'Ghani .. is not in control anymore..' - 'The Afghan military is in complete disarray..'

'The Americans tried to construct republican institutions on Afghan soil, but they proved to be a flimsy facade. Instead, Mr. Ghani personalized power to disastrous effect.'

- Source, August 13, 2021



'Ghani’s announcement comes on the same day that 3,000 United States forces arrived in the capital, Kabul, to secure Hamid Karzai International Airport.

Haroun Rahimi, assistant professor of law at the American University of Afghanistan, said it was unlikely Ghani could keep his promises.

“He’s not in control anymore, and it’s not about President Ghani anymore. It’s about making the transition as bloodlessly, orderly and as swiftly as possible. The fight is at the doors of Kabul. The reporting shows Kabul is being encircled. Time is not on the government’s side,” Rahimi told Al Jazeera.'

- 'It’s about making the transition as bloodlessly, orderly and as swiftly as possible,' August 14, 2021



'The Afghan military is in complete disarray, and has been defeated in detail across the country. The Afghan National Army has lost five of its seven corps headquarters – the 203rd in Gardez, the 205th in Herat, the 209th in Mazar-i-Sharif, 207th in Kandahar, the 2015th in Helmand, and the 217th in Kunduz. Only one army corps, the 201st in Kabul, remains. The Army National Army’s 111th Division is also headquartered in Kabul.'

- Bill Roggio, Taliban encircling Afghan capital Kabul, prepping final assault through east, August 14, 2021



'..the systemic weaknesses of the Afghan security forces — which on paper numbered somewhere around 300,000 people, but in recent days have totaled around just one-sixth of that, according to U.S. officials — were apparent. These shortcomings can be traced to numerous issues that sprung from the West’s insistence on building a fully modern military with all the logistical and supply complexities one requires, and which has proved unsustainable without the United States and its NATO allies.'

- Why has the Afghan military crumbled so quickly in the face of the Taliban offensive? August 13, 2021



'After 20 years of war, much of what the U.S. sought to accomplish in Afghanistan crumbled in just one week. The insurgent movement controlled none of Afghanistan’s provincial capitals until it seized the remote city of Zaranj just a week earlier, Aug. 6.'

- Taliban Seize Kandahar, Prepare to March on Afghan Capital Kabul, August 13, 2021



Context (The Afghanistan Papers) - 'U.S. officials constantly said they were making progress. They were not, and they knew it.' By Craig Whitlock

Majorities of U.S. veterans, public say the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were not worth fighting

(The U.S. out of the Middle East) - '..Syria .. exit plan .. the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces .. the least apart in terms of their differing visions for the country..'

'..the U.S. out of the Middle East..'


It’s Time for the U.S. to Leave Iraq - '..the next country U.S. troops will leave will be Saudi Arabia.'

(Peace) - '..Sadly, my generation had to relearn the lessons of Vietnam in Iraq and Afghanistan .. to do everything in our power to avoid more wars..'

[Yemen] '..end this war' - Mattis


(Afghanistan, Realism & Restraint) - '..the Afghan war alone drove [US] decline.' - Afghanistan Buries Another Empire

'..to achieve peace between [Israel & Syria] - '..all political parties in [Syria] to achieve a peaceful solution..'