“No, I believe it was deliberate sabotage of our national security from the inside. No one is so dumb or hapless to get the Afghanistan pullout so wrong in so many ways.”
After I read your comments I decided to do a deep dive into the ending of our long Afghanistan Adventure. I was particularly interested because my son had two fighting tours there, and last year was stationed in the Middle East working on the pull-out. I had my own doubts early on. Under Bush 1, why were the CIA drawn maps of the Tora Bora caves lost when bin Laden was hiding there? Under Bush 2, why was Iraq 2 fought when we were busy trying to win in Afghanistan? More recently, who approved Trump’s release of several thousand Taliban prisoners before we got a lot of our citizens and Afghan helpers out? Why did neither admin. streamline the process of vetting exit of the many Afghans who trusted and helped us, knowing their lives were at serious risk from the Taliban? How well was Biden advised when it was decided to close Baghram AFB with 2 runways and only use the Kabul airfield with one runway?
I found the following article from Aug. 18, 2021, the last days of the pull-oot. What I found of greatest interest was not the article itself, but the 1,000+ comments that followed. Many were detailed and informative. I read about 300 before returning to this comment. Read them and broaden your own opinion. My thoughts are below the link.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2021/08/18/afghanistan-pentagon-fall-of-kabul/
My son said he thought 20 years ago the Taliban would win. Many comments expressed anger at the US military, the Military Industrial Complex, Congresscritters and Lobbyists for encouraging ongoing war financing. One interesting comment expressed the need to make and test ever more complex fighting tools because that is what the enemy is always doing. [Check the new Iranian drone issue for example. It doesn’t even need to be the biggest enemy or most expensive armament.] Personally I am glad we are learning this from the Ukrainian Army and not our own. Russia is certainly showing what does not work to maintain and create a healthy society.
This military R&D will continue to be necessary, the question is, how expensive in lives and dollars? And which politicians are best equipped and sensitive to the underlying moral issues to be entrusted with the job? This November we will all be tasked with offering our opinion on these issues. Will we even begin to have enough information to make sensible choices for our own welfare and that of others? I plan to do a lot more reading and listening between now and voting.
Read your comment, and your link.
I find it interesting that the recent wars we were engaged in are with oil rich nations. Libya, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan. For instance: Oil reserves in Libya are the largest in Africa and among the ten largest globally.
We invaded these countries under pretenses such as WMD’s which were not found.
Russia may be the most energy rich nation in the world. Looks like we are eager to go to war with them.
Sorry, but I have a lack of trust in the propaganda we get in support of these invasions.
We left 7 billion behind in military equipment in Afghanistan. Why?? We can’t be that stupid. What deals were made. We’ll never know. And we the people benefitted how?
ENOUGH!!! No more American lives destroyed, no more American taxpayer money on endless wars. We are 31 trillion in debt, yet we are funding billions to the Ukraine? Something is so wrong with this.
Hilarious you think the comments section of the Compost represents broad opinions.
One specific decision: Bagram, a strategically located military airbase, vs Kabul in the middle of chaos took some sage advice for Old Slow Pedo Joe and deep pondering? Tough one! Tell me what you found in the 1200 liberal wacko comments that would make me say a-ha, Biden’s national security crew made a sensible decision about that.