Stratigicon

User Tools

Site Tools

Trace:
turning_points_in_america_s_afghan_war

Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

Link to this comparison view

Both sides previous revisionPrevious revision
Next revision		Previous revision
turning_points_in_america_s_afghan_war [2022/11/21 23:48] – 71.71.5.21turning_points_in_america_s_afghan_war [2023/03/26 15:16] (current) – removed one false statement kc
Line 12: Line 12:
 "The Taliban increased their control of wider swaths of the country – and by June of this year [2020], contested or controlled an estimated 50% to 70% of Afghan territory outside of urban centers, according to a United Nations Security Council report."((https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/16/middleeast/taliban-control-afghanistan-explained-intl-hnk/index.html)) "The Taliban increased their control of wider swaths of the country – and by June of this year [2020], contested or controlled an estimated 50% to 70% of Afghan territory outside of urban centers, according to a United Nations Security Council report."((https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/16/middleeast/taliban-control-afghanistan-explained-intl-hnk/index.html))
  
-"The precise strength of the Taliban, .... is not}} accurately known. UN Security Council monitors last year said the group had between 55,000 and 85,000 fighters." ((https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/4/how-do-afghanistan-forces-and-taliban-compare))+"The precise strength of the Taliban, .... is not accurately known. UN Security Council monitors last year said the group had between 55,000 and 85,000 fighters." ((https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/4/how-do-afghanistan-forces-and-taliban-compare))
  
 In early 2021, "Acting U.S. Defense Secretary of State Christopher Miller announced Friday the number of American troops in Afghanistan has been reduced to 2,500, saying the move has brought Washington 'closer than ever to ending nearly two decades of war.'" In early 2021, "Acting U.S. Defense Secretary of State Christopher Miller announced Friday the number of American troops in Afghanistan has been reduced to 2,500, saying the move has brought Washington 'closer than ever to ending nearly two decades of war.'"
Line 18: Line 18:
 The general rule is that the ratio of one's troops to the troops in an insurgency should be three to one. Therefore, for Biden to have overcome the Taliban after he came to office, he would need to have ramped up US presence in Afghanistan to something around 180,000 troops. However, at the peak of the Obama surge the US had more than 100,000 troops on the ground. That move was not done in a matter of weeks, and the surge was not a complete success since the Taliban recovered after US troop levels were reduced to 8,400. The general rule is that the ratio of one's troops to the troops in an insurgency should be three to one. Therefore, for Biden to have overcome the Taliban after he came to office, he would need to have ramped up US presence in Afghanistan to something around 180,000 troops. However, at the peak of the Obama surge the US had more than 100,000 troops on the ground. That move was not done in a matter of weeks, and the surge was not a complete success since the Taliban recovered after US troop levels were reduced to 8,400.
  
-Here us a diagram the shows what a challenge it would have been to turn matters around in the early months of 2021,+Here us a diagram that indicates what a challenge it would have been to turn matters around in the early months of 2021,
  
 {{:trooplevelsafghanistan.png?400|}} {{:trooplevelsafghanistan.png?400|}}
- 
-Note that as Trump was leaving office less than 3000 US troops remained.  
  
 The moral of the story is that if you wear rose-colored glasses\\ you can't see the flashing blue lights of the police car bearing down on you.\\ The moral of the story is that if you wear rose-colored glasses\\ you can't see the flashing blue lights of the police car bearing down on you.\\
turning_points_in_america_s_afghan_war.1669092493.txt.gz · Last modified: 2022/11/21 23:48 by 71.71.5.21