# Would selecting the personnel of the Afghan national Army from people who had the most to lose from a taliban takeover have helped

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-selecting-the-personnel-of-the-afghan-national-army-from-people-who-had-the-most-to-lose-from-a-taliban-takeover-have-helped/949539>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [August 26, 2021, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-selecting-the-personnel-of-the-afghan-national-army-from-people-who-had-the-most-to-lose-from-a-taliban-takeover-have-helped/949539 "2021-08-26T04:49:56Z")\
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**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\
**Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-selecting-the-personnel-of-the-afghan-national-army-from-people-who-had-the-most-to-lose-from-a-taliban-takeover-have-helped/949539/2 "2021-08-26T04:59:06Z")

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No, this is irrelevant. It wasn’t lack of motivation that caused the Afghan army to crumble.

Read my post:

> [@Have we morally failed Afghanistan?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-we-morally-failed-afghanistan/948636/350):
>
> The point is, who set up, trained, equipped, and funded the Afghan army in such a way that it was _not possible_ for it to function without US support? And then pulled the plug?
> 
> It was set up so that it could _never_ fight independently. The whole structure was based on highly paid contractors supporting high-tech equipment, and supplying logistics. When the US switched that off, they were left without even ammunition for their rifles.
> 
> They assumed that the contractors would remain, and the US would continue to support them, even after pulling out.
> 
> They found out that they were being totally abandoned only a few weeks before the pullout. Bagram was the turning point.

And this article by an Afghan general:

> **[Opinion | I Commanded Afghan Troops This Year. We Were Betrayed. (Published...](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/25/opinion/afghanistan-taliban-army.html)**
>
> It pains me to see President Biden and other Western officials blame the Afghan Army for collapsing but not mention why that happened.

Also read this article about Bagram.

> **[US left Afghan airfield at night, didn't tell new commander](https://apnews.com/article/bagram-afghanistan-airfield-us-troops-f3614828364f567593251aaaa167e623)**
>
> Afghan military officials say the U.S. left Afghanistan’s Bagram Airfield after nearly 20 years by slipping away in the night, without notifying the base’s new Afghan commander.

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