Afghan Exit:why, how and more in country and beyond

[davidbfpo]

There are now over three hundred threads in this forum and time for a new one to cover what may happen, is planned to happen and not only the impact within Afghanistan, but at home too. Home of course being wider than just the USA, the ISAF coalition and those nations who have participated in Afghanistan.

The catalyst for this thread came from a number of posts on the 'The Best Trained, Most Professional Military...Just Lost Two Wars? ' thread which IMHO contribute to that subject and are more pertinent here.

Secondly after a review there are a number of threads that cover aspects of an exit, most of them from a historical angle; back to three years ago only:

a) Leaving Afghanistan: is the USA following the USSR strategy? http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ad.php?t=16855

b) The best thing we can do is leave: http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ad.php?t=16590

c) Leave or Stay: http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ad.php?t=14354

d) Withdrawal deadlines discussion: http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ad.php?t=10789

e) What If We Fail in Afghanistan?: http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ead.php?t=8990

Political statements abound on a change of roles, notably the end of a direct combat role for ISAF by 2014 and on the exit of contributors beforehand, such as France. Strategic value and partnership are mentioned, although the exact form is very dependent on the Afghan national government's stance.

What does an exit mean for the Afghan people, recent posts have asked what does it mean to those who have fought with us, been interpreters and the like?