Times like these remind me that I am really glad we are out of Afghanistan

[NNguyenMD]

I know that the way we left will be up for argument, but I thank god that we have our ducks in a row and can focus our foreign policy attention to Europe’s now.

[JI7]

1. Biden was right about it and we should have left 10 years earlier . I also think someone other than

Biden including a younger Democratic President may not have left . I think Biden's years and experience and what he has seen in that part of the world showed him that we weren't getting anywhere there. THe fact it fell so easily showed this .

ALso we never had much control outside of the larger city areas and even that defended on heavy security .

But Biden still would have supported Afghans if they had fought the Taliban. But the fact is many did not disagree with the Taliban . At least on the areas we had problems with them on such as treatment of women .

[Polybius]

13. I love Hillary but she would not have left

She's a bit more hawkish than Biden.

[wnylib]

3. Trump set the time for us to leave

Last edited Thu Mar 24, 2022, 09:10 AM - Edit history (1)

Afghanistan. Biden extended it in an attempt to make the exit smoother. Trump made his agreement with the Taliban, sidestepping the Afghan government and therefore creating the situation that exists now in Afghanistan.

Trump also refused to do any of the vetting necessary to prepare Afghans and American citizens to leave. That is why the exit was chaotic. All things considered, Biden did a fantastic job in getting thousands of people out in a very short time.

The arrangements that Trump made with the Taliban made it necessary for Biden to choose either to get out as fast as possible, or stay and fight the Taliban from start all over again. Biden chose to leave instead of restarting the war.

Now, considering Trump's ties and allegiance to Putin, what are the odds that Trump pulled what he did in Afghanistan in order to bog us down with renewed fighting there while Putin made his plans for invading Ukraine? Not only the US would be tied down in renewed fighting in Aghanistan, but also our NATO allies who were there with us.

Nobody, especially not American media, thought that we would just pull out and refuse to keep fighting. Either we would stay and escalate the fighting again, or Biden would pull us out and be criticized by Americans and NATO members, creating a rift in NATO.

But Biden got us out, endured the criticism, and maintained unity with NATO. Then he led the world in awareness of Putin's plans for Ukraine, with NATO solidly together.

That's one hell of an achievement, or combination of achievements. I remember Biden responding to criticism over Afghanistan by saying that things were going on in other places that needed our attention more than the never ending Afghan war.

[bluecollar2]

8. A brilliant response

This should be an OP in itself.

May I cut and paste this explanation in another forum?

I especially like the reference to Biden's comments about other issues more pressing than Afghanistan's never ending war

[wnylib]

10. Sure. Feel free to use it

[bluecollar2]

12. Thank you

It perfectly addresses the situation President Biden faced and faces.

I'll let you know the result!

[abqtommy]

4. There are many people around the world who deserve better from their situation. If

we're unable or unwilling to help them now we'll all pay a very heavy price later.

[abqtommy]

6. Thanks for your thought-provoking reply. The devil is always in the details. I see that

our U.S. government is part of the problem and part of the solution at the same time.
We've had The League Of Nations and now we have The United Nations and in my lifetime I don't see them being all that productive. The U.S. has political, military and
financial allies so I don't think we're entirely responsible and I don't think we have to
solve all the world's problems ourselves.

My favorite rant, of course, is to identify the resurgence of world-wide Fascism as A
Big Problem. Back in WW2 Fascism was brutally defeated militarily. I think a repeat of
that is upon us now and I don't like it but if enough of us work together we can solve
many problems.

I'm good at giving short replies in threads where I just want us to consider another
viewpoint, like I did here. Thanks for your input.

[Vogon_Glory]

7. I am grateful that we don't have our treacherous

Double-dealing, back-stabbing, crooked, double-crossing Pakistani government so-called “allies” at our backs.

I hope that some of the former Afghan government grunts who dropped and ran are watching video from the Ukraine and seeing people who will stand up and FIGHT.

[newdayneeded]

9. Hmmmm?

Do you think Biden's strategists knew the Ukraine invasion from Putin was coming soon, and got our soldiers and equipment out to free them up? Probably not, but just a thought.

[Demsrule86]

11. Not from me there be any arguments... no easy way to exit a war you lost.