American withdrawal from Afghanistan?

A very good SF friend of mine has just completed another tour of Afghanistan. He informs me that the US will/may withdraw troops sometime next year.

One of the allegedreasons given to me was that most, if not all heroin comes here to the UK and therefore the drug situation is our problem!

I have my doubts about the validity of that excuse, but should they withdraw, does this mean that the US SOC will just redeploy to a nearby Islamic state, seen as funding Al Qaeda?

Can any of our Yank friends shed light on this matter.

Originally posted by fritz
A very good SF friend of mine has just completed another tour of Afghanistan. He informs me that the US will/may withdraw troops sometime next year.

One of the allegedreasons given to me was that most, if not all heroin comes here to the UK and therefore the drug situation is our problem!

I have my doubts about the validity of that excuse, but should they withdraw, does this mean that the US SOC will just redeploy to a nearby Islamic state, seen as funding Al Qaeda?

Can any of our Yank friends shed light on this matter.

we Yanks are not withdrawing, we are transferring the responsibility to the Afghan forces and NATO forces in command of the operations in Afghanistan. but the troops will still be on the Afghan Pakistan border fighting and to keep it there instead of in Afghanistan's heartland.

Doesn't someone have to protect the new pipeline going through Afghanistan? And even if we do withdraw from Afghanistan we will still be in Uzbekistan we have built nice new bases there. Strangely their leader is a terrible tyrant a lot like Saddam by they aren't on any list. Why is it when we are getting what we want from countries they are not subject to our critizism but if ,like, Venezuela they assert their right to control their own resources then Bush sends Condileza Rice out to talk about our hitlist.

Whilst I appreciate a 'straightening of the line' and the reasons behind the apparent 'withdrawal' Deltaboy, I doubt whether the Afghans see it that way.

Their so called 'national' army comprises the following factions:

1. Jamait-I-Islami (Tajik) led by Gulbuddin Hekhmatyar;
2. Jumbesh-I-Milli (Uzbecks) led by Abdul Rashid Dostum;
3. Hezb-i-Wahdat (Shiite) led by Karim Kalili - and
4. Popalzai (Pashtu) led by Hamid Karzai.

At least two of the above factions form part of the so called 'Northern Alliance', one is loosely alligned to Iran whilst the forth is seen by many within politics, as doing nothing more than it's own thing. (I forget which is which, because it took so long to research)

If you look at the tribes the leaders represent, you can see that the 'Alliance' is a very shaky thing because all of them have, at one time or another, been bitter enemies, with blood feuds going back centuries.

IMHO they are really only in it for what they can get and to date, the US has allegedly spent over $100M to ensure that old rivalries are forgotten and that they continue to work together.

My point is Deltaboy, what happens when the SOCOM/CIA command structure pulls out and heads south to Pashtun country?

I have a sneaking suspicion that when the US is seen to be pulling back (out) of central Afghanistan, many of the families that make up the various factions, will undoubtedly think, 'Here we go again!' and leave in their droves.

My main worry is that the 'Alliance' will fragment and, without US gold to keep it in place, the Al Qaeda/Taliban will return and things will go back to what they were before October 7th 2001.

en.wikipedia.org...

this Afghan National Army aka ANA by the troops. also u mentioned Gulbiddin Hekmatyar who is not a member of the national army but an enemy of the U.S. and Afghan govt. he has sided with Al Qaeda so i dont dink he and his group are part of the national army. who says withdrawal? has it been confirmed?

its better to transfer the forces to the Afghan Pakistan border where the enemy is instead of placing troops where they encounter no hostile forces. need to go down south. as long as the American forces and the CIA command as u stated would still be in Afghanistan gathering intel and attacking the enemy forces at the border since the Taliban and Al Qaeda are operating over there and crossing the Pakistan border and withdrawing and crossing, etc.

'Fraid not old son.

Whilst Hekhmatyar was allied to the Taliban but, in the middle of a battle, he changed sides and allied himself to SOCOM/CIA, depriving Al Qaeda and their military wing, the Taliban, of much needed Tajik support. It was the lure of US gold amongst other things that 'changed' his mind.

I do feel however, that the desperation the US has shown in trying to hunt down so called 'missing' nuclear materiels from Pakistan (controlled almost totally by the ISI who has strong links with Al Qaeda), is 'muddying' the waters in the supposed hunt for Bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders who are 'supposedly' still 'somewhere' in the mountains of Afghanistan.

I seriously doubt that SOCOM/CIA will find him on or near the border with Pakistand and I suspect that he is long gone.

Only time will tell.

Originally posted by fritz
'Fraid not old son.

Whilst Hekhmatyar was allied to the Taliban but, in the middle of a battle, he changed sides and allied himself to SOCOM/CIA, depriving Al Qaeda and their military wing, the Taliban, of much needed Tajik support. It was the lure of US gold amongst other things that 'changed' his mind.

he never join with the U.S. just prior to the invasion of Afghanistan to root out the Taliban. after the 9/11 attacks he sided with Osama bin laden and supported the attacks on American and coalition forces. yer wrong old man.

Your right Deltaboy. Wrong guy.

It is so confusing trying to track down the Northern Alliance leaders and getting things spot on.

It was Abdul Malik who changed sides in the middle of the battle for Mazar-e-Sharif in 1997. He took 2,000 prisoners and slaughtered them all.

However, I am right about Gulbuddin Hekhmatyar (Tajiks) being joint leader of the Northern Alliance with Abdul Rashid Dostum (Uzbeks). The third leader of the Alliance is indeed, Abdul Malik (Uzbeks) who is also the main rival to Dostum.

So I guess we are both right my friend.

To date, Hekhmatyar, Dostum and Malik are still held together in the Northern Alliance and, as far as I can ascertain, are still working for SOCOM/CIA.

originally posted by: fritz
A very good SF friend of mine has just completed another tour of Afghanistan. He informs me that the US will/may withdraw troops sometime next year.

One of the allegedreasons given to me was that most, if not all heroin comes here to the UK and therefore the drug situation is our problem!

I have my doubts about the validity of that excuse, but should they withdraw, does this mean that the US SOC will just redeploy to a nearby Islamic state, seen as funding Al Qaeda?

Can any of our Yank friends shed light on this matter.

February 1, 2021

President Trump implemented a significant draw down of U.S. Troops stationed in Afghanistan.

Newly elected President Biden just indicated he's going to keep U.S. Troops in the country, and likely add more, because the Pentagon says 20 years was not long enough to get its mission accomplished.

Source: abcnews.go.com...