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Why did us leave equipment in afghanistan- Why did us leave equipment in afghanistan
Why the US withdrawal from Afghanistan was so quick and why they left so much behind. The US military departed from the Bagram airbase in Afghanistan last week in a remarkably unceremonious way.
The Americans had been using the massive, heavily fortified facility the size of a town for 20 years. But the Afghan general who took over the place found out the Americans were gone two hours after they had turned off the electricity. There was no ceremony. No handover. No: "Here's the keys, good luck! Many of the vehicles were actually left behind with no keys.
So, why did the US military slip away without telling anyone? Is this a normal way to end a war? The departure from Bagram airbase effectively ended the United States' and Australia's longest war.
The Pentagon says the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan is 90 per cent complete. An unusually large US security contingent of troops, based at the US embassy compound, will continue to protect American diplomats and potentially help secure the Kabul international airport. Afghanistan's district administrator for Bagram, Darwaish Raufi, told the Associated Press that: "Unfortunately, the Americans left without any coordination with Bagram district officials or the governor's office.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said this week the US military had told the Afghans they were leaving but they didn't want to give an exact time for security reasons.
The US Central Command described the withdrawal as "orderly and responsible". Mr Kirby didn't address why the electricity was turned off but NPR reported that the shut-off was the result of "miscommunication", according to a senior anonymous source in the military. World War I was over with the armistice signed with Germany on November 11, — now a national holiday in the US — and the later signing of the Treaty of Versailles. World War II saw dual celebrations in with Germany's surrender marking Victory in Europe and Japan's surrender a few months later following the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
In Korea, an armistice signed in July ended the fighting, although technically the war was only suspended because no peace treaty was ever signed. When convoys of US troops drove out of Iraq in , a ceremony marked their final departure. But just three years later, American troops were back to rebuild Iraqi forces that collapsed under attacks by Islamic State militants. Peter Jennings, the executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute ASPI , said the withdrawal from Afghanistan reminded him of the US leaving Vietnam.
Washington pulled troops out of Vietnam in in what many consider a failed war that ended with the fall of Saigon two years later. The US Central Command said it had left no less than 17, pieces of equipment in Afghanistan. Some equipment, including helicopters, military vehicles, weapons and ammunition, is to be handed over to the Afghan military. Equipment and vehicles that can neither be repaired nor transferred to Afghanistan's security forces because of poor condition will be destroyed.
Washington agreed to withdraw from Afghanistan in a deal negotiated last year under Mr Biden's Republican predecessor, Donald Trump. Mr Biden overruled military leaders who wanted to keep a larger presence to assist Afghan security forces and prevent Afghanistan from becoming a staging ground for extremist groups.
While he initially set a deadline for September 11 for US forces to be out of Afghanistan, he has now brought that forward to August Taliban attacks on Afghan forces and civilians have intensified and the group has taken control of more than district centres. Pentagon leaders have said there is "medium" risk that the Afghan government and its security forces collapse within the next two years, if not sooner.
The US has made it clear it retains the authority to conduct strikes against al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups in Afghanistan if they threaten the US homeland. Because the US has pulled its fighter and surveillance aircraft out of the country, it must now rely on manned and unmanned flights from ships at sea and airbases in the Gulf region, such as al-Dhafra airbase in the United Arab Emirates.
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And why did they leave so much stuff behind? Posted 8 Jul 8 Jul Thu 8 Jul at pm , updated 8 Jul 8 Jul Thu 8 Jul at pm. Share Copy link Facebook Twitter.
Australia's longest war is over. Here's how US and allies spent their 20 years in Afghanistan. US troops leave behind thousands of cars — without keys — as they abandon key Afghan airbase in dead of night.
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