These stories are so sad. Why isn't mainstream media broadcasting the gold star families stories today?
If that is really what the long term goal was - to take Afghanistan, they could have taken Afghanistan and had pro-west forces move into the region, and build walls or bases. They did not do that, because there was never a clear plan on what the mission was. It was just passed down to the next person in power. The political will was never there to occupy and keep Afghanistan. It shows the hubris of the USA and also the lack of forethought involved. There is plenty of blame to go around, but I do think that some credit needs to be given to the far left - who said in 2001 and 2002 that the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan would be a failure. The issue was never taking the countries, it was a lack of coherent thoughts on what to do after occupation. Iraq is a perfect example, we took the country easily with force, and then we decide to go soft when it came to what we should do after occupation. Also, Arabs would have easily told you that Hussein was one of the best things in the Middle East for the USA and West. He kept the extremists in Iraq under control and prevented religious zealots from entering the country. He was essentially eliminating the spread of religious extremists at no cost to the USA. Iraq is going to be a problem for the USA going forward. Also, there majority of Iraqis had high opinions of the USA until how they left their nation. They expected to have some degree of US oversight for a long time. Now, many Iraqis have negative views of the USA government and I cannot blame them. There hasn't been a competent US foreign policy doctrine in the Middle East in everyone livings lifetime. There is also a lot of misunderstandings about the Middle East - not everyone in the Middle East is a religious zealot, a lot of the ruling governments are, in part because of Western policy in the region. There are actually a lot of underground atheists, and other non religious people that are good and hard working, and just want the freedom to be safe and have opportunities to make money and live their lives.
We didn't just train and buy the weapons of the Afghani army that evaporated the moment the US no longer had much hard power in the region, but we also built a lot of infrastructure and tried to create an environment of law and order where industry can grow. Why is Afghanistan unable to extract its vast mineral wealth? Poor security, weak legislation and corruption plague mining in Afghanistan, investors and experts tell Al Jazeera. You are absolutely right. We can invade and kick out the current power like no other, but struggle with the post war stuff. We both suck at it and are arguably some of the best at. Until he went out of control genocidally, made the blunder of invading Kuwait, and increasingly got aggressive against the US. People forget but we had concerns about WMDs in 1998 and actually bombed Iraq so it's not like the Iraq War 2.0 came out of nowhere. Iraq did like to show off their Soviet and home-made SCUD missiles and they did use chemical weapons against people. But yes, Hussein did hold the region in check with his brutal tactics (with the tacit approval of the US) and he kept the oil flowing out of the region. Really feels like the US is pivoting away from the Middle East so it will still be a problem but less so. Much of Iraq's oil heads to Asia (China is the biggie) and Europe. The Biden Admin's response to Iran hijacking oil tankers seems muted compared to how this would have been treated in the past. That could change fast if Iran hijacks and kills some US marines who are protecting a tanker. Personally I wish Biden wouldn't send the marines onto to the tankers as not doing so sends a message to the Europe, China, India, etc. that it's actually a privilege that the US safeguards and sea-lanes. Agree, but I think from a cold, calculating, geopolitical perspective, some regions and its people are harder to bring to heel. They had cheap energy that fueled the modern era but some of the people were nomadic and warlike and some were the remnants of the ruling Ottoman empire. I think it's more a failure of US domestic policy that we became so dependent on petro products. Using less and extracting and processing them domestically and among true allies would have been the shrewd move. Of course not, but we ruthlessly meddled which caused an environment ripe for religious extremism. There's no such as a benevolent empire.
I agree with a lot of both posts above. It's possible Afghanistan was always doomed to failure this was the place that resisted some of the greatest empires in human history.
Biden should have resigned but he didn't. At this point he at least needs to stop lying to these families. The evacuation was botched. He was not bound to anything 45 agreed to and has been using that as a scapegoat. He is a liar and ultimately responsible for leaving people behind.
Lol…. Nah. It was certainly botched but multiple administrations deserve the blame for that. No one really cares about Afghanistan at this point.
So out of all of the policies that Joe could've kept from the former regime, he chose the Afghanistan quick withdraw. Maybe he should've chose to keep the policies on fossil fuels or the southern border instead.
Did you feel Trump should’ve resigned over the botched mission in Niger that got four US special forces killed or for abandoning the Kurds in Syria? I agree that the withdrawal from Afghanistan was bad and that most of it is Biden’s fault unfortunately many US soldiers have died under many presidents watches. I don’t think the withdrawal from Afghanistan rises to the level of resignation any more than those incidences with Trump, the deaths of the US Marines in Lebanon under Reagan or the Blackhawk Down under Clinton.
At the very least, they should admit when they mess up. These last few presidents claim to walk on water and they suck.
What is your real beef? You seem to have an axe to grind the past few days and it sure as hell doesn't have much to do with Joe Robinette Biden. You mad Trump was indicted? You upset about Alabama being a racist shithole? That Fox News and every social media site you visit lies to you on a daily basis? What the **** is your true problem?
So you think Joe Biden shouldn’t have implemented the popular policy but should have kept the other widely unpopular policies? Astrodome: more forever wars, more pollution, and separating children from their parents!! Where can I go to switch my party affiliation to whatever you are selling??
Not sure. Been in a pretty pleasant mood honestly. Wife tested positive for covid and the heat is pretty intense when I go grab the mail but other than that, it's all good. I do get tired of the normal suspects guzzling joe up but that's nothing new. I will self reflect and try to post less offensively.
Leaving Afghanistan was always going to be a cluster **** which is why the prevous two guys kicked the can down the road. Its exactly the same reason why Iraq and Vietnam lasted as long as they did. Its a hot potato and everybody wants to pass the buck and let the next guy get burned, because it was obvious almost right away that it wasnt going to end cleanly. Joe did the needful and took a black eye for it. Not a negative in my book.
Man you do you, I'm just telling how it looks from my stoop. On another note I gave Trump a fair shot for 2 years and didn't really b**** about him. After the Ukraine call and his more authoritarian tendencies started to flourish openly I naturally balked. IMO you never gave old Joe a fair shot, you don't care about his many Congressional accomplishments but rather focus on a minor issue in the grand scheme of things. Trump is and will always be far more corrupt than Joe's wildest imaginations...
I fully agree we needed to withdraw and Biden does deserve credit for doing it. What he doesn't deserve credit for is apparently ignoring the mountains of evidence that the Afghan government was collapsing faster than the uranium at Los Alamos and couldn't be counted on to provide for security and an orderly withdrawl.
