Afghanistan deployment - Chronology of an international failure

 

Zelensky's team should study this summary of German activities in Afghanistan over the past twenty years. The fate of Zelensky's team is similar to that of Ghani's team. In all countries plagued by corruption, be it Afghanistan or Ukraine, these pancakes are baked the same way.

International troops have been in Afghanistan for almost 20 years. They wanted to make the country a democracy - and failed spectacularly. A look back at the mission and its inglorious end.

When the US plane takes off from Kabul airport, hundreds of people are still running behind the plane, desperate, hoping that they will be taken along. Some grab onto the landing gear and fall as the plane takes off.

A day later, the Bundeswehr's first evacuation flight takes off. There are seven people on board, while hundreds of people are standing on the tarmac, thousands at the gates of the airport.

The pictures from the airport in Kabul, the photos of the almost empty Bundeswehr plane have burned themselves into the collective memory. They represent the hasty and chaotic withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan. Many were immediately reminded of the pictures from Saigon in 1975, when US troops withdrew from Vietnam. But the pictures from Kabul also stand for almost 20 years in which the international community failed to stabilize Afghanistan.

 

 In her book about the country, journalist Natalie Amiri writes: "If you ever feel useless, remember that it took 20 years, trillions of dollars and four US Presidents to replace the Taliban with the Taliban."

 

After the summer break, a parliamentary committee of inquiry will deal with the withdrawal of the German armed forces from Afghanistan. It should work through what went wrong in the work of the black-red federal government. It looks back to 2020, when then US President Donald Trump promised the Taliban in Qatar that US troops would be withdrawn. 

 

What the investigative committee will not come to terms with are the 20 years in which the Bundeswehr was stationed in Afghanistan. 20 years in which a lot has happened, but which appear almost in vain with today's knowledge.

 

1996

After years of civil war, the Taliban conquer Kabul and proclaim the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" with strict Sharia rules. The "emirate" is only recognized by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Islamist terror network al-Qaeda enjoys the protection of the Taliban.

2001

11.9. Islamists from the al-Qaeda terrorist network hijack four planes. They steer two into the World Trade Center in New York and one into the Pentagon in Washington. More than 3000 people die.

12.9. Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) assures the USA of “unrestricted solidarity”. The UN Security Council classifies the attack as a "threat to international peace and security".

4.10. For the first time, NATO declares the alliance case according to Article 5 of the NATO treaty.

7.10. The ultimatum to the Taliban expires. US President George W. Bush had asked the Taliban in Afghanistan to extradite al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. First US air raids on Afghan territory. The "War on Terror" declared by Bush began with Operation Enduring Freedom.

The regime is overthrown in autumn/winter. Taliban leaders flee to Pakistan.

11/27 The first Afghanistan conference takes place on the Petersberg near Bonn. It is to be agreed there how Afghanistan can become a democracy.

22.12 Hamid Karzai is installed by the Petersberg Conference as head of the interim government.

22.12. With a large majority, the German Bundestag agrees to the participation of the Bundeswehr in the ISAF (International Security Assistance Force).

2002

January - The first German soldiers and Afghan police forces go on patrol together in Kabul.

6.3. Two German and three Danish soldiers die while defusing a rocket. These are the first dead of the Bundeswehr in Afghanistan.

4.12. "Germany's security is also being defended in the Hindu Kush," said Defense Minister Peter Struck (SPD).

2003

29.5. An off-road vehicle hits a landmine, the first German soldier dies from outside influence.

7.6. A suicide bomber killed four Bundeswehr soldiers and injured 29, some seriously, when he attacked a convoy with a car bomb.

2004

9.10. Interim President Hamid Karzai wins first presidential election in Afghan history.

2005

18.9. For the first time in four decades, a parliament will be elected in Afghanistan. The Petersberg process reached its target set in 2001.

28.9. The Bundestag extends the mandate to up to 3,000 soldiers. Germany assumes responsibility for reconstruction throughout the north.

3.11. Mazar-i-Scharif becomes ISAF headquarters in the north and the largest military camp outside of Germany.

2006

31.1. The Afghanistan Pact is decided in London. The Afghan authorities should take on more responsibility for reconstruction and stabilization. In addition, the international community is helping with more than ten billion dollars. German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul says: The people of Afghanistan must feel that peace is worthwhile for them.

