Taliban 2.0: Rising from the Ashes of the “Blitzkrieg Withdrawal”

When Joe Biden ordered the Afghan “Blitzkrieg Withdrawal,” he underscored that it was a good thing to now end the”good war” of the Obama Administration of which he was part.

Not only were American soldiers killed during the hasty withdrawal, and Americans left behind, and the American allies in Afghanistan betrayed, but the NATO allies and their contribution was denigrated as well.

But very little focus has been put upon the arsenal left behind.

Not only did the Taliban prevail, but they were now armed at a level they could not dream of before. Sort of an early Ukraine aid strategy.

And they could now position themselves as part of the multi-polar authoritarian world.

An Egyptian film maker came to Afghanistan to shoot footage and make a film about the result.

Christina Lamb published an article in the London Times and republished in The Australian which has highlighted the film maker and his film.

The film maker, Malawi Mansour, underscored: “This is a totalitarian regime who now have an armory of western kit and a PR strategy.”

Lamb then note: “They are also operating in a new geopolitical reality, as is clear in the final scene of the parade, in which the diplomats present are Chinese, Russian and Iranian.”

He did his film while closely guarded by the Taliban and saw first hand how the Taliban was amazed at the equipment left behind by the Americans, and then learning how to use them. So the worst of possible worlds was left by President Biden in his Blitzkrieg Withdrawal: the “good war” turned into the arming of the Taliban with American equipment and goods.

A bit of irony indeed. The Reagan Administration armed them against the Russians and the Biden Administration armed them against us.

As Lamb highlights: “Among the most disturbing sights after the fall of Kabul three years ago was Taliban fighters riding around on American Bradley armoured vehicles wearing Oakley sunglasses and US Marine baseball caps, and waving the white flags of the Islamic emirate. This was a tiny fraction of what the Pentagon estimates was $10.6 billion worth of American kit left behind in the rush to leave – including sophisticated Black Hawk helicopters – some of which was on display on Thursday at a military parade to mark the Taliban’s third anniversary in power.”

This military parade evidently highlighted the American equipment including the Blackhawks and ended with a featured appearance of the Taliban suicide brigade.

Last time I looked, Blackhawks could fly. And if they could not and needed to be repaired, why could not the U.S. forces be allowed to leave when they had moved or destroyed their equipment?

The answer is simple: it was a “blitzkrieg withdrawal” on the way to?

In effect, the two Obama Administrations joined with the Biden Administration went from the “good war” to “good riddance.”

Featured image: Taliban patrolling in the streets of Kabul Afghanistan after takeover.

ID 231773420 © Elhan Afzal | Dreamstime.com