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Afghanistan 2021 Onwards

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Old 22nd Aug 2021, 23:44
  #441 (permalink)  
 
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Originally Posted by NutLoose
Estimates of what they now have material wise

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/08/21/p...tan/index.html

I do wonder if it’s truly over post evacuation or will there be some follow ons to remove some of the remaining assets from the equation. Some items like aircraft etc.
Unless there are Afghan Air Force pilots who could be `persuaded' to help - I would love to see a member of the Taliban attempt to fly a Tucano.
Or even better, a Blackhawk.
Bit trickier than driving a Humvee.
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Old 22nd Aug 2021, 23:57
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Originally Posted by tartare
Unless there are Afghan Air Force pilots who could be `persuaded' to help - I would love to see a member of the Taliban attempt to fly a Tucano.
Or even better, a Blackhawk.
Bit trickier than driving a Humvee.
Well, they've found a willing Hip pilot...
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Old 23rd Aug 2021, 00:18
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Originally Posted by tdracer
Problem is, do you honestly think Kamala will be an improvement?
I don't have a horse in this race so nothing against mrs. Harris, I just find it amusing that "Kamala" as a finnish word means "horrible".
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Old 23rd Aug 2021, 00:19
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Will they be surprised when he lands in Ubekistan
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Old 23rd Aug 2021, 00:20
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Originally Posted by tartare
Unless there are Afghan Air Force pilots who could be `persuaded' to help - I would love to see a member of the Taliban attempt to fly a Tucano.
Or even better, a Blackhawk.
Bit trickier than driving a Humvee.
I was more in thinking drones and the odd hellfire
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Old 23rd Aug 2021, 00:26
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Biden joined the military in 2003[6] as a member of the Delaware Army National Guard and was recently promoted to the rank of Major in the Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps as part of the 261st Signal Brigade in Smyrna, Delaware.[7][8] Biden's unit was activated to deploy to Iraq on October 3, 2008, and sent to Fort Bliss, Texas, for pre-deployment training,[9] the day after his father participated in the 2008 presidential campaign's only vice presidential debate. His father is on the record as saying, "I don't want him going. But I tell you what, I don't want my grandson or my granddaughters going back in 15 years, and so how we leave makes a big difference."[10]
Screwed that one up.

https://www.militarytimes.com/flashp...kabul-airport/

Officials also confirmed that U.S. military helicopters flew beyond the Kabul airport to scoop up 169 Americans seeking to evacuate. No one knows how many U.S. citizens remain in Afghanistan, but estimates have ranged as high as 15,000.
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Old 23rd Aug 2021, 00:40
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Originally Posted by tdracer
Problem is, do you honestly think Kamala will be an improvement?
Nah, but it would follow the narrative prior to the election that he’d walk out the back door allowing her to run for election as the incumbent.

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Old 23rd Aug 2021, 01:25
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Problem is, do you honestly think Kamala will be an improvement?
Much better than Forrest Trump, at least.
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Old 23rd Aug 2021, 01:38
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Originally Posted by Easy Street
Well, they've found a willing Hip pilot...
https://mobile.twitter.com/TheInside...83947926753285
Willingness no doubt increased by smiling friends in back, all toting AKs.
R/e Hellfires - wasn't aware they could be launched from ground platforms?
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Old 23rd Aug 2021, 02:20
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Drones fly
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Old 23rd Aug 2021, 02:46
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Ahhh - I see - true.
But if a NASA test pilot found flying a civilian version of the Predator challenging:
https://www.flyingmag.com/pilot-repo...ying-predator/
...then I suspect our talib friends would find that or the larger more sophisticated Reaper near impossible.
Automatic weapons, RPGs, Humvees, Landcruisers, tanks etc... sure.
But air assets of any kind?
Any pilots would likely be press-ganged at gunpoint I would have thought.
https://www.npr.org/2021/08/21/10300...-pilots-safety
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Old 23rd Aug 2021, 03:26
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Originally Posted by tartare
Willingness no doubt increased by smiling friends in back, all toting AKs.
R/e Hellfires - wasn't aware they could be launched from ground platforms?

https://warriormaven.com/land/army-f...llfire-missile

A little out of their league at the current time, however, never underestimate their creativity.
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Old 23rd Aug 2021, 06:58
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https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/a...line-zbh5llhn8

Britain extends deadline for RAF mercy flights amid growing fears of Isis suicide attacks at airport

Britain will step up the mass evacuation of British and Afghan citizens from Afghanistan today under plans to fly up to 6,000 people out of the country this week.