1.6. The Bundeswehr takes over the ISAF command in northern Afghanistan.

14.8. In Kunduz, NATO begins training and advising the Afghan armed forces, which are currently being built up.

2007

8.3. A German employee of Welthungerhilfe is shot. Development Minister Wieczorek-Zeul promises to continue aid to Afghanistan.

19.5. Three Bundeswehr soldiers die in a suicide attack in Kunduz.

2008

6.8. A suicide bomber attacks a Bundeswehr convoy. A soldier later dies as a result.

20.10. Suicide attack near Kunduz: Two soldiers die.

2009

April 29 For the first time since the Second World War, a German soldier dies in a firefight.

4.9. Some Taliban and around 100 Afghan civilians die in an air raid on hijacked tankers near Kunduz. A German commander gave the order. The incident sparked a fierce controversy.

3.11. Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (CSU) speaks for the first time of "war-like conditions" in Afghanistan.

2010

2.4. Three German paratroopers die in the so-called Good Friday battle near Kundus.

15.4. Four German soldiers die in attacks.

31.10. Together with Afghan and US soldiers, the first offensive planned and led by Germans since World War II begins.

2011

18.2. A soldier from the Afghan National Army kills three German soldiers and injures six others, some seriously.

2.5. A US task force kills Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

28.5. An explosive charge kills two German soldiers in Talokan.

2.6. A soldier dies in Baghlan after a German infantry fighting vehicle hits a booby trap.

5.12. In Bonn, the Afghanistan conference decides to continue supporting the country after the ISAF mission ends in 2014.

2012

3.4. The Bundeswehr field office, which has been in operation since 2004, is handed over to Afghan security forces.

2013

Bundeswehr soldiers withdraw from the field camp in Kunduz after handing over the camp to the Afghan army.

4.5. A KSK soldier dies in a Taliban attack in northern Afghanistan.

6.10. Afghan soldiers take over the camp in Kunduz, the German armed forces end their permanent presence there.

2014

14.6. Amid violence and allegations of fraud, Ashraf Ghani wins the presidential election.

November In its report on the mission, the German government writes that "in Afghanistan there is a functioning democratic community in the beginning, the majority of its citizens believe in the future and which is effectively defended by its security forces".

31.12. After 13 years, the ISAF mission and Operation Enduring Freedom ended. The Afghan government assumes full security responsibility for the country.

2015

January 1 NATO officially ends its combat mission in Afghanistan. Start of the NATO follow-up mission "Resolute Support" with significantly reduced troop levels, which trains and advises Afghan armed forces.

2016

10.11. Terrorist attack on the German consulate general in Masar-i-Scharif, six people die and more than 100 are injured. German special forces save the employees of the consulate.

2017

20.1. Donald Trump is inaugurated as the new US President.

31.5. At least 150 people are killed and more than 400 injured, including members of the German embassy, ​​in a bomb attack in the diplomatic quarter in Kabul against the German embassy.

2018

22.3. The Taliban are on the rise again and are taking control of several provinces.

2019

Many Afghan security forces and civilians are victims of ongoing Taliban attacks.

2020

29.2. Representatives of the US administration under President Trump are meeting with the Taliban in Doha to discuss the gradual withdrawal of the US army. Trump later announced that he would withdraw 2,500 of the 4,500 troops in Afghanistan.

With Trump's announcement, everything changes. America's partners now also know that they will have to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan – whether they like it or not. The negotiations in Doha are the beginning of the end of the Afghanistan mission. And they are the point in time from which the committee of inquiry in the Bundestag takes a look at the work of the federal government.

11/26 The Bundeswehr withdraws all remaining German forces from Kundus.

2021

24.2. The black-red federal German government decides to extend the Bundeswehr mandate until the end of January 2022.

23.3. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) says: "We don't want to risk the Taliban returning to violence and trying to seize power by military means by withdrawing from Afghanistan too early."

9.4. The US secret services are extremely critical of the situation in Afghanistan. Without foreign troops, the government in Kabul will find it difficult "to keep the Taliban in check," they say.

