Submission Statement
Between 2001 and 2021, under four U.S. presidents, the United States spent approximately $2.3 trillion, with 2,459 American military fatalities and up to 360,000 estimated Afghan civilian deaths.
After the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, approximately $7.12 billion worth of military equipment was left behind, according to a 2022 Department of Defense report. This equipment, transferred to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) from 2005 to 2021, included:
Weapons: Over 300,000 of 427,300 weapons, including rifles like M4s and M16s.
Vehicles: More than 40,000 of 96,000 military vehicles, including 12,000 Humvees and 1,000 armored vehicles.
Aircraft: 78 aircraft, valued at $923.3 million, left at Hamid Karzai International Airport, all demilitarized and rendered inoperable.
Munitions: 9,524 air-to-ground munitions worth $6.54 million, mostly non-precision.
Communications and Specialized Equipment: Nearly all communications gear (e.g., radios, encryption devices) and 42,000 pieces of night vision, surveillance, biometric, and positioning equipment.
The total equipment provided to the ANDSF was valued at $18.6 billion, with the $7.12 billion figure representing what remained after the withdrawal. Much of this equipment is now under Taliban control, though its operational capability is limited due to the need for specialized maintenance and technical expertise.
The United States has provided at least $93.41 billion in total aid to Afghanistan since 2001. This includes:
Military Aid (2001–2020): Approximately $72.7 billion (in current dollars), primarily through the Afghanistan Security Forces Fund ($71.7 billion) and other programs like International Military Education and Training, Foreign Military Financing, and Peacekeeping Operations ($1 billion combined).
Humanitarian and Reconstruction Aid (2001–2025): Around $20.71 billion, including $3 billion in humanitarian and development aid post-2021 and $3.5 billion in frozen Afghan assets transferred to the Afghan Fund in 2022. Pre-2021 reconstruction and humanitarian aid (e.g., $174 million in 2001 and $300 million pledged in 2002) adds to this, though exact figures for the full period are less clear.
If the British Empire couldn't dislodge the Afghanis in the 1800's, and the Soviets in the 1970's and 1980's, why would the USA be able to do it?
Because yanks have always thought that they're somehow special, that things will be different when they do it
Actually, most yanks don't feel this way. Big business, CIA/FBI, Gov't wants resources, weapon sales, drug and human trafficking, all things to keep the rich ....rich. They use the two party system, which is really a uni-party system controlled by them, to keep the masses fighting amongst themselves while they proceed with war and taking away human rights under war-times.
I get you, but I'm not just talking about US military aggression
I'm talking about the whole absurd notion of American exceptionalism
I've known so many Americans who have been relatively educated and aware of the world outside of 'Murica, but even then they are shocked that the rest of the world does things differently, usually better, and that they aren't special to anyone other than themselves
If you live in a more civilised part of the country, and move in more educated and civilised circles, it's horrifying how ignorant the overwhelming majority of Americans are
Things being different is simply beyond their ken
And I understand your point, but you are generalizing also. I think it would be better to say SOME American's are like what you describe, and I would say, because it is usually a class thing within American society. Lower, middle, even some upper classes don't get to travel, or don't want to (or go on horrible isolated cruise ships,) outside the US and aren't exposed to the world they grew up in. Also, our education system, thanks to the rich again, has been destroyed. But, that doesn't apply to everyone, and when you generalize, it is offensive to many. There is an American pride that is built in to our upbringing, as in most places, but what might be unique here is the rich/corporate/gov't exploit that patriotism and use it as propaganda so it is easier to manufacture the selling of war.
Americans definitely all seem to be patriotic, like they say stuff like, "I'm as patriotic as the next guy, but was carpet bombing all those villages worth it?"
That's a defense mechanism. If you don't say "I support the troops" first, your opinion has no credibility because you're a hippie tree hugger. Sad, but that's how it is.