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After the government collapsed there is nothing that can be done. I meant what they did or they failed to do during the 20 years of rebuilding that was not done. State was tasked withe rebuilding the Afghan Police? How did that go? Tasked with setting local governmental institutions? How did that go? Rebuilding the Afghan Ministry of Interior? How did that go? State Department personnel rarely left the embassy compound.

No I did not miss that. I had a TS SCI for years.

Ok. Just my thoughts based upon my experience. Of course I was not privy to all information or intelligence. In terms of the experience of those who are in charge? The higher one goes, the more they hear from subordinates what they want to hear. Any soldier will understand what I mean by this. A Lieutenant wants a promotion to Captain, the Captain want to be a Major, the Major wants to be Lt Colonel and so and so on. Who wants to rock the boat to his next promotion?

To provide security for an orderly withdrawal. I have been to Abbey gate at Kabul Airport and it is tight. It looked like a “Charlie Foxtrot”.

It is called making tough choices. Having been deployed to Afghanistan twice (2005-2006 and 2010-2011) it was obvious to me the only part that ever was going to be defended to the end was Kabul. Specifically the part of Kabul from Masoud Circle where the US Embassy was located to Kahir Kana where Kabul Airport was. The Embassy and the ISAF HQ, Camp Eggers, are located close to the airport. The additional military personnel would only have been deployed long enough to secure this part of the city. It could have been done differently than how it was executed. Of course I never rose to the rank of Gen Miley so what do I know except for what I saw on the ground during my years in Afghanistan.

At the time no.

The Taliban was not in power so there was no other way to withdrawal that many without adequate security. What’s the worst that could have happened? The Taliban reneges and goes back to their caves. But withdrawal the way it was done still leaves me wilt a bitter taste. A rapid deployment is something that the 101st Air Assault Division and the 82nd Airborne Division trains for constantly. Getting beans and bullets anywhere in the world rapidly is something that USAF brags about constantly. So where was all this military capability during June, July and August of 2021? Also, then what is the purpose of spending 700 to 800 Billion for defense when the withdrawal after 20 years turns into such a “Charlie Foxtrot”? As far as I know military planners have had and refined withdrawal plans form Afghanistan for years. It also referred to a full retrograde operations. All I call it full “SNAFU” which leads to full “FUBAR”. As a veteran I am ashamed of everyone that was in office August 2021. The includes Biden, Austin, and of course Miley. Miley should retire and fade away.

For the sake of argument let’s say Trump screwed Biden. So how does Biden deal with the raw deal he got? Did you deploy additional military force to Afghanistan to ensure an orderly withdrawal? Based upon my limited military experience at 10,000 to 20,000 additional would have been required to at least provide a security cordon around at least from the Embassy located at Mosoud Circle to the Khalid Kana neighborhood just north of the Kabul Airport. What actually happened was a in a word a debacle. There were two failures: Trump’s agreement and How Biden and his administration executed the withdrawal.

The Marshall Plan was executed by the military. I did not see C-47's with DOS flying over Berlin? Have you ever worked for the State Department? Have you been inside the Kabul embassy? I can say yes to both and what I saw from inside was disappointing and at times shocking. Just imagine being in a room full of Ivy League school graduates who are tasked to rebuild Afghanistan. The theoretical discussions went on and on but when it came time to go out into the field to engage the locals getting the State Department personnel to accompany military members was like pulling teeth. Most did not want to leave the comforts of working and living in the secure Embassy compound that had great food, great gym and a store where you can buy all the adult beverages you could desire. You can't rebuild a nation sitting in a cubicle while typing away on a laptop. Many of the civil and diplomatic missions were carried out by soldiers, marines, airmen and sailors who knew nothing about these two functions. Today's State Department.

It does state non diplomatic personnel must leave as well. So the agreement was to keep the diplomatic mission on going?

"non diplomatic" personnel? So the US agreed to keep the diplomatic mission on going. So why was the Embassy closed and what about the 8600 military personnel?

i don't rely upon wikipeidis for accurate information. Again did the agreement call for the complete withdrawal of all US Government personnel from Afghanistan and the closure of the Embassy by August 31, 2021? Cannot seem to find a reliable source for the true answer.

