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US Equipment Paraded At Bagram Air Base

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Buckle up because we've got a pretty intense story to dive into today. So, picture this: it's been three years since the chaotic American withdrawal from Afghanistan, a moment that marked the end of a 20-year conflict. But on the third anniversary of that withdrawal, the Taliban decided to put on quite a show. They paraded through Bagram Airfield, a former U.S. military base, flaunting American weapons and vehicles left behind in the rush to exit the country.

Now, Bagram wasn’t just any airfield. It was once the epicenter of the U.S. mission to oust the Taliban and track down the al-Qaeda militants responsible for the 9/11 attacks. The irony here is pretty thick, right? What used to be the heart of the American war effort is now a stage for the Taliban’s victory parade.

The parade was a spectacle, with uniformed soldiers carrying everything from light to heavy machine guns and even a motorcycle formation waving the Taliban flag. Pickup trucks filled with men of all ages drove through the streets of Kabul, celebrating what they see as their triumph. And let me tell you, the Taliban leadership didn’t hold back. Members of their Cabinet boasted about strengthening Islamic law and establishing a military system that, in their words, provides "peace and security."

But not everyone sees it that way. U.S. Army veteran Bill Roggio, who now works as a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, called the parade a blatant reminder of what he sees as a U.S. failure. He didn’t mince words when talking about the situation.

According to Roggio, the quick exit from Afghanistan left the Taliban with an arsenal of American-supplied weapons, and he’s not alone in this criticism. The Biden administration faced a wave of backlash after the rapid Taliban takeover in August 2021, just 20 years after they were ousted by U.S.-led forces.

Remember when President Biden told Americans that the likelihood of a Taliban takeover was "highly unlikely"? Well, it took just days for the Taliban to prove otherwise, leading to a chaotic military evacuation that had to rely on Taliban cooperation to get thousands of U.S. troops and civilians out of the country. This hurried exit left behind not just weapons, but also hundreds of U.S. citizens and thousands of Afghan allies, despite promises to "get them all out."

And if you thought the evacuation itself wasn’t tragic enough, a suicide bombing at the Kabul airport killed 183 people, including 13 U.S. service members. The U.S. response? Drone strikes against suspected ISIS-K terrorists, one of which tragically killed 10 Afghan civilians, including children.

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