(17 Aug 2021) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4339857   

A U.S. Veteran with four Afghan deployments said he is surprised by how quickly the Taliban took over the country just two weeks before the U.S. was set to complete its troop withdrawal after a costly two-decade war.
David Smyth is a retired U.S. Army Special Forces officer, better known as a Green Beret, served in Afghanistan in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2012.
Smyth admits the war in Afghanistan was a long and costly investment for America, both in blood and treasure, but believes one positive outcome was that the United States kept the fight overseas and away from American shores.
If the Taliban remains in power, Smyth fears the country could once again become a harbor for terrorist organizations.
"The Taliban has taken over the country. They'll establish their own government. I'm sure they will invite al-Qaida affiliates back into Afghanistan to train. And that will lead to... attacks on on on foreign countries, and the United States and Europe," Smyth said. "So then that draws the question, what do we do next? Because if they do that, I feel like it's only a matter of time till we go back in and do the same thing, although hopefully, we have more limited objectives."
Built and trained at a two-decade cost of $83 billion, Afghan security forces collapsed so quickly and completely — in some cases without a shot fired — that the ultimate beneficiary of the American investment turned out to be the Taliban. They grabbed not only political power but also U.S.-supplied firepower — guns, ammunition, helicopters and more.
During his time in Afghanistan Smyth was tasked with helping train and build up the Afghanistan military, and believes many Afghan soldiers lacked incentives, including payments to fight for the crumbling civilian government.
"With regard to to to the military that we trained. There are certain units who are very competent, but without so without a federal government to support, without pay and without the intelligence capability and close air support that we were able to bring as United States, it's very hard to conduct those missions or expect those guys to conduct the same types of missions without the types of support," Smyth said.
The U.S. Embassy has been evacuated and the American flag lowered, with diplomats relocating to the airport to aid with the evacuation. Other Western countries have also closed their missions and are flying out staff and nationals.
Thousands of Afghans rushed onto the tarmac of Kabul's international airport Monday, some so desperate to escape the Taliban capture of their country that they held onto an American military jet as it took off and plunged to death in chaos that killed at least seven people, U.S. officials said.
Smyth fought side by side with Afghan operational interpreters, and believes more should be done to ensure families who were awarded Special Immigrant Visas get an opportunity to leave, especially amid fears the Taliban could carry out revenge attacks against those who worked with the Americans or the government.
"We got to rotate in and out of there. That war never-ending, that threat to their family never ended," Smyth said. "So I would like to see a more concerted effort by the U.S. government to to get those SIV recipients out along with their families."

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