"If I did anything, it was to prepare our forces for this situation," Afghanistan's ex-president sai

[malaise]

https://www.businessinsider.com/afghanistan-ashraf-ghani-confidence-taliban-resistance-us-troop-withdrawal-2021-8

Ashraf Ghani in a May interview was confident that the government could fend off the Taliban.
In April, President Joe Biden announced that US troops would withdraw from Afghanistan by September.
"If I did anything, it was to prepare our forces for this situation," Afghanistan's ex-president said at the time.

Ashraf Ghani, the former president of Afghanistan who fled the country on Sunday as the Taliban captured all the provincial capitals and advanced into the capital city of Kabul, said only months ago that the government could withstand attacks from insurgents "forever" without the US assistance.

President Joe Biden in April announced that he would pull all US troops out of Afghanistan by September.

During a May interview in Der Spiegel, a German news magazine, Ghani was optimistic that the country could stand on its own when the US would eventually retreat from having a substantial presence in the region.


--------------------------------------
Reports suggest that he fled the country with loads of money, several cars and a helicopter

[secondwind]

1. I don't see the humor here... any reasonable person would have done the same.

What am I missing.........

[malaise]

4. The only thing he was prepared for was fleeing the country with cars, cash and a helicopter

I find that hilarious

[secondwind]

17. I guess I just don't find any humor in any of this...oh well...

What I AM happy about is that the US and the Taliban just agreed to continue to evacuate and that there will be "thousands" more that we will be bringing out of the country...

[malaise]

18. It is dark humor

because Western powers always find themselves associated with the worst of scoundrels

[Docreed2003]

2. Were his forces the Taliban???

The Afghan National army put up no resistance. None! The Taliban literally rolled into Kabul like sightseers. The ANA laid down arms and went home. So how was that preparation?

[maxsolomon]

9. they did not fight yesterday, but many did fight earlier this summer.

the special forces troops in particular, before the collapse started.

NYT casualty reports:
https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/afghan-war-casualty-reports

[BeyondGeography]

3. See ya on the Lake Geneva shoreline, Ashraf

A Deep Purple tribute band will be playing your song.

[dalton99a]

5. He had to know that the Afghan military was a fake and worthless army.

[Captain Stern]

6. Well....he did say 'if' he did anything. At least he was honest. n/t

[ansible]

7. At least the last Afghanistan president in the 90s fought to the bitter end

He just looks like a coward who cut and ran

[TheRealNorth]

12. No shit

Even the government the Soviets left lasted 3 years. That there were not many Afghanis willing to die for the American-backed government should tell us something- that we never had much buy-in from the people.

[Irish_Dem]

8. This guy was either lying or stupid.

If he can flee with a helicopter paid for by the US and a boatload of US cash, I guess he is not stupid.

[maxsolomon]

10. Baldfaced lying is a required skill in the Middle East.

Every leader gaslights.

[Irish_Dem]

11. It was certainly a successful strategy in terms of keeping the US cash spigot open.

[maxsolomon]

14. We didn't stay because we believed Ghani's public statements.

I am not primarily upset about the graft. Corruption is endemic in the "Developing World", and it is a stubborn nut to crack.

[Irish_Dem]

20. Corruption is prevalent here in the US as well.

[maxsolomon]

21. Is it equivalent in kind and degree? No.

"Prevalent" is subjective. The US is 25 on this list; Afghanistan is 165:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index

I can't believe I have to argue these points on DU. The US is not a corrupt nation in the same way as Afghanistan.

[malaise]

13. From whre did he get all that money we heard he fled with?

Asking for the rest of the world

[JCMach1]

15. He got sold down the river by tribal leaders...

Probably because he was corrupt AF

[TheRealNorth]

16. Plenty of western security contractors made bank...

Before they ran too.

[LakeArenal]

19. Planned the surrender? Wish we knew that years ago.