Afghanistan

[spongebob59]

Sounds an absolute nightmare, hope all the foreign nationals get out safely.

 

[Kellfire]

We definitely needed another thread entitled Afghanistan on the first page of threads.

 

[Tashyboy]

I read a book years ago called ghost force, it’s by an ex SAS soldier and his exploits around the world. It finishes with his last escapade in Afghan. He states “ let’s hope that the Taliban government is better than the Russian instilled Government “ he helped to get rid of. He states “ only time will tell”.
That was 20 odd years ago. It was an excellent read that gave the British governments interests into why the SAS ended up being involved in conflicts around the world.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-asia-58219963

Well looks like that’s it then - Taliban have pretty taken back control of the country

Blimey to think it wasn’t that long ago I was in both Kandahar and at Bagram Airport - both now being run by Taliban

 

[Old Skier]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-asia-58219963

Well looks like that’s it then - Taliban have pretty taken back control of the country

Blimey to think it wasn’t that long ago I was in both Kandahar and at Bagram Airport - both now being run by Taliban

Still can't get it round my head how 1000's of trained troops with billions of pounds of kit just rolled over.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Still can't get it round my head how 1000's of trained troops with billions of pounds of kit just rolled over.

Because at the end of the day they are still Afghans and they don’t have the key item - air support - many Afghans “volunteered” for the Army to give themselves a job and regular pay. As soon as they no longer had the support of the foreign forces then the Taliban were going to re take control - the shock is how quickly and easily it’s happening

 

[Old Skier]

Because at the end of the day they are still Afghans and they don’t have the key item - air support - many Afghans “volunteered” for the Army to give themselves a job and regular pay. As soon as they no longer had the support of the foreign forces then the Taliban were going to re take control - the shock is how quickly and easily it’s happening

I can see why your saying that but I don't see the Taliban with any air support.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

I can see why your saying that but I don't see the Taliban with any air support.

The air support kept them at bay - the Taliban have been fighting on that terrain for hundreds of years , air supremacy kept them a lot more pinned in , now without that they can just overpower and it seems that towns aren’t falling without too much force being used tbh. The country won’t change - and people need to stop trying too

 

[louise_a]

It seems to me that this was the likely outcome of pulling out, it had happened before

 

[SocketRocket]

The air support kept them at bay - the Taliban have been fighting on that terrain for hundreds of years , air supremacy kept them a lot more pinned in , now without that they can just overpower and it seems that towns aren’t falling without too much force being used tbh. The country won’t change - and people need to stop trying too

I see your point but air support can create some horrendous civilian and structural deviation.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

I see your point but air support can create some horrendous civilian and structural deviation.

Eh ?‍

 

[SocketRocket]

Eh ?‍

What I said. These battles tend to be in cities, you must have seen the deviation created in Syria etc.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

What I said. These battles tend to be in cities, you must have seen the deviation created in Syria etc.

I’m not sure what it has to do with the point I made ?‍ - Syria and the air strikes there are hugely different to way the air space has been used in Afghanistan-

 

[Deleted member 1147]

What I said. These battles tend to be in cities, you must have seen the deviation created in Syria etc.

Do you mean devastation rather than deviation?
That would make more sense to me

 

[SocketRocket]

Do you mean devastation rather than deviation?
That would make more sense to me

Yes, it was a typo/autocorrect.

 

[SocketRocket]

I’m not sure what it has to do with the point I made ?‍ - Syria and the air strikes there are hugely different to way the air space has been used in Afghanistan-

I meant devastation, my auto correct altered it. My point is that if you use air support to troops on the ground fighting in cities then you will get the inevitable civilian casualties and property damage. Maybe you can explain how you can support the Afghan army with airpower in built up areas without the associated destruction.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

I meant devastation, my auto correct altered it. My point is that if you use air support to troops on the ground fighting in cities then you will get the inevitable civilian casualties and property damage. May be you can explain how you can support the Afghan army with airpower in built up areas without the associated destruction.

The best aircraft in Afghan was a helicopter- the Apache , the air power wasn’t about support troops in cities - it was about pinning them down in the mountains and keeping the out of the cities. The terrain meant it wasn’t just about dropping bombs onto fighters

It was hugely different to the bombing of Syrian Towns by jets -. The Apache was the machine on Afghan , it was huge and it scared the Taliban massively. The impact of that helo was huge. Nearly 90,000 flying hours.

 

[Old Skier]

I meant devastation, my auto correct altered it. My point is that if you use air support to troops on the ground fighting in cities then you will get the inevitable civilian casualties and property damage. Maybe you can explain how you can support the Afghan army with airpower in built up areas without the associated destruction.

Precision weapon systems are now so accurate that in most cases (not all) civilian casualties are rare due to the procedures that British forces try to adhere too whether it’s AC, Helo or Predator drones.

Syria attacks were for pure effect using barrel and non precision weapons.

 

[drdel]

Allies spend 20 years there and girls can finally get an education and now they are thrust back to medieval times. We've not experienced casualties for 3 years and Biden/USA decides to pull out.

Absolute stupidity and a waste of military lives.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1426621862314921991

a thread worth reading - the thoughts and views of some people who put their life on the line for the country and some losing limbs there