In the Fall of Kunduz, Echoes of Iraq

The Taliban’s rout Monday of Afghan forces in the northern city of Kunduz carried an eerie echo of recent battles in Iraq, where another U.S.-trained army has collapsed in combat despite massive support from Washington.

After months of fighting around the provincial capital, the insurgents rolled into the heart of Kunduz while Afghan troops retreated to the nearby airport. It marked the first time the Taliban had captured a city since it was toppled from power in a U.S.-led invasion in 2001.

The fall of Kunduz dealt a major blow to the government in Kabul and its Western sponsors, and it may force U.S. President Barack Obama to drop his vow to pull American troops out of Afghanistan by the end of next year.

For months, the U.S. administration has been debating plans for a drawdown of the 9,800-strong force in Afghanistan, with the Pentagon favoring a slower withdrawal that could leave several thousand troops on the ground after Obama leaves office in 2017.

… 

The setback in Kunduz also cast doubt on the wisdom of a U.S. troop surge ordered by Obama in 2009 that concentrated on the country’s south, said Bill Roggio, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and editor of the Long War Journal.

“Little attention was given to other areas of Afghanistan, including the northern provinces, where the Taliban have expended considerable effort in fighting the military and government,” Roggio wrote in the Long War Journal.

… 

Read the full article here.