re: #136 Dr Lizardo

It was a failure of military intelligence. They seem to have overestimated the fighting capability and resolve of the ANA, and likely underestimated the capabilities of the Taliban to successfully conduct a lightning offensive.

Not the first time US military intel has bungled it….and it certainly won’t be the last. Sadly, these things happen (not trying to sound blasé about, BTW).

When you hear this, consider who you’re hearing it from. The intelligence community doesn’t talk to the press much, but the politicians and flunkies who are supposed to be making the decisions do. So, like the fall of the USSR, a number of intelligence assessments were made that weren’t wrong, but complex and caveated, and got fed through the political sausage grinder. Then the usual suspects with White House reporters on speed dial work their magic to blame any fuckups and miscalculations on somebody else.

In this case, there’s a whole herd of people, inside the DoD and out, who knew this was going to happen and just wanted to put it off until they were nice and retired and on the golf course, instead of having to eat some crow and creatively rewrite their resumes.