Commentary
The accompanying photo appearing in the Wall Street Journal, picturing Taliban security personnel on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, succeeded in again raising my ire over the Biden administration’s irresponsible withdrawal of Afghanistan.
I’ve written about the chaos at Abbey Gate at Hami Karzai International Airport used for the withdrawal rather than Bagram Air Base, where proper security was possible. Specifically, the 13 lives of U.S. military personnel lost on August 26, 2021, killed by a suicide bomber.
It brought back memories of another photo showing U.S. Marine Nicole Gee comforting an infant at the gate. She was one of the 13 whose life was later lost.
But the photo showing the Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle with the Taliban personnel triggered this edition. Over the course of the war, we provided the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces with 25,000 of the vehicles, commonly known as Humvees, among 40,000 military vehicles left behind after the withdrawal.
The scale of our financial commitment to the ANDSF was unbelievable, reaching over $18.6 billion for equipment and training between 2005-2021. The Defense Department confirmed that approximately $7.2 billion worth of equipment remained in the country after the withdrawal. Because it had been transferred to the ANDSF, it was not considered U.S. property.
In addition, approximately $923.3 million in aviation assets were left behind, including helicopters and light turboprop aircraft, along with some 300,000 weapons – M4 and M16 rifles, machine guns and grenade launchers.
Not forgotten
You cannot put a price on the loss of life at Abbey Gate, but accountability for poor decisions there needs to be revealed. Secretary of War Hegseth promises to get to the bottom of what took place.
President Trump has often referred to our abandonment of Bagram and the value of equipment left behind. Last May, Hegseth, in a memo to senior Pentagon officers, wrote about a department review and pledged full transparency of what transpired.
“The Department of Defense (now the War Department) has an obligation, both to the American people and to the warfighters who sacrificed their youth in Afghanistan, to get to the facts,” he noted. “This remains an important step toward regaining faith and trust with the American people and all those who wear the uniform and is prudent based on the number of casualties and equipment lost during the execution of this withdrawal operation.”
As someone who follows administrative policy and the decisions made in support of it – military and domestic – I am impressed with President Truimp’s decisiveness. We not only know what he’s thinking, we can expect him to do what he’s thinking and says.
And unlike Biden with the feckless, old Washington, coalition-building thinking from Harris, Blinken, Sullivan, Austin and Milley, President Trump has knowledgeable, proven people in Vance, Rubio, Hegseth and Cain providing solid advice, all of whom have been involved in high-profile international security actions – drug boats in the Caribbean, Venezuela, and two Iranian actions.
May God continue to look over us in our endeavor to change the future of life in the Middle East.
