From Major Amin. As time goes on, we will no doubt see more information about how the USA “lost Afghanistan”. At the level of American PR/media the blame will mostly fall on Pakistan for now, since there is a lot of truth in it and it gets the clowns who run the state dept and the pentagon off the hook (or so they think) but in time the details about how the US mismanaged its project will also become prominent.. this is one of them. (To some extent it is a structural issue.. Americans live so far above/away from Afghan (or even Pakistani) reality.. well intentioned ones have no framework that remotely resembles situation on the ground, ill intentioned ones only want to make money or have fun killing gooks)
WHAT HAPPENED TO AFGHAN NATIONAL ARMY
Major A.H Amin (Retired)
what happened to afghan national army
- August 2021
- DOI:
- 10.13140/RG.2.2.14621.44004
- Project:
- Military History
- Agha H Amin
Arm chair strategists are taking great delight in criticizing Afghan Army for collapsing in face of so called Taliban onslaught.
“A little knowledge of philosophy , inclineth man towards atheism” as the adage goes but , “depth in philosophy bringeth back man to God !” This is how I will describe these novices and critics !
The first point to be noted is that armies are not created by US firms like Military Professional Human Resources International in a decade but a long process spanning centuries.
The real Afghan Army with traditions dating back to 1719 or 1747 was destroyed by joint US Pakistan design about 1978-1992 when a proxy war was financed in Afghanistan.
Characters like Peter Tomsen went out of their way to destroy the real Afghan Army between 1989 and 1992 , just because it was viewed as Pro Soviet or Pro Russian entity.
Afghanistan had no army between 1992 and 2001.
In 2001 the USA initiated efforts to create a new army but this exercise had ulterior motives. First the exercise was awarded to contractors which was the first blunder.
US myopia and petty mindset was such that USSR trained pilots , available in thousands were not reemployed as they were regarded as Russian proxies !
While the USSR trained many thousand Afghans in USSR and Warsaw Pact states, US petty parsimony and narrowmindedness was such that hardly any Afghan was taken to the USA for courses.
Instead characters who no one would employ in USA , and had no options were in Afghanistan training the Afghan Army.
To give an example , the main project supervisor of Schools and Clinics program in Louis Burger was a male nurse ! To entrust billion dollar construction projects to a male nurse was ludicrous.
My driver and many taxi drivers I met were outstanding war pilots trained for 5 years in USSR and with combat flying experience between 3000 hours to 15,000 hours !
Tanks were regarded as future threat and armour was hardly created or organised.
The list is endless but will never be investigated like Louis Burgers billion dollar failure published by Washington Post as a “BUILDING PLAN FULL OF CRACKS” , LATE 2005 !
The simple issue was security ! US trainers were simply SCARED that they would get shot in the back !
SO THERE WAS HARDLY ANY TRAINING !!!
I saw some of these contractors in Kabul when I was living about 110 metres from gate of Kabul Compound or camp Eggers !
These characters were here to do hole punching and make some bucks and not to create an army. So the real spirit was missing .
The USA preferred so called ex Mujahids which was a bad idea.
The best Afghan officers like Ulumi etc were never taken in the loop as they were considered pro Russian.
Many old Afghan Army officers joined but these were sabotaged by the Mujahid Mafia who were a collection of USA, Pakistan or so many other state proxies who had destroyed their own country between 1978 and 1992 !
The unkindest cut was delivered by this character Ashraf Ghani who between 2014 and 2019 summarily removed 90 % of pre 1992 Afghan Army officers , thus totally destroying the Afghan Army !
The incompetent US staff in Kabul did not oppose this most IDIOTIC and FOOLISH step !
Or perhaps it was US design that Afghan Army should collapse quickly so that the Taliban are back in power and then they can be sorted out properly !
The collapse of Afghan Army has to be seen in the context of the fact that FIRST the USA and its proxy states DESTROYED the REAL AFGHAN ARMY in 1978-92 ! Then the RECONSTRUCTION of AFGHAN ARMY by the USA was a SHALLOW EXERCISE , MARRED by MASSIVE CORRUPTION and a BAD TEAM . Lastly no army can be created in 20 years . FINALLY Ashraf Ghanis Removal of the REAL AFGHAN ARMY OFFICERS BETWEEN 2014 AND 2019 WAS THE DEATH SENTENCE OF AFGHAN ARMY !
Audio of the same points:
Why is a retired major writing like someone who only passed primary school? My eyeballs hurt.
f angreji ruined by Xian 1066
Wretched existence in perpetuity for enemies of Afghanistan
Good analysis. We know Pakistan deserves some blame- but it cannot be overdone. Just like Iraq where the Army and Baath Party were dissolved by US occupation army, which led to years of instability.
I think this marks end of US century and hegemony and credibility . Non western, even western countries, will think twice or thrice before allying with the US.
