Afghanistan plunges into chaos
Afghanistan plunges into chaos
Also, some notes on Russia and Yemen
I am just gutted by what is happening in Afghanistan. If you haven’t been keeping up, Afghan government forces have continued to flee and surrender (and even switch sides). Three additonal major cities have fallen (Kandahar, Herat, and Lashkar Gah), which brings the total to more than a dozen that have fallen.
As one expert on the country, who has 18 years as a military operations analyst, put it:
At this point, the Afghan troops have shown little heart for resisting, and it’s been frustrating watching the videos of it happening online. (Taliban fighters running through streets with absolutely no training; Afghan government convoys driving out of cities at high speed.)
President Joe Biden has held fast in not changing his course to leave the country for good.
“Look,” Biden told reporters at the White House, “we spent over a trillion dollars over 20 years. We trained and equipped, with modern equipment, over 300,000 Afghan forces. And Afghan leaders have to come together.”
Because of how fast things have collapsed, we are currently sending some troops in to withdraw additional Embassy personnel in Kabul, but that is a short-term deployment merely to withdraw the Americans staffing the building. (Minus a core staff who will stay longer.)
I think part of what frustrates me the most is best summed up below.
In other matters, I thought I’d share a pretty fascinating glimpse inside the secret Russian soldiers, who operate around the world (mostly in the shadows). These soldiers operate in places like Syria, Libya, and other parts of the world, and the BBC story will really open your eyes to this tool that Russia increasingly uses.
Finally, this hasn’t made the news of late, but Yemen is a country that continues to spiral downward. For a good overview of that situation, see below.
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Semper Fidelis,
Stan R. Mitchell
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The world is too crazy for me, Stan. It's good to have people like you following things so I can take in what I can. You're doing a good job.