The Times has been told that the military has extended the deadline for the last RAF evacuation flight from tomorrow to Friday or Saturday in an attempt to help more people.

Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, and Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, both made the case for extending the August 31 deadline directly to their US counterparts over the weekend.

The evacuation programme has also been significantly expanded as new cases come to light, with the total number of people eligible to enter Britain rising from 6,000 last week to more than 12,000…..

The Ministry of Defence said yesterday that 5,725 people had been evacuated, including 3,100 Afghan citizens. Government sources said that between 5,000 and 6,000 people who are eligible to come to Britain remain in Afghanistan.

Although the RAF hopes to fly as many as 2,000 people out a day, ministers fear that hundreds if not thousands will be left behind.

“The goalposts have moved, the military challenge has grown significantly,” one government source said. “But we’re doing everything we can. Visas that were taking days to process are now taking minutes, people are getting to the airport, the flights are taking off.”….

The RAF succeeded in flying 1,721 people out of the country in 24 hours over the weekend, the highest total to date, involving eight flights.

Ministers were told last week that the last RAF flight would leave tomorrow to allow the military time to get out before August 31. This has now been extended until Friday or Saturday.

“The original deadline was too gold-plated,” an official said. “They’re now looking at the last evacuation flight leaving 72 to 96 hours before the US withdrawal.”…..

It was reported by the German military that a firefight broke out at Kabul airport’s north gate early today between Afghan security forces and unknown attackers.

The military said in a tweet that one Afghan security officer was killed and another three were wounded in the incident. It added that US and German forces also got involved, and that there were no injuries to German soldiers.

The German military did not reveal any further information and it is not known who the attackers were….

One Taliban commander told The Times that its fighters had a duty to maintain security at Kabul airport and prevent an Isis attack. He said: “There is a security risk and Isis can attack anytime. Our men are checking every individual and vehicle, we don’t mean to create trouble for the Afghan people.”
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Old 23rd Aug 2021, 07:15
  #454 (permalink)  
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Details fir each nation in the report.

https://samchui.com/2021/08/22/count...escue-flights/


KABUL RESCUE FLIGHTS BY 13 COUNTRIES

Since the fall of Kabul, Afghanistan to the Taliban forces on 15th August, the world has joined together to rescue their nationals and Afghans. We have compiled a list of ten countries that are flying day and night, in very difficult conditions, to rescue as many people as possible.

Please note the below list of countries is not complete or exhaustive. There are some countries we did not cover in this post. (The Netherlands, Czech Republic, Denmark etc)….



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Old 23rd Aug 2021, 10:14
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Reports on the news today that the Americans have left behind 45 Blackhawks, 2000 military vehicles, arms and presumably electronic devices, intel etc.
I suspect the next 6 months will be using drones to take out this equipment to prevent it falling into Russian hands.
I dread to think what a Humvee convoy fully armed could do in an allied ambush concidering the damage they have done with very little to date.
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Old 23rd Aug 2021, 10:16
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Originally Posted by ORAC
Details fir each nation in the report.

https://samchui.com/2021/08/22/count...escue-flights/


KABUL RESCUE FLIGHTS BY 13 COUNTRIES

Since the fall of Kabul, Afghanistan to the Taliban forces on 15th August, the world has joined together to rescue their nationals and Afghans. We have compiled a list of ten countries that are flying day and night, in very difficult conditions, to rescue as many people as possible.

Please note the below list of countries is not complete or exhaustive. There are some countries we did not cover in this post. (The Netherlands, Czech Republic, Denmark etc)….


Anyone know what the viability (could have been) of all the other countries standing fast and denying the Taliban Afghanistan without American support?
Seems like no one else had a stomach for more either?
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Old 23rd Aug 2021, 12:39
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https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/23/asia/...hnk/index.html

Dozens of US Air Force planes head to Kabul as 20,000 people remain at airport

CNN)Dozens of US military transport jets were expected to land at Kabul's international airport on Monday, as about 20,000 people remained at the facility awaiting evacuation, a source close to the situation told CNN.

