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.  
  • rumimevlevi@lemmings.world
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    11 days ago

    It’s not part of Afghani culture to send women to school and such

    What bunch of bs. Before taliban created by the united snake , women was stupying and working In the 1980s, about 40% of doctors and 60% of teachers in Kabul were women.

    You are like the racists settlers who was calling Indigenous people savages. Shame on you

      • rumimevlevi@lemmings.world
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        9 days ago

        You said culture. There culture didn’t start when taliban took power and the population isn’t against women education they just fear taliban

        The united snake and the urss was responsible of the rise of extremism and the civil war that destroyed the army. They didn’t care about afghans or democracy that’s why they kept a weak army when the usa left and taliban was able to take control again

        You just a racist and occupying apologist. Shame on you

        • boonhet@lemm.ee
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          3 days ago

          They didn’t care about afghans or democracy that’s why they kept a weak army

          The locals didn’t care either. Have you seen those videos of them failing to grasp the concept of jumping jacks in their military drills? Why did afghani commanders make up troops (that they got paid for enlisting)?

          The “united snake” as you call it only funded what was already a very popular group with rich history in their region of the country. Obviously I’m not saying that was the right thing to do, I’m just saying that it’s not like they put any more effort into that.

          They had a government that was getting increasingly progressive - and they had increasing amounts of trouble keeping the population happy with that, which is why the USSR came and tried to help, but unfortunately a lot of people did not support the PDPA’s initiatives - the women’s rights were a particularly sore spot and had been even before the revolution. Then the US of course famously funded a bunch of hardcore religious freaks (that were essentially seen as good guys who helped people in their area) to counter the soviets, the soviets lost what was already an incredibly difficult campaign to drive progress in an anti-progress land, and then we got Taliban numero uno, yay

            • boonhet@lemm.ee
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              4 hours ago

              Get the hell out of here with your occupation apologism. The urss ia responsible of 1.5 millions afghan death

              Of course it is. Because they were rebelling against what the USSR was trying to bring - a more progressive nation. They did NOT WANT any of what the soviets wanted to force on them (such as, among other things, gender equality). Getting back to my original point - they do NOT WANT TO BE LIKE US. Which is why it was wrong of the USSR to get involved, and wrong of the US to get involved.

                • boonhet@lemm.ee
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                  3 hours ago

                  You think everyone has the same values as you? Newsflash: Most Afghanis outside the major cities would consider you to be a piece of shit for your values.

                  USSR and USA tried to change that by force. They failed, because you can control a few cities, but it’s incredibly difficult to control everything in the mountainous countryside. Just give up. Let the people of Afghanistan deal with their own issues instead of forcing western values on them at gunpoint. They’re not really hurting anyone except themselves. Eventually they may be enlightened, but it needs to be grass roots, not bombs and bullets.

    • Bloomcole@lemmy.world
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      11 days ago

      Actually you are exactly like the racist settler hasbara operatives who invariably say “let us kill these Palestinian savages bcs they don’t like the gays”