I have no expertise nor knowledge nor access to information to address the recent events in Afghanistan, only my personal responses to what is publicly available. So I am not writing to enlighten or influence anyone or anything, only to clear my mind so I can move on.
My opinion is that the collapse of the Afghan military and government and the rapid take over by the Taliban was inevitable from the moment the first US military forces arrived in Afghanistan. The only real question was: on whose watch would it come?
After the terror attacks of 9-11-01, the mood of the US public was hungry for revenge. George W. Bush recognized and responded to that, not only in Afghanistan but also in Iraq. Barack Obama followed conventional wisdom of building troop strength in the illusory hope of completing the mission with violent force.
By the time Donald Trump became President, the mood of the US public had changed to wanting to stop sending US young people and resources on a costly, hopeless errand. Accurately perceiving that, the Trump administration negotiated a treaty with the Taliban with the hope of a peaceful, orderly withdrawal. If Donald Trump had won a second term, what we have just witnessed would have come on his watch.
But it came on Joe Biden’s watch, and it will rightfully be an historic hallmark of his administration.
1 comment:
Does anyone think Afghanistan could be turned into a US vassal state in 20 more years of war and doubling the expenditure in deaths (to 5,000 additional) and wounded (to 40,000 additional) and dollars (to $5 trillion additional)?
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