Defence analysts have argued that the removal of air support for Afghan forces was a critical error that signficiantly increased the speed at which the Taliban were able to take over the country. The claims were made in the latest episode of the popular defence podcast whiched discussed the fall of Afghanistan, the failures in the US and NATO responses and the implications for the future. ... So you just have this situation where the media environment was very unreliable, but there was this general idea among Taliban fighters and ANA forces that once the US is gone, it’s over....