If the Republicans had a better plan for exiting Afghanistan they should have done it under Trump

[milestogo]

But they were too busy covering his ass to accomplish anything else.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

1. The guy campaigned in 2016 on getting our troops home from around the world

And had 4 years to get it done.

[0rganism]

2. they did: "Make the next guy do it"

Trump, for all his bluster about bringing troops home and ending foreign interventions, would never have withdrawn the military in a way that made him look bad. He would have let the deadlines pass and claim that the Taliban were violating the agreements and acting in bad faith -- which they might very well have been anyway.

But instead, Trump lost the election and left a ticking foreign-policy time bomb for his far more honorable successor. Which has now blown up.

[FakeNoose]

3. Chump and Pompeo made this deal in February 2020 with the Taliban

At that time, they both assumed that Chump would win a 2nd term. It wasn't till later in the year that Chump realized he was going to lose the election.

I'm sure the plan was to evacuate everybody, just like Biden is doing, and get out quickly. Nobody understood how little resistance the Afghan army would put up against the Taliban. They were thinking it would take up to a year for the Taliban to actually take over the country - AFTER our guys were out of there.

The main idea was that Chump would still be in the White House when it happened, and he could spin the story however he wanted. Somehow he would make himself look like the hero, just like always. Instead, he's out and watching Biden do it all, and now he has to throw shade on Biden anyway he can.

[Midnight Writer]

4. To be fair, Trump and the Republicans were focused on infrastructure and fighting Covid.

Christ, I have turned into a sarcastic old fart, haven't I?

[moondust]

5. He carried out his plan.

Make a fake deal in early 2020 with terrorist protectors and then loudly brag about being the great war ender on the campaign trail. In 2021 after the election was over he would use some excuse to just forget about the fake deal and do whatever he wanted, perhaps because those terrorist protectors forgot about the fake deal and did whatever they wanted.