Plans called for 33 US Air Force C-17s to head to Hamid Karzai International Airport in the next 24 hours, said the source.

Each of the large four-engine jets has the ability to take 400 passengers out of Kabul, "which should make a decent dent" in the 20,000 people who are on the airport grounds and trying to get out of Afghanistan after the Taliban took control of most of the country last week, the source said.

But the source said Washington was changing its policy on who would be admitted into the airport and, from Monday on, only American citizens and green card holders and citizens of NATO countries would be allowed past the airport's gates.

Applicants for the US' Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program, which is an avenue for Afghans who worked for US government forces and agencies to get out of the country, would not be allowed into the airport, the source said.

They said the Taliban were now helping filter candidates seeking to enter the airport, by checking their documentation. Only immediate family members such as spouses and children can be brought onto the base by eligible US or NATO citizens.

Even with the new restrictions, thousands of Afghans, mostly military aged males with "no documentation," remained on the airport grounds, the source said.

They had arrived on the second day during the "everyone gets in" lapse in filtering entrants. The source said there were "no plans to kick people off the airport," potentially leaving thousands in limbo.

One reason for the chaos was the decision to issue electronic visas, without names or document numbers, to SIV applicants. The visas were then copied as screenshots and sent by Afghans to thousands of other Afghans who were not eligible for access to the airport, a source told CNN at the weekend.

"I don't think consular, or the administration frankly, realizes how badly they f*****d up by sending that stupid visa and letting everyone in for 24 hours straight," the source said Monday.

"Some people are saying there's no way they'll get even those currently on airport out of here in four days," the source added……

Flights not reducing numbers on airport

Despite flights from the United States and partner nations taking more than 30,000 people out of the Kabul airport since August 14 -- including some 5,000 in a 12-hour period on Sunday, according to a White House official -- the airport was still swarming with people trying to get on an outbound plane.

The source said it was unclear how the massive number of flights did not seem to be reducing their overall total and suggested there might be a separate channel in which Afghan security forces, helping patrol the base's perimeter, had their own means of getting people known to them onto the airport grounds, swelling numbers.
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Old 23rd Aug 2021, 17:44
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Originally Posted by munnst
Reports on the news today that the Americans have left behind 45 Blackhawks, 2000 military vehicles, arms and presumably electronic devices, intel etc.
??? How did that happen? Why did no one destroy them upon leaving the Equipment behind? Or was it to be left for the Afghan Army?
2000 Military Vehicles left behind is A LOT looking at the number of US Military Forces in the Country during the last Months. And 45 Blackhawks I would also not want to write off on my cost center.
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Old 23rd Aug 2021, 17:55
  #459 (permalink)  
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Originally Posted by henra
??? How did that happen? Why did no one destroy them upon leaving the Equipment behind? Or was it to be left for the Afghan Army?
2000 Military Vehicles left behind is A LOT looking at the number of US Military Forces in the Country during the last Months. And 45 Blackhawks I would also not want to write off on my cost center.
When people say "left behind" they didnt really. They are talking about HUMVEES which actually belonged to the Afghan military. The US stopped using HUMVEE operationally in Afghanistan years ago. There were though a few Navistar MRAP's left behind but nothing that is going to cause too much concern. As for the Blackhawks, like the HUMVEE's they were gifted to the Afghan Airforce and were "A" models refurbished with newer engines. The Chinese are running Blackhawk copies so again, nothing that is going to cause a issue because the Taliban will have the same logistical problems as the Afghan Air Force did running them.
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Old 23rd Aug 2021, 18:00
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Originally Posted by henra
??? How did that happen? Why did no one destroy them upon leaving the Equipment behind? Or was it to be left for the Afghan Army?
2000 Military Vehicles left behind is A LOT looking at the number of US Military Forces in the Country during the last Months. And 45 Blackhawks I would also not want to write off on my cost center.
As far as I'm concerned, every senior US military leader who was involved in the "planning" (I use the word loosely) and execution of this withdrawal should be fired as soon as the dust settles - maybe even before. A few should even be court-marshaled. Then the people who were actually boots on the ground and saw what a disaster it was should be promoted to take their places - having seen what the price of failure really is.
It won't happen - the leaders be showered with praise and honor for their 'heroic actions' with lots of undeserved medals given out.
But it should.
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