When Joe Biden ordered the chaotic, deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, he didn’t just leave behind our dignity, he also left behind billions in weapons and armaments. Although we’ve known that most of that equipment ended up in Taliban hands, new photos and videos are emerging showing just how much we essentially donated to the violent group.
The Taliban has reportedly been busy repairing many of the vehicles we had intentionally sabotaged when we abandoned ship:
BREAKING: The Taliban has released pictures of US equipment & parts left behind after the August 2021 US withdrawal.
Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/GMTX93cM55— Antonio Sabato Jr (@AntonioSabatoJr) March 25, 2023
According to the Khaama Press News Agency, an Afghani news outlet, the militant group has been successful in fixing hundreds of tactical vehicles:
Taliban’s Defense Ministry has confirmed that the group has repaired around 300 military vehicles left by the United States in Afghanistan.
Most of these military vehicles had been intentionally partially damaged by the American forces when they withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021, Bakhtar News Agency reported.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Defense said that their technical team and engineers have also managed to repair hundreds of vehicles including 150 International Kamazes, 125 Humvees, 2 assault tanks, 4 trucks, 10 Porcliff vehicles, and 15 Humvee ambulances.
According to reports, including RedState‘s, at least $7 billion in materiel was left in the country. (Although many earlier claims indicated the figure was as high as $89 billion, most news outlets are now reporting the $7 billion figure. The $89 billion often cited is actually “the total amount spent on the Afghanistan Security Forces Fund since the war began in 2001.”)
Whatever the exact number is, let’s just call it “huge.” From Foreign Policy:
Almost 80 U.S. aircraft—with control panels smashed out—were left abandoned at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport when the United States pulled out last August. The United States left behind nearly 42,000 pieces of night vision, surveillance, biometric, and positioning equipment in the Taliban-controlled country.
By the time the last U.S. transport aircraft left Afghan airspace on Aug. 30, 2021, 70 percent of U.S. weapons given to the Afghan forces over the past 16 years were left in the country as well as nearly $48 million worth of ammunition.
To make matters worse, RedState Managing Editor Jennifer Van Laar reported that Americans and evacuees—and two powerful Counter-Rocket, Artillery, Mortar (C-RAM) systems—were left behind during the chaotic withdrawal from Kabul. Read:
Here are some videos of more weapons recently posted on social media. Note, we cannot ensure the accuracy of each and every one:
🇦🇫⚡😱 Taliban-affiliated TG channels have released visual showing massive numbers of concealed US stored weapons, ammunition, small arms, and ocean of US currency. pic.twitter.com/Q0SvWBPUV3
— OsintTV📺 (@OsintTV) March 24, 2023
Here’s another:
One more visual
This is massive high end American military equipments 👀 pic.twitter.com/tP5MolRwZb
— OsintTV📺 (@OsintTV) March 24, 2023
Former Secretary of State and current potential presidential candidate Mike Pompeo weighed in earlier this month:
“It was a horrific decision President Biden made,” Pompeo said on “Mornings with Maria” Thursday [March 9] . “And the fact that that equipment is now in the hands of our adversaries, the Taliban, who have every intention of continuing to kill and take on the United States of America, make no mistake, that is bad.”
Even Joe Biden knew that: watch this incredible video of the future president back in 2007 making the point that if we leave weapons in the Middle East in a hasty pullout, those weapons may eventually be used against us.
The most stunning thing about this clip: the man speaking bears almost no resemblance to the current Oval occupant; he’s coherent, logical, and sentient—all things the 2023 Biden is not:
As I’ve previously written, “Biden’s blunders have been many, but the disastrous pullout will perhaps go down as his biggest stain on history.” And our own weapons, left behind in enemy hands, may end up being the tools that end up writing that history.
The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of RedState.com.
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