The US government’s watchdog on Afghanistan reconstruction told House lawmakers on Tuesday that the Afghan military and government would collapse without continued US support.
“Afghan security forces are nowhere near achieving self-sufficiency, as they cannot maintain their equipment, manage their supply chains or train new soldiers, pilots and policemen,” said John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) chief.
The SIGAR warning comes as the May 1st deadline to withdraw from Afghanistan approaches. So far, the US has yet to make an official announcement on whether or not troops will remain in Afghanistan. The Biden administration appears to be trying to extend the deadline and has presented the US-backed government and the Taliban with a proposal for a power-sharing deal that the two sides are currently deliberating on.
While Sopko said SIGAR is not taking an official position on withdrawal, he said a US pull-out without another peace deal means the collapse of the Afghan government. “To be blunt, the government would probably face collapse,” he told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Some hawks could take Sopko’s warning as a reason to stay, but it is just another example of the futility of the almost 20-year-old war, which some lawmakers recognized. “We’ve done enough,” said Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA). “If we haven’t taught the Afghan people how to care for themselves in 20 years, what makes us think we can do it in two more?”
SIGAR has found incredible waste in Washington’s reconstruction effort in Afghanistan. In one of its latest reports, SIGAR found the US wasted billions of dollars that were meant for vehicles and building projects. Out of the $7.8 billion that was spent since 2008, only $343.2 million was spent on buildings and vehicles that were “maintained in good condition,” and only $1.2 billion of those assets were used as intended.
“We’ve done enough,” said Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA). “If we haven’t taught the Afghan people how to care for themselves in 20 years, what makes us think we can do it in two more?”
Did this guy just let the cat out of the bag? Is their a plan for “two more” years?
The US never wanted the puppet to run things on its own, “to care for themselves.” That was considered a bad thing to be avoided.
There are some new “Afghan security forces”in town, the same ones the US “defeated” twenty years ago, the same ones the US forged a retake agreement with a year ago, and the same ones that are about to take the US behind the barn for a spanking for noncompliance, methinks.
Well, ok then. Does this mean the us must stay……forever?
I know it is far too much to ask but just one time, could these neo con regime changers/war mongers step back and consider the consequences of their stupidity instead of just doubling down and again just doubling down.
And they never will, because they are against a popular movement to rid the nation of invaders.
The puppet government has no tax base and can’t pay any bills.
It has no domestic support base, and can’t survive without US troops standing in the doorways.
Its “army” can’t train anyone because the US and NATO did all the training. They did it because they wanted to control it. They could not trust what the Afghans would do, if they could do anything at all.
Of course it falls apart when the US leaves. Quisling lost Norway when the Nazis left, Manchukuo fell when the Japanese left, Vietnam collapse when the US left, and this is just another puppet regime serving an occupier.
We can talk about the PA in Palestine the same way. It is a standard thing, repeated in many places over many years.