We got Afghanistan wrong but there still time to learn something

Instead of building a force that fit Afghanistan, we built an Army of mini-me’s. A force that, like our military, requires massive logistical support and technical capabilities to manage. A force that relies heavily on airpower and armored vehicles to fight an enemy who relies on his feet, IEDs and an AK-47. This is not a new revelation, but with the constant turnover of American commanders and a perennially optimistic (or delusional) view that the potential for victory over the Taliban was just around the corner, the instinct was always to double-down, or keep propping up the Afghan forces just long enough to get them over the finish line. Unfortunately, there was always a fatal flaw to this approach. Pushing western technology and firepower into the Afghan military was never going to be sufficient to beat the Taliban, not when pouring billions of dollars into a government ill-equipped to handle it also contributed to the corruption and illegitimacy that opened additional political space for the Taliban to operate. Being a foreigner in Afghanistan, it was always jarring to work with Afghan military officers who also needed translators to talk to the local population. They operated far from home as part of the national army we designed for them, and under the umbrella of our air support and firepower. But, even if they could speak Pashtun, they were often predatory or, at best, simply out of touch with the local population and ill-equipped to counter the perception that they were merely the arm of corrupt political leaders in Kabul. This dynamic continues today, with Afghan commando units operating far from Kabul having the upper hand in firepower, but often being on the sideline of the battle for “hearts and minds” as the Taliban work more closely with local powerbrokers.