So is China now going to hold military drills to protest this as well? China just sanctioned the Ronald Reagan Library because Taiwanese President Tsai Ing Wen spoke their.

A picture is worth a 1000 words. I can think of chaos, poor planning and poor execution. Military operates in three phases: 1) Attack 2) Hold 3) Withdrawal. This withdrawal appeared to be like it either was rushed or the plan was improvised. I can also think of other terms like SNAFU, FUBAR AND BOHICA(for those who do not know this acronym it is Bend Over Here It Comes Again).

Military Intelligence = OXYMORON. I know from my time in the Army.

So the Trump Administration agreed to completely pull out all US Governmental institutions and personnel from Afghanistan by August 31, 2021?

So the agreement required the withdrawal of all US Government personnel by August 31, 2021? The closure of the US Embassy, all diplomats, aid workers and all military personnel and equipment must leave. So this agreement required the US to cu toff all diplomatic relations with Afghanistan. Also, if the August 31, 2021 was such a hard deadline then what did the Biden Administration do from Feb to early August 2021 to plan for the complete withdrawal from Afghanistan? It seems to me the withdrawal was chaotic, lacked coordination with allies and poorly planned. I am not saying Donald Trump and his people would have done any better or worse.

The Biden Administration had from Feb to Aug of 2021 to plan this withdrawal if the August 31 was a hard deadline for the complete withdrawal of all US Government presence in Afghanistan. So what was done for 6 months by Anthony Blinken, Lloyd Austin and Mark Miley?

Again you stated the Pentagon blames the Trump Administration? The entire report has not been released and probably never will due to security reasons. However I believe reporters were given today a summary and this is why news reports have been circulating today.

This agreement was signed by which parties? The US and the Taliban? The US, Taliban, and the Afghan Government which was still in power? I do not ever recall hearing about such a deadline. Also, did this mean the US would not even have an embassy in Kabul? In essence the plan all along was to cutoff all diplomatic relations with Afghanistan?

Who at the Pentagon has publicly blamed the Tramp Administration?

At the time the Taliban was not in power. The Afghan Government was still in power until President Ashraf Ghani did a runner to Dubai. Then all hell broke loose. No one have ever stated a date for the the complete withdrawal of all US Military Personnel. Also, the plan was still to 1) Keep the US Embassy open, 2) Maintain small military force for training, advisory and force protection of the US Embassy and diplomats. But none of this happened. Also, “withdrawal” of all US Personnel and the closure of the Embassy? ”the devil is in the details”?

I would disagree. I have spent time in the following parts of A-Stan: 1) Kabul 2) Bagram,3) Kandahar 4) Gardez 5) Herat 6) Jalabad. Bagram Air Base which at one time had the busiest runway in the world had started retrograde (tearing things down) at least 2 years before Joe Biden came into office. The process of retrograding or withdrawal was in process. It was like most things in the military, slow and at times bureaucratic. For some unknown reason those in the Biden Administration(DOD, DOS and the White House) decided a rapid “Get the hell out” had to be executed before Sep 11, 2021`. Was the 20 year anniversary of 9-11 a factor in the rapid withdrawal? I do not not know the answer to this question because no one with integrity or courage has stated so in public. So why was there such an urgent need to be out and turn out the lights? This question will never be answered because it would take a persons with integrity and courage to answer it. I do not see anyone that fits that description at the Pentagon or the White House. If Gen Miley had advised Biden that this withdraw idea was a good plan and needed to be executed by September 2021 then I can’t put the entire blame on him. If Biden actually took the advice of his military leaders then shame on General Miley and his staff of useless officers who only care about their next promotion and careers.

I knew two men who did not come from Herat and Jalabad. The blame game is not important but accountability is. So far not a single senior military officer has been fired or forced into early retirement. The fact that Gen Miley is still the chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff is in a word disgusting for all us who served in Afghanistan. This includes myself. If Joe wants to blame anyone else he can go back as far 2006 because back then Bush was spending 4 Billion a month in Iraq and 1 Billion a month in Afghanistan. Afghanistan was never a top priority for the Department of Defense or the single most useless governmental agency in modern times: The State Department.

The USD will collapse when the $100 dollar bill is no longer the means to complete other than the legal transactions. I have seen the $100 dollar in some of the most remote places in the world.