Afghan interpreter: ‘Vast majority of Afghans always viewed Taliban as lesser of two evils’ compared to US

[duluxe]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...rpreter-baktash-ahadi-us-cultural-illiteracy/

Opinion: I was a combat interpreter in Afghanistan, where cultural illiteracy led to U.S. failure​

Baktash Ahadi served U.S. and Afghan Special Operations forces as a combat interpreter from 2010 to 2012 and is a former chair of the State Department’s Afghan Familiarization course. He is working on a memoir of his service in Afghanistan.

Like many Afghan Americans, I have spent much of the past few weeks trying to secure safe passage from Afghanistan for family, friends and colleagues, with tragically limited success. I also know that many Americans have been asking: Why is this crazy scramble necessary? How could Afghanistan have collapsed so quickly?
As a former combat interpreter who served alongside U.S. and Afghan Special Operations forces, I can tell you part of the answer — one that’s been missing from the conversation: culture.

When comparing the Taliban with the United States and its Western allies, the vast majority of Afghans have always viewed the Taliban as the lesser of two evils. To many Americans, that may seem an outlandish claim. The coalition, after all, poured billions of dollars into Afghanistan. It built highways. It emancipated Afghan women. It gave millions of people the right to vote for the first time ever.

 

[rushifa666]

Which is what morons never got. Japanesetraitor lky also fled sinkieland when jap army appeared to be losing,

 

[syed putra]

The way US army conducted searches in villages during vietnam war brought hatred and anger. I assume same thing in Afghanistan in the rural areas.
The urbanites of course prefers US as they poured money into the economy.

 

[duluxe]

no matter how good they do, they are always foreign INFIDELS.

 

[Peace Maker]

The way America wanted to build a better world for the Afghanistan might not be what their majority people wanted especially those staying at rural areas. Otherwise, the new Afghanistan army are well trained by Americans, provided with guns & ammunitions, why they gave up so easily without a big fight. To think back of it, those who had lost their son, husband, father or brother (from foreign forces) during this conflict will be very upset for this quick & simple defeat of the Afghanistan army. If you see in the news, those that are fleeing the country also consist of many strong young man who could have taken up arms to fight against the Taliban but they simply wanted to run instead of taking up a good fight. In my personal opinion, in whichever country that had internal conflicts, it is better to leave it to their own people to fight for their own freedom, sometimes offering help makes the people take it for granted & become too dependent on us to help them. Why should we lose a son, husband, father or brother in fighting a war that is not ours in the very first place.

 

[Sideswipe]

the people are brainwashed or coerced by the Taliban. it's best to leave them alone, let them have their own way of life.

 

[maxsanic]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...rpreter-baktash-ahadi-us-cultural-illiteracy/

Opinion: I was a combat interpreter in Afghanistan, where cultural illiteracy led to U.S. failure​

Baktash Ahadi served U.S. and Afghan Special Operations forces as a combat interpreter from 2010 to 2012 and is a former chair of the State Department’s Afghan Familiarization course. He is working on a memoir of his service in Afghanistan.

Like many Afghan Americans, I have spent much of the past few weeks trying to secure safe passage from Afghanistan for family, friends and colleagues, with tragically limited success. I also know that many Americans have been asking: Why is this crazy scramble necessary? How could Afghanistan have collapsed so quickly?
As a former combat interpreter who served alongside U.S. and Afghan Special Operations forces, I can tell you part of the answer — one that’s been missing from the conversation: culture.

When comparing the Taliban with the United States and its Western allies, the vast majority of Afghans have always viewed the Taliban as the lesser of two evils. To many Americans, that may seem an outlandish claim. The coalition, after all, poured billions of dollars into Afghanistan. It built highways. It emancipated Afghan women. It gave millions of people the right to vote for the first time ever.

Give me a break. This sort of BS is good propaganda to convince the Americans that they are the righteous ones and the only reason why they failed is due to "cultural issues". All would have been fixed and the US would have emerged victorious if only they hired some HR consultants to teach everyone involved the importance of cultural diversity and inclusion. Yea rite.....

The Americans were there doing good humanitarian work to help the common Afghanis out of the goodness of their hearts and the only reason why their puppet government collapsed almost overnight is due to cultural miscommunication. Sounds familiar like the PAP whenever they want to explain mass discontent over their policies?

The fact of the matter is from all observable evidence so far, the puppet government was through and through corrupt and incompetent during their 20 years of rule propped up by US troops. Other than a small number of officials and connected élite interpreters, most Afghanis were probably having a worse livelihood compared to the pre-2001 Taliban days.

How else than do you explain mass number of national army defections, surrenders and almost nobody willing to even put up basic resistance if they were having such great lives under US? And what we can see of the luxuries these elites surround themselves with, how all these senior officials ran overseas at the first sign of trouble, do these photos and videos look like a government that takes care of its citizens?