BROADCASTS.com

Published: Sept. 6, 2021, 2:49 a.m.

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The Afghanistan Debacle and why it matters.

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• It has provided our enemies a tremendous windfall in advanced armaments.
  \\n\\u201cThe Taliban has seized US weapons left in Afghanistan worth billions \\u2014 possibly including 600,000 assault rifles, some 2,000 armored vehicles, and 40 aircraft, including Black Hawks, according to reports.
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The US gave the Afghan military an estimated $28 billion in weaponry between 2002 and 2017 \\u2014 including seven brand new helicopters delivered to Kabul just a month ago.

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The war chest also included the supply of at least 600,000 infantry weapons \\u2014 including M16 assault rifles \\u2014 as well as 162,000 pieces of communication equipment and 16,000 night-vision goggles.

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In just two years from 2017 to 2019, the US gave 7,035 machine guns, 4,702 Humvees, 20,040 hand grenades, 2,520 bombs and 1,394 grenade launchers, The Hill noted, citing a report last year from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).

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\\u201cEverything that hasn\\u2019t been destroyed is the Taliban\\u2019s now,\\u201d one US official told Reuters, speaking on the condition of anonymity.\\u201d Excerpt from NY Post article from Taliban has billions in US weapons, including Black Hawks and up to 600K rifles

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• Creates a potential hostage situation that could dwarf the Iran hostage crisis. (In 1979 Iranian militants took over the American embassy in Tehran and held them for 444 days.) The White House claims that between 100 and 200 Americans were left behind in Afghanistan. Every one is a potential hostage and bargaining chip to be used by the Taliban to gain monetary and other concessions
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• Endangers Afghan Christians, women, and gays
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• Undermines our standing in the world, especially with our allies and with Taiwan.
  \\n\\u201cSeveral MPs said constituents, particularly former service personnel, had been in contact, with \\u201cheart-rending\\u201d stories of friends and former colleagues in Afghanistan who were now in immediate danger, piling pressure on the government to act faster to help save them.
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Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the foreign affairs select committee, said he was \\u201cextremely angry\\u201d at Biden\\u2019s criticism of Afghan soldiers, calling those troops \\u201cincredibly brave\\u201d and saying the US withdrew \\u201clike a thief in the night\\u201d with no proper handover. The former Treasury minister Huw Merriman, who chairs the transport select committee, called Biden a \\u201ctotal blithering idiot\\u201d for blaming Afghan forces. \\u201cMakes me wonder if he is the Siamese twin of Donald Trump. Tony Blair left us with this mess and we did not try hard enough to clear it up,\\u201d he tweeted. Another former minister, Simon Clarke, said it was the end of an American era. \\u201cThe more you reflect, the more you realise the speech [Biden] gave last night was grotesque. An utter repudiation of the America so many of us have admired so deeply all our lives \\u2013 the champion of liberty and democracy and the guardian of what\\u2019s right in the world,\\u201d he said.\\u201d --Excerpt from The Guardian article from 17 Aug 21 article: UK politicians decry Joe Biden\\u2019s defense of Afghanistan pullout

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