Afghan government collapse.

[Frodo]

Will there even be enough land and fighters for a reconstituted Northern Alliance by the time the Taliban reclaims control of the rest of the country?

Taliban takes key northern Afghan cities as battles rage on
Kunduz was the fourth provincial capital to largely succumb to Taliban fighters in less than a week.

[Frodo]

Have you forgotten that Vietnam is now considered a quasi-ally by the USA and a possible partner in fighting China, and the war is not an issue whatsoever?

Irrelevant comparison. The North Vietnamese were never remotely in the same stratosphere as the Taliban are.

I predict in 5 years or so, the USA will make a deal with the Taliban government to surreptitiously support ETIM and other Uighur terrorist groups to cause trouble in Xinjiang and disrupt Chinese investments in Afghanistan. This won't be done officially, of course, but through the CIA like in the 1980's.

Meanwhile we'll start hearing how these courageous so-called "freedom fighters" are "struggling for liberty and democracy" or whatever against China while being harbored by the same Taliban that the USA fought for 20 years, a conflict precipitated by the very same action they will be praising in the future.

Will Pakistan (especially the military and the ISI) be on board with it, though, especially considering it is effectively a Chinese client state now?

[Frodo]

We were all waiting for the helicopter-in-Saigon photo. Here it is.

https://twitter.com/vcdgf555/status/1426792788272640001

When this is all over, Ken Burns should create a documentary about our involvement in Afghanistan not unlike his original 'The Vietnam War' film that came out on PBS in 2017.  

[Frodo]

The coming collapse of the Taliban