@Pastry1; thanks for sharing those thoughts with us.
What I perceive as the basic facts include those below:
1. Russia tried to 'sort out' the Taliban and exited Afghanistan defeated and bankrupt.
2. A coalition of allied forces including Australia, the UK and the USA have tried to 'sort out' the Taliban for two decades now.
3. Trump and Biden 'negotiated' a deal with the Taliban - about which we know nothing!
4. Recently the USA announced its intent to exit Afghanistan - other allied countries said 'MeToo!'.
5. What that coalition did in twenty years disintegrated in less than ten days - like a B-double truck hitting a grasshopper.
6. After being all but 'defeated' just 60-80,000 Taliban fighters defeated 300,000 elite Afghan soldiers trained and equipped by the allies.
From that I conclude:
a. Allied countries did not understand what needed to be done in Afghanistan - they resorted to Colonial Era strategies
b. What was done did not address what really had to be done - address poverty
c. We never learn from our mistakes: Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan ... let's hope the next one is not China!