April 14, 2021

US President Joe Biden announces that US troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan by September 11th. The original goal, the fight against terrorism, was "fulfilled". NATO joins. The withdrawal is to begin "in an orderly, coordinated and well-considered manner" on May 1st and be completed "within a few months". Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU) also announced that all German soldiers would be completely withdrawn in the summer.

18.4. Kramp-Karrenbauer promises to bring local Afghan workers to Germany in a simplified manner and quickly.

May 1, 2021

1.5. Start of the official withdrawal of international troops.

8.5. An attack on a girls' school in Kabul kills 85 people, most of whom are schoolgirls. The government blames the Taliban for the killings.

14.5. In an open letter, ex-diplomats, soldiers and scientists are demanding that local Afghan staff be taken out quickly and without bureaucracy.

9.6. Foreign Minister Maas speaks of a "mass exodus from Afghanistan" if the rules for evacuating aid organizations should also apply to local workers. "Then we'll no longer be talking about 2,000 people, then we'll be talking about 20,000 people."

23.6. The parliamentary groups of CDU/CSU/, SPD and AfD reject a Green motion for the "generous admission of local Afghan workers".

29.6. After almost two decades, the last German soldiers left Afghanistan in Masar-i-Scharif. After the last international troops are out of the country, the Taliban quickly conquer the country.

7.7. The last deportation flight from Germany lands in Kabul. Since December 2016, 1,104 Afghans have been deported to their homeland.

22.7. The Taliban control 90 percent of the country's borders and are advancing on the capital. Afghan government troops are retreating to the larger cities. Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) says: "I would like us to give those who have helped us a lot a way out." All those who have worked for Germany since 2013 should be given the opportunity to leave the country.

August 3-12, 2021

 

3 to 12.8. Increased attacks on members of the Afghan government, also in Kabul. The Taliban are advancing faster and faster without any significant resistance from the regular Afghan army and also conquer Kunduz, where the German army was stationed for years.

August 13, 2021

The US sends 3,000 troops to Kabul and Britain 600 to evacuate their citizens and allies.

14.8. The Taliban take over the former army base at Mazar-i-Sharif and have surrounded Kabul.

August 15, 2021

15.8. The Taliban launch the attack on Kabul and quickly seize power. President Ghani flees abroad. Germans are asked to leave the country, the first people are evacuated.

August 16, 2021

16.8. The evacuation campaign by the Bundeswehr, which has just begun, is being temporarily canceled due to the chaotic conditions at Kabul airport. Afghans desperately cling to planes, several people die. "All of us - the federal government, the intelligence services, the international community - we misjudged the situation," said Foreign Minister Maas.

17.8. Only seven people are flown to Tashkent with the first Bundeswehr plane. In subsequent flights, more than 100 people are on board. Afghan local forces cannot even get near the airport in Kabul. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaks of a "human tragedy". Germany bear a share of the responsibility, the pictures from Kabul are shameful.

18.8. The Federal Government decides to deploy the Bundeswehr for the evacuations. Hundreds of Germans and thousands of local workers are holding out in Kabul.

August 19, 2021

19.8. The evacuations are starting again. But the situation at Kabul airport remains dramatic.

20.8. Two Germans are injured on the way to the airport, and two KSK helicopters are to help with the evacuation. Maas says: "The people who are at Kabul airport rightly expect that we take care of them and get them out of there." And: "I want to help ensure that after our mistakes, desperate people are not left in the lurch."

21.8. In exchange for EUR 1 billion in humanitarian aid from the EU, the Taliban pledged to facilitate the evacuations.

23.8. Shots are fired at the airport in Kabul, and German soldiers take part in combat. The Taliban issue the ultimatum that by August 31. all international troops are said to have leave the country.

August 25, 2021

 

25.8. The Bundeswehr says it has flown out more than 4,600 people.

26.8. IS assassins attack the airport. More than 90 people die, including 13 US soldiers. The Bundeswehr has flown about 5,300 German nationals, local Afghans and citizens of other countries out of Kabul and is ending the evacuation campaign.

1.9. The last US soldiers are leaving the country, leaving Afghanistan completely to the Taliban."