There is much about the Afghan situation that does not add up:
1) Why weren't drones deployed to assist the Afghan government forces? We have the ability to launch them from Qatar, after all, and did so in response to the Kabul bombing.
2) Why weren't special forces deployed to assist the Afghan forces? Even a few hundred could make a huge difference while we drew down our remaining troops.
3) Why weren’t special forces used (some special forces veterans did go, but no active special forces, and they did so without explicit Pentagon approval) to help people get through to Kabul airport?
4) Why wasn't any air power used to help the Afghan government? While one carrier group was deployed to the region, the USS Ronald Reagan, its services were not used.
5) Why weren't arrangements made to provide the Afghan government with support personnel who could maintain their planes/etc.?
6) Why weren't American citizens and Afghan allies pushed into leaving earlier?
7) Why did we give up Bagram airbase given its size and usefulness in an airlift?
8) Similarly, why did we leave Bagram overnight without informing the Afghan government? They had no idea that we planned to withdraw from the airbase.
9) Why didn't we add an extra runway to Kabul airport in April; it was feasible given the equipment we had. This would have possibly allowed more planes to operate and would have given us redundancy if an explosion took out one of the runways.
10) Why did we give the Taliban a list of Afghan allies "allowed to enter the airport"? Certainly, anyone could see how this might become a hit list for the Taliban in the event those people do not get through.
11) How is it the US was unable to destroy its own equipment before the Taliban got it? Does the US not know how to scrap things---or blow things up? Was it being left for the Afghan government that was collapsing? The military has people trained in the art of demolition precisely to do things like scrap equipment they do not want getting into enemy hands.
Possible Explanations:
1) Is the US doing this to sponsor terrorism in the region against Iran or China, who is oppressing its muslim Uighur population, while we maintain deniability?
We can say were just paying the Taliban to get our people back, after all.
2) Are we looking to entice China or Iran into Afghanistan so they can experience quagmire as the Soviets did?
3) Was this done to free up carrier groups, in the long run, in order to take a more aggressive stance in the South China sea?
4) Did the military drag its feet in order to force Biden to delay the evacuation? In short, did we witness a bizarre game of chicken between the DOD and the White House?
5) Is the military/CIA working to create a catastrophe that can be used to justify removing Biden from office by means of the 25th amendment or impeachment?
The one thing I am absolutely certain of is that the weapons that we left with the Taliban were not left accidentally. The military specializes in destroying things—it has experts in demolition, and the military could have removed key components from the helicopters, trucks, and other vehicles in order to render them inoperable pretty easily. They could have chosen the parts to remove based on how difficult they would be to replace. This was not done because the USG wanted the weapons to fall into the hands of the Taliban in order to ensure the taliban could defend itself against Iran.
And, yes, this implies that the USG may have set up the Afghan Government to fail assuming that a long civil conflict would give Iran the ability to gain leverage in the region.