The Taliban Have Taken Over Afghanistan - My Perspective

In just a matter of weeks, the Afghan Government has fallen to the Taliban.

I received news this morning that the Afghani Government is set to turn over power to the Taliban, just a few short weeks after the United States withdrew a majority of the their soldiers from the country. After a twenty year fight trying to root out the Taliban in that country, it seems they have returned even more powerful than before.

To say that I am surprised is inaccurate, as I have seen this country and its complicated politics up close and personal. In February of 2007, as a young infantryman with the 10th mountain division, I was deployed to Afghanistan. I was assigned as a “replacement”, to join an infantry platoon who was already in-country. The unit I joined was 2-87 IN, Bravo Company, 3rd Platoon. I learned that I would be joining the unit at the infamous FOB Bermel, a forward operating base that was being rocketed multiple times per day. The forward operating base was located in Paktika Province, approximately ten miles from the Pakistan border. Our mission was to conduct multi-day patrols in the mountains to attempt to find and defeat the insurgency. I spent the majority of my time deployed either walking or driving the mountains of Afghanistan.

Our platoon name was the "Outlaw Platoon" and our platoon leader, Sean Parnell, wrote a book about our exploits. (I am featured in the paperback version of the book). The platoon I joined, was one of the most combat experienced platoons fighting in Afghanistan at the time. When I arrived, there had been 22 purple hearts awarded for a 25 man platoon. Needless to say, I was being thrown into the fray.

Upon arrival, I quickly realized that the situation was much more complicated than I had imagined. We were not simply deployed to Afghanistan to "fight the terrorists responsible for 9/11.” Rather, I discovered an interesting complex of tribes, spread out amongst an inhospitable climate of desert and mountains. The inhabitants of Paktika Province did not understand the concept of a border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. In their mind, it was all tribal land that they had been living on for hundreds of years.

This became very clear to me when my unit was assigned the mission of marking a border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Our unit was consistently being attacked by Mujahadeen fighters sneaking into Afghanistan, attacking us, then retreating to the safety of Pakistan, where we could not follow them.  As such, we were assigned to use GPS equipment and mark the perceived border with cloth flags. As we walked along the border, the Pakistani military followed our every step with DSHK machine guns pointed at us. After a week of walking the border and planting flags, we loaded in our vehicles and began to drive back to FOB Bermel when we immediately heard gunfire. At first we thought it was directed at us, but it was coming from above us. Eventually we figured out that the Afghan National Army (ANA), unhappy with the placement of the border flags, began to burn the flags one by one. When the Pakistani military spotted this, they opened fire on the Afghan army leading to a fire fight between them.

When I arrived in country, the "Outlaw Platoon" had been deployed for over one year already. When we finally came home, the platoon had been in Afghanistan over eighteen months, under almost constant attack. Although some of the ANA soldiers seemed eager to fight for a new Afghanistan, it was clear to me that most were there to get a paycheck from the United States and nothing more. There was never a real sense of loyalty from the ANA towards "Afghanistan", and the idea of the country of Afghanistan seemed incomprehensible to them. Their loyalty was to their tribe and whoever would pay them or provide the best opportunity. 

Even though I left Afghanistan more than fourteen years ago, there was always a sense that once the US pulled out of Afghanistan, a lot of these ANA soldiers would not stick around to fight off the Taliban insurgency that had been waiting patiently in Pakistan. Most of the Taliban are rolling through Afghanistan without any resistance because most of the ANA have zero loyalty to Afghanistan or the Afghani government. Why should they stay and fight for a corrupt Afghani government without US backing, when they can switch sides and join a winning team? The Taliban are even offering to pay those from the ANA who surrender.

I was fortunate enough to leave Afghanistan with no physical injuries inflicted by the enemy. Many were not so lucky. Some of the bravest and most talented men and women that have ever existed were injured or killed on deployment to Afghanistan. My best friend, Mike Goble, a Green Beret and member of the 7th special forces group who had completed three tours in Afghanistan, was killed in action on December 23, 2019. He left behind a long-term girlfriend and a young daughter. Mike’s death still haunts me to this day. 

The countless sacrifices made by members of the US military in Afghanistan and on behalf of the Afghani people has been astounding. The amount of money, time, and lives lost attempting to train the Afghani government to allow them to sustain themselves, seems almost in vain as their government has crumbled in a matter of weeks. 

I wonder if there would have been a different result had the US stayed another ten years. I honestly doubt it. It is difficult to change a culture from the inside and almost impossible to do it from the outside by force. I knew it was likely always going to end this way, it just saddens me to watch it. The life for the average Afghani citizen under the Taliban is going to be horrific. Women will go back to subservient status, Sharia law will be implemented and there is likely to be severe punishment for anyone who was known to have worked with the United States. 

I fear this situation will create even more hatred towards the United States for what some will perceive as an "abandonment" of Afghanistan. I fear for what will happen next after the Taliban take complete control. The emboldened Taliban, in their mind, thinks that they have defeated the US and NATO. The Taliban now have an arsenal of US weapons at their disposal (stolen from the Afghan National Army) and terrorists will have a new safe haven country to plan, train, and attack the United States from.

China has already moved into the country by agreeing to recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. It is likely China will provide financial aid in the form of loans to the Taliban in exchange for extracting mineral resources from the country. 

If the US goal was to create a stable government that could withstand a Taliban takeover, we failed miserably. If the goal was to merely keep the country under control for a certain period, in order to prevent Afghanistan from being used as a staging ground for future terrorist attacks, well we did that pretty well.

Unfortunately, actions have consequences and our actions have created a stronger Taliban who now possess stolen US military equipment. I am reminded of the ending scene in the movie "Charlie Wilson's war", where Tom Hanks, playing Charlie Wilson is having a party and celebrating the Soviet defeat in Afghanistan. At the party, a CIA agent, played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman, pulls Charlie Wilson aside and warns him that "the crazies have started rolling into Kandahar like its a bathtub drain".  The crazies are back it seems.