Changes

In July 2021 the [[Pentagon]] said it was providing the Afghan Air Force 35 Black Hawk helicopters and three A-29 Super Tucanos.  Less than a month later the Black Hawks helicopters and other aircraft were seized by the Taliban.  Many of the aircraft and helicopters are armed.  The A-29 Super Tucanos can fire laser-guided and other types of bombs. The Afghan government also had 50 American-made MD-530 attack helicopters, which are armed with machine guns and rockets. The Afghan Air Force had UH-60 Black Hawks and Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters, as well as C-130 and Cessna transports, and a small fleet of armed Cessnas.<ref>https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2021/08/taliban-captured-helicopters-can-they-capture-air-force/184525/</ref>

In July 2021 the [[Pentagon]] said it was providing the Afghan Air Force 35 Black Hawk helicopters and three A-29 Super Tucanos.  Less than a month later the Black Hawks helicopters and other aircraft were seized by the Taliban.  Many of the aircraft and helicopters are armed.  The A-29 Super Tucanos can fire laser-guided and other types of bombs. The Afghan government also had 50 American-made MD-530 attack helicopters, which are armed with machine guns and rockets. The Afghan Air Force had UH-60 Black Hawks and Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters, as well as C-130 and Cessna transports, and a small fleet of armed Cessnas.<ref>https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2021/08/taliban-captured-helicopters-can-they-capture-air-force/184525/</ref>

During a press conference on August 18, 2021 at the Pentagon, Biden defense minister [[Lloyd Austin]] and Mark Milley admitted that several U.S. aircraft flew out of the country during the 2021 Rape of Afghanistan. They think they were flown to [[Russian Federation|Russian Federal Republics]] of [[Uzbekistan]] or [[Tajikistan]], but they were not sure.  Austin and Milley had no idea how many aircraft were taken.<ref>https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/08/biden-effect-us-lost-several-military-aircraft-flown-afghanistan-no-idea-many-lost-video/</ref> An exchange with a reporter and defense minister Lloyd Austin went like this:

During a press conference on August 18, 2021 at the Pentagon, Biden defense minister [[Lloyd Austin]] and Mark Milley admitted that several U.S. aircraft flew out of the country during the 2021 Rape of Afghanistan. They think they were flown to [[Russian Federation|Russian Federal Republics]] of [[Uzbekistan]] or [[Tajikistan]], but they were not sure.  Austin and Milley had no idea how many aircraft were taken.<ref>https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/08/biden-effect-us-lost-several-military-aircraft-flown-afghanistan-no-idea-many-lost-video/</ref> An exchange with a reporter and Austin went like this:

{{quotebox-float|'''Q:''' It seems to me like barring a lobotomy by the Taliban; you have three pathways ahead of you. One, you can expand the perimeter and establish a corridor into Kabul to get our Afghan allies out. Two, you could extend the August 31 deadline of withdrawing. Or three, you can just leave the tens of thousands of Afghans who've helped us over the past 20 years behind. Which one is it going to be?

{{quotebox-float|'''Q:''' It seems to me like barring a lobotomy by the Taliban; you have three pathways ahead of you. One, you can expand the perimeter and establish a corridor into Kabul to get our Afghan allies out. Two, you could extend the August 31 deadline of withdrawing. Or three, you can just leave the tens of thousands of Afghans who've helped us over the past 20 years behind. Which one is it going to be?