Stop second-guessing the withdrawal from Afghanistan

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-08-26/biden-afghanistan-evacuation-bombings

*snip*

Why do we have to leave Afghanistan at all? President Trump, in direct negotiations with the Taliban that excluded the Afghan government, agreed in February 2020 to a complete withdrawal of U.S. forces by May 1, 2021. When Biden took office, he postponed the deadline to Sept. 11, 2021 (later moved up to Aug. 31). Biden, whose objections — while he was vice president — to further intervention in Afghanistan were overruled by President Obama more than a decade earlier, has been steadfast and consistent in arguing that the Afghanistan war had achieved its main objective — eliminating the terrorist threat from Al Qaeda — and promising that he would not hand off the problem to a fifth president. He has kept that promise.

Why not maintain an uneasy status quo indefinitely, keeping about 2,500 U.S. troops on the ground? Aside from the fact that Trump had considered this option and rejected it, would the American people really want an indefinite troop presence in Afghanistan after spending more than $1 trillion and losing about 2,400 military members? A majority of Americans want out of Afghanistan. One sign of a quagmire is when the missions and aims of the operation can no longer be articulated, much less achieved. The U.S. had long ago reached that point in Afghanistan. Whether the goal was counterinsurgency, nation-building or promotion of women’s rights — all legitimate goals — none would have been achieved by keeping thousands of troops in hostile territory in a “forever war” of the kind both Trump and Biden vowed to end.

But didn’t Biden bungle the planning and execution of the withdrawal? The administration has acknowledged that the Afghan government collapsed far faster than intelligence analysts and most military and diplomatic experts had anticipated. Fair enough. But the truth is that the Afghan government had itself urged against a mass evacuation, fearing that the sight of thousands of Afghans leaving on planes would undermine the already shaky confidence in the government of President Ashraf Ghani and his Western-backed forces. Moreover, as Biden reiterated Thursday, no war ends with a completely smooth, bloodless withdrawal of all troops and allied civilians. “Getting every single person out can’t be guaranteed with anybody,” Biden said.

Will every American who wants to get out be able to? Most likely. The government is “aggressively reaching out” to several hundred Americans known to still be in Afghanistan. Many of them are married to Afghans, or are Afghan Americans, and have reasons for wanting to stay — or, in some cases, have refused to leave unless their Afghan relatives and associates can also leave.

*snip*

[True Blue American]

1. Only the MSM

And war hawks who make money off war are squealing.

The rest of us are pleased.

[SallyHemmings]

2. It's not a TV show

where it is so simple. The war hawks and the MSM seemed to forget that pesky detail. It is terrible to see the loss of life. But is is worse putting then keeping our troops in harms way.

Biden is doing what previous administrations failed to do.

[Septua]

3. Thank you...

..for a realistic evaluation of the situation.