
  5. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

  6. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

  7. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    The NATO site here with info

    NATO remains committed to the enduring partnership with Afghanistan. Following its two missions – the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the Resolute Support Mission (RSM) – NATO Allies and partners continue to stand with Afghanistan, its people and its institutions to promote security and uphold the hard-won gains of the last 20 years.




    NATO and Afghanistan
     
  8. m kenny

    m kenny Senior Member

     
  9. m kenny

    m kenny Senior Member

    Perhaps Afghansitan will become another Libya where various warlords control different parts of the country and Russia and Western mercenaries do the dirty work. Another Western success in 'Nation Building.
     
  10. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Moving on


    Afghanistan: its geography, peoples and history
    Geography
    A complex system of mountain ranges forms a backbone trending across the country from NE to SW. The rugged Hindu Kush occupy the central-eastern and eastern area, reaching their highest point in the peak of Naochak (7485 m). Eastwards the Hindu Kush is contiguous with the Himalayan ranges. To the west it decreases in height and passes into a knot of ranges before fanning-out into a series of foothills and then desert plains in the west of the country. The Hindu Kush acts as a watershed between the Kabul-Indus river system to the southeast and the Amu Darya river system draining towards the north. A third river system drains towards the southwest to the border with Iran. The climate of the country ranges from arid to semi-arid with cold winters and hot summers.



    Environment and geography of Afghanistan | Afghanistan Geological Survey (AGS)
     
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  11. davidbfpo

    davidbfpo Patron Patron

    CL1,

    I note the NATO statement which you cite was dated 6th July 2021; cited in part:
    From my limited reading civilians from the USA mainly remained to repair aircraft etc, now gone. The military component, a standby force in Kabul for local missions (with a UK battalion) and the trainers have all left. The only exception being the Turkish part of the Kabul mission, who the USA had hoped would remain - yesterday I read the Turks, who had never fought the Taliban, are now less certain they will stay.

    I read yesterday a story that a Afghan SF trainer watched on a satellite feed how one such unit was overwhelmed by the Taliban as other Afghan Army units gave up on their flanks.

    This forum will be aware of the post-WW1 phrase "stabbed in the back". The link is to the inherent weakness in the Afghan state's performance and survival. See: Afghanistan’s Collapse Begins at the Top
     
  12. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    I am not posting this because I agree with it - please see the Guardian opinion piece below.
    I am not in a position to judge the accuracy of these claims. But what he say was true, did our military leaders (British and German for example) also serve us BS?
    I remember a German general who said in a radio interview that it takes many many years to train good staff officers and that ist takes these to build a good Afghan army. 20 years should have produced some, I should think... where are the good senior officers in the Afghan army and what are they doing to make their men fight? Probably "good staff officers" is bit of a German obsession. Did not help to win any of the wars we started...

    Why is Afghanistan falling to the Taliban so fast? | Daniel L Davis
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2021
  13. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Not sure the g@@@@@@@ is a good opinion source

    but hey ho
     
  14. ltdan

    ltdan Nietenzähler

    I had the pleasure to read "The accidental Guerilla" by David Kilcullen a few years ago, which gives very interesting insights into the mindset of the Afghan rural population and why the Taliban have such influence.

    Cynically one could claim that Afghanistan is by far the most militarily successful nation of all times: Since Alexander the Great, EVERY military power that wanted to gain influence there has been brought to its knees without exception....
     
  15. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    News sources state that the terrorists have entered Kabul
     
  16. Waddell

    Waddell Well-Known Member

    Totally agree. Who could have predicted the Taliban were masters of the long game:-P
     
  17. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    it will never end

    The Dark Defile: Britain's Catastrophic Invasion of Afghanistan, 1838-1842
     
  18. m kenny

    m kenny Senior Member

    If you don't like the message shoot the messenger.
     
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  19. bexley84

    bexley84 Well-Known Member

    If you had followed the link you would have seen the article was bylined:
    • Daniel L Davis is a Senior Fellow for Defense Priorities and a former Lieutenant Colonel in the US army who deployed into combat zones four times. He is the author of The Eleventh Hour in 2020 America. Follow him @DanielLDavis1
     
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  20. bexley84

    bexley84 Well-Known Member

    As you can imagine, AJ are covering the events today in detail with live interrupted pictures from Kabul and on "the ground" interviews. Showing other news at the moment including the Haiti Earthquake.

    Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera
     
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