You mean it's a big beautiful combo of outright lies, half-truths, and bad-faith arguments? Weird, don't come across that very much from them.**********Because I was curious and I read an article a while back about either us disabling most of what was left behind, or it being effectively useless without our parts/maintenance ongoing...Co-pilot say:
Short answer: No — the U.S. did not leave $80 billion worth of military equipment behind in Afghanistan.
That figure is widely repeated but misleading.
Here’s the clear breakdown, based on official reports and fact‑checks:
Where the $80+ billion number comes from (and why it’s wrong)
- The U.S. spent about $83–88 billion over 20 years to train, pay, equip, and support Afghan security forces.
- That total included salaries, fuel, food, training, facilities, logistics, and maintenance, not just weapons and vehicles.
- Many public figures and social media posts incorrectly treated this total spending as if it were all equipment left behind. [snopes.com], [independent.co.uk], [yahoo.com]
What was actually left behind
According to Pentagon, SIGAR, and congressional reports:
- About $7.1 billion worth of U.S.-funded military equipment remained in Afghanistan when the Afghan government collapsed in August 2021. [voanews.com], [edition.cnn.com]
- This equipment belonged to the Afghan government, not to U.S. forces.
- Nearly all U.S.-owned equipment used by American troops was removed or destroyed before withdrawal. [voanews.com]
What that $7.1 billion included
Pentagon and SIGAR reports list items such as:
However:
- Aircraft (helicopters and light attack/transport planes)
- Ground vehicles (Humvees, MRAPs, armored trucks)
- Small arms and ammunition
- Night‑vision devices and communications gear
- Much of it required U.S. contractor maintenance and quickly became inoperable. [edition.cnn.com]
- Some aircraft were disabled, lacked spare parts, or were flown out by fleeing Afghan pilots.
Why the misunderstanding persists
- The $80B figure sounds dramatic and is easy to misuse.
- Early images of Taliban fighters with U.S. gear created the impression that everything was captured.
- Political rhetoric often conflated total spending with leftover equipment, despite official corrections. [checkyourfact.com]
Bottom line
$80 billion left behind? No.
~$7 billion in Afghan‑government equipment remained, much of it unusable over time.
The larger $80+ billion figure reflects 20 years of total security assistance, not abandoned weapons.

