Leaving Vietnam vs AFG

[Flash]

All true, but it is still possible they can get foreign help maintaining more complex equipment. Russian, Turk, Chinese, Qatari, etc. All of the aforementioned would be happy to look the other way if said equipment was used for purposes the US and West found objectionable.

You are being overly optimistic that; 1-Those countries will want to do business with the Taliban, 2-They would be willing to face the consequences of supporting the Taliban, 3-Have the technical expertise to maintain the equipment and 4-Can afford it. Not all apply to all of the countries you listed but at least one applies to at least one and usually more.

I find it interesting and illuminating you include Qatar on that list, while they have been more willing to deal with the Taliban than pretty much any other country their main security guarantor remains the US, especially given their still strained relations with their Gulf ‘allies’.

 

[Flash]

You are being pedantic. Clearly I meant the US DoD model MRAP of which the entire acquisition cycle began years after 9/11. Did we roll into Iraq in 2003 with MRAPs? No, of course not, bc they weren’t in the US inventory yet.

I’m being factual and accurate, and if you meant that you should have made it...clear.

 

[Griz882]

The point of all this is…if they are abandoning helicopters they could have asked if I wanted one.

 

[Treetop Flyer]

Doesn’t quite jive with the fallout I’ve seen when someone loses a rifle/radio/set of nvg’s

 

[Hair Warrior]

As others have mentioned there's really a family of MRAP vehicles since numerous different designs were produced to meet the need. I don't know if they ever settled on a common design.

But the point they're making is that it's not a super high tech grab by the Taliban because its highly proliferated and based on a decades old design.

It sounds like you’re downplaying the fact that the Taliban (and their allies) now have all of the American-produced hardware we left behind.

I’m not saying I have the answers. I’m not second guessing any decisions that were made. But if we’re assessing the transfer of military vehicles and small arms to the Taliban, that hardware is clearly still lethal and effective modern military equipment of a high caliber and quality.

 

[Flash]

View attachment 32371
Doesn’t quite jive with the fallout I’ve seen when someone loses a rifle/radio/set of nvg’s

While the amount of equipment now in the Taliban’s hands is significant that listing is for the inventory of the Afghan Armed Forces before they collapsed and much of the that is either no longer in country, especially in the case of many of the aircraft, or is nonfunctional.

 

[Hair Warrior]

I’m being factual and accurate, and if you meant that you should have made it...clear.

So if someone on this site says “the F-14 is a Navy jet” are you the gentleman who chimes in to say “actually the F-14 is an Air Force jet not Navy cuz the IRIAF is an Air Force”?

 

[wink]

So if someone on this site says “the F-14 is a Navy jet” are you the gentleman who chimes in to say “actually the F-14 is an Air Force jet not Navy cuz the IRIAF is an Air Force”?

New around here, are ya?

Love ya @Flash .

 

[Mos]

So if someone on this site says “the F-14 is a Navy jet” are you the gentleman who chimes in to say “actually the F-14 is an Air Force jet not Navy cuz the IRIAF is an Air Force”?

As I see it, that's correct,... except using your analogy, you would be the one saying that the F-14 is an IRIAF jet then Flash points out it originated as a Navy jet.

 

[Hair Warrior]

As I see it, that's correct,... except using your analogy, you would be the one saying that the F-14 is an IRIAF jet then Flash points out it originated as a Navy jet.

Meh, not really, but ok. This is a site for US military and it’s a thread on US military in Afghanistan. If you can find me a pic of an MRAP in Afghanistan that was built in Rhodesia rather than America, I’ll give you 50,000 Brett bucks.

Oh, and when I say “pic” I mean picture, not picaridin the bug spray chemical.

 

[Brett327]

I have my own currency? Why wasn’t I told about this? ?

 

[Pags]

It sounds like you’re downplaying the fact that the Taliban (and their allies) now have all of the American-produced hardware we left behind.

I’m not saying I have the answers. I’m not second guessing any decisions that were made. But if we’re assessing the transfer of military vehicles and small arms to the Taliban, that hardware is clearly still lethal and effective modern military equipment of a high caliber and quality.

I would say you're over-stating the impact of the Taliban owning some MRAPs based on perceived optics. First, there are criteria that go into FMS sales. Potentially less reliable allies get less good stuff. That's why the ANA got 40yr old 60As and Cessnas and MRAPs that are essentially up-armored busses. Second, it wasn't American equipment. It was equipment from American manufacturers that was given/sold to AFG. It's sovereign property of another nation just as much as British AH-64s and C-17s are British aircraft. Third, it's not like the Taliban are going to drive their MRAPs to America. In a few years they'll all be busted on the side of the road like some rich Bahrain's Ferrari or Lamborghini.

 

[Hair Warrior]

I have my own currency? Why wasn’t I told about this? ?

Actually I only have George Brett bucks. Darn, not again, I should have been more clear.

 

[wink]

And what is the military or technology value in an MRAP left in Afghanistan? Who is going to be placing roadside IEDs now that the Taliban is in control?

 

[Jim123]

Meh, not really, but ok. This is a site for US military and it’s a thread on US military in Afghanistan. If you can find me a pic of an MRAP in Afghanistan that was built in Rhodesia rather than America

I honestly don't know on the final tally of make/model of every vehicle we left behind last week, but those RG-31s are South African manufacture.

I don't know if any of them were license-built abroad- that's a "known unknown"

No Brett bucks, besides, you did say Rhodesia- that's a "known known"

And what is the military or technology value in an MRAP left in Afghanistan? Who is going to be placing roadside IEDs now that the Taliban is in control?

The entity formerly known as the Northern Alliance/Second Resistance.