AP Photo/Rahmat Gul
The U.S. left Afghanistan’s Bagram Airfield after nearly 20 years by shutting off the electricity and slipping away in the night without notifying the base’s new Afghan commander, who discovered the Americans’ departure more than two hours after they left…
Afghanistan’s army showed off the sprawling air base Monday, providing a rare first glimpse of what had been the epicenter of America’s war to unseat the Taliban and hunt down the al-Qaida perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks on America…
“We (heard) some rumor that the Americans had left Bagram … and finally by seven o’clock in the morning, we understood that it was confirmed that they had already left Bagram,” Gen. Mir Asadullah Kohistani, Bagram’s new commander said.
On display on Monday was a massive facility, the size of a small city, that had been exclusively used by the U.S. and NATO. The sheer size is extraordinary, with roadways weaving through barracks and past hangar-like buildings. There are two runways and over 100 parking spots for fighter jets…
Kohistani said the U.S. left behind 3.5 million items, all itemized by the departing U.S. military. They include tens of thousands of bottles of water, energy drinks and military ready-made meals, known as MRE’s…
The big ticket items left behind include thousands of civilian vehicles, many of them without keys to start them, and hundreds of armored vehicles. Kohistani said the U.S. also left behind small weapons and the ammunition for them, but the departing troops took heavy weapons with them. Ammunition for weapons not being left behind for the Afghan military was blown up before they left.
Nothing much to add to previous analysis/remarks. Our heroes in DC, in Congress, the White House, accomplished not much of note since our invasion after 9/11. Nothing that will benefit the Afghans who cooperated with our invading military.
In recent weeks, the Taliban is bolder than ever, retaking territory, winning battles whenever they find someone who prefers to fight rather than skip over one or another border to comparative safety. No blame IMHO for dudes who’d rather skip out on the brass hats who made a bunch of extra coin off Uncle Sugar and American taxpayers. Isn’t that part of what the Pentagon is for?
Eideard 
That’s $2.26 TRILLION flushed down the Afghan crapper over 20 years.
The Onion was prescient.
https://www.theonion.com/u-s-quietly-slips-out-of-afghanistan-in-dead-of-night-1819572778
Thanks!
“As it did in Vietnam, the United States is leaving Afghanistan without victory and without the real chance of a viable central government capable of defending itself despite having sacrificed extraordinary resources and precious lives. The question we should be asking is why we failed to win.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/08/03/dont-ask-if-we-should-leave-ask-why-we-didnt-win-afghanistan/
● Analysis: How Afghan war showed limits of US military power https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-us-withdrawal-biden-military-analysis-e6aea337670314041ce5a8837799bc73
● What America Didn’t Understand About Its Longest War : That the war went on so long may be tragic, but it is hardly surprising. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/07/06/afghanistan-war-malkasian-book-excerpt-497843
● Learning from the War: “Who Lost Afghanistan?” versus Learning “Why We Lost” https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/210719_Cordesman_Learning_War.pdf?wtdfMLGnQFrj7m3gykTuAWz4ox5Lr.Xa
Since 2001, the U.S. has spent $83 billion on Afghan security forces, through training and equipment.
“We built them a pretty amazing war chest and now all of it is in the hands of the Taliban,” said Open The Books’ Adam Andrzejewski to Jan Jeffcoat on The National Desk. “We know that last month, as late as July, seven new helicopters were being delivered in the capital city of Kabul.”
How much U.S. military equipment does the Taliban now control?
“We’ve made the Taliban into a major U.S. arms dealer for the next decade,” said Andrzejewski. “They now control 75,000 military vehicles. This is about 50,000 tactical vehicles, 20,000 Humvees they control about 1,000 mine-resistant vehicles, and even about 150 armored personnel carriers.”
According to Andrzejewski, there are also about 208 airplanes and helicopters. Some U.S. equipment given to Afghan security forces is currently unaccounted for, including missing military drones.
“We found a Federal Audit that detailed up to $200 million worth of drones that had disappeared,” said Andrzejewski. “We don’t know where 600,000 weapons are within the country.” https://katv.com/news/nation-world/75000-us-military-vehicles-now-in-the-hands-of-the-taliban-says-watchdog-group
7AM MDT, tomorrow morning, 29th