Isn't it great that President Biden

[BlueGreenLady]

withdrew the US from Afghanistan before the Ukraine war began. The 20 year Afghanistan war ran from October 7, 2001 to August 30, 2021. We would really have been stretched thin if we were involved in both conflicts. I am hoping this current Ukraine war does not slog on that long. I know the US and Europe are not technically at war with Russia, but it feels like World War 2.5 has already begun.

[Wounded Bear]

1. Indeed! nt

[Joinfortmill]

2. Agree

[andym]

3. Withdrawing from Afgahanistan was good, but the way it was executed was problematic

Basically, Joe's polls started to fall with the news reports of the problems with the Taliban's conquest. The fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban should probably have been prevented if it could have by sponsoring a peace conference among all the parties way before going through with the withdrawal-- really Trump's fault, but the hand