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.
Throw another 20 years at it
Hell, throw another 100 years at it, it wouldn't make a difference
Doesn't even matter which country invades, it won't hold it for long.
Even Alexander the Great only briefly held it for 25 years after defeating Darius III
The people didn't want us there and we weren't interested in forcing ourselves on them like some kind of brutal Soviet satellite state
The rampant unchecked corruption was way worse than we thought and it was a major consideration for pulling out
Can't help people who are unwilling to help themselves
The war in Afghanistan was never about helping anyone. 🙄
Cancer is how americans show love.
That and bombing your village.
Initially, no. I'm still baffled that we bothered staying at all. Later on it transitioned from it being primarily a combat mission to a combat mission plus a side humanitarian effort
When it was beyond clear that the people weren't interested in our way of life at all, then they waited 10+ years and pulled the plug
Had to make sure the contractor companies got theirs first
People weren't interested in gifts brought by colonizers. It's not our way of life, it's the fact that we forced on them at the end a gun.
Not really. We presented opportunities and they rejected them.
The US led coalition established a system of voting, Afghans risked their lives to vote
Other Afghans threatened to kill them if they voted, and many followed through with their threats
The US led coalition built schools, some risked their lives to attend
Other Afghans threatened to kill them if they attended, and many followed through with their threats
The US led coalition provided food and healthcare, many happily accepted
Others Afghans stole food and healthcare supplies and kept them from being distributed to other Afghans
The US led coalition provided new critical public infrastructure, many Afghans were overjoyed by the increase in their quality of life
Other Afghans destroyed that infrastructure with explosives and killed many Afghans in the process
No one was forced to accept it, the end of a gun came from other Afghans
Sounds about one bad day away from this
Voting in rigged elections forced on them by the occupation for candidates forced on them by the occupation. Colonial schools that were meant to preach occupation propaganda to train up the next generation of compradores. Aid that is conditional on not being a resistance fighter against the colonial occupation and laying down their arms for their occupiers. And all of that infrastructure comes with strings attached and with debts that are expected to be repaid.
They're not backward mud people, they were resisting colonial occupation.
Every gift from the Great Satan is poison.
Please, tell me more bullshit stories
They're very entertaining
Colonizers are disgusting.
They certainly are
Just wait.
In a few years we're going to find out similar corruption occurred in Ukraine.
Not likely
How so?
It happened with every other war in recent years, and you'll recall that Hamid Karzai got the Zelensky treatment, even making speeches in Congress, before it was found out he was personally benefitting from war funds.
One major reason is that even before the full scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine has been hot on the goal of trying to join the European Union which has strict metrics against corruption which Ukraine has been striving to eliminate with EU watchdogs constantly visiting Ukraine to independently assess their effort.
By the end of which Ukraine will likely have far less corruption than the US