I also think the rapid advance of Taliban may be due to help from Iran or even Russia. The Kabul govt is seen as a US ally or an underling, which invites the wrath of Iran and Russia , two countries with scores to settle with the US. Even though they don’t like Taliban , there antipathy for pro US forces is also high. US strategy should have been to cultivate Iran, while isolating Pakistan. Instead, they did the opposite with disastarous consequences
India gifted MI24 attack heli to Kabul govt and that is in the hands of Talibs; so is other facilities built by India
//US strategy should have been to cultivate Iran, while isolating Pakistan. //
USA also has to cultivate Israel, Saudi, UAE, Egypt and Turkey, so its a bad strategy to cultivate Iran in opposition to them all, as Obama found out. But on another note, I agree that US allies don’t trust the US anymore. Infact ths US downfall in Afghanistan is directly linked to Pak military establishment’s distrust of the US after it abandoned the region in 1989.
“Pak military establishment’s distrust of the US after it abandoned the region in 1989.”
Why do Pakistanis cry and complain all the time?
US comes in: cry
US goes out: cry
import free money: happy
export militancy: happy
\Pak military establishment’s distrust of the US after it abandoned the region in 1989.\
This is a narrative promoted by Pakistani army.
The US came in with military and other aid after Soviet invasion of 79. After Soviet tropps left in 87, the US had no business there; still it hung around and supplying arms to pakistan and Mujahideen and Taliban till the assasination of Najibulla in 1995.
Pakistan ate of US hands during that period and afterward also; Pakistan has nothing to complain.
Actually Pakistan has been doing armed intervention there from the time of Bhutto ; yet it is spinning a narrative that t was due to Sovit invasion that it got involved in Afghanistan; somehow the US responsible for all Mujahideen and the refugees from Afghanistan and therefore US owes pakistan something continuously.
If Pakistan did not want refugees from Afghanistan, it could have closed the borders completely, left Afghans to their fate
//the US had no business there; still it hung around and supplying arms to pakistan and Mujahideen and Taliban till the assasination of Najibulla in 1995.//
You mean the F-16 jets they sold us and received payment for but never delivered?
This is completely wrong
Pakistan received $0 in military aid after the Pressler amendment came into effect from 1990 onwards. You can find the explanation along with the spreadsheet of US aid here:
http://www.ipedr.com/vol39/028-ICITE2012-K00006.pdf
Anyway, its besides the topic, which is Afghanistan.
“This is completely wrong”
Bullshit. Don’t lie, Pakistan did get its money back.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/02/03/the-u-s-pakistan-f-16-fiasco/
“Pakistan received $0 in military aid after the Pressler amendment came into effect from 1990 onwards.”
Why should they have bankrolled your nuclear program? Beggars can’t be choosers. It is called ‘aid’ and not ‘reimbursement’ for a reason.
Anyway, its besides the topic, which is Afghanistan. Just don’t lie here.
*get
“received payment for but never delivered?”
Americans returned the money. Don’t obfuscate.
“Pakistan received $0 in military aid after the Pressler amendment came into effect from 1990 onwards.”
Why should it have received any more aid? It is called aid and not re-imbursement for a reason, beggars can’t be choosers.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/pakistan-useful-for-us-only-to-clean-up-afghanistan-mess-khan/ar-AANezlu?ocid=winp1taskbar
“Pakistan useful for US only to clean up Afghanistan ‘mess’ – Imran Khan”
for condom to a broom. i would say, it is some progress. just hang in there.
Man,
My respect for Najibullah has gone way up. The dude outlasted his Soviet Union’s withdrawal by many years.
The dude had skin in the game. In typical afghan fashion , he fought against overwhelming odds, Pakistan, Taliban, Mujahideen, US and who else. Even kabul fell after much of the city was flatenned by inter factional fighting.
Let us see who in kabul govt can cobble a coalition to do a fight to the end with Taliban. Even if they do an Assad by aligning completely with Russia , it won’t be a bad idea
one trillion dollars spent on this “army” and this is what US has to show for it!
had US spent 1/1000th of that money on russian mercenaries, they would have held the ground much better.
it may still not be too late. russian mercenaries are in demand everywhere. from libya to syria, they will go wherever the money is.
Well I guess what the Americans and NATO with all their firepower could not achieve will be achieved by Russian mercenaries. Wake up and smell the coffee.. Ghani, Saleh etc will be boarding the jets out of Kabul airport before September 11, 2021.
in some sense i feel that afghans brought this upon themselves. for 20 years they were enjoying a pampered life fully paid for by big daddy US. US army was fighting the real battles with taliban as afghan army collected free paychecks. US was paying the salaries of their various government workers and building nice buildings for them, all for free. just a free money utopia. now the real world is upon them.
now afghan women are posting tearful videos of how scared they are of advancing taliban. well, if you dont want to live under taliban rule, pick up the gun and fight back. if kurdish girls can do it, why can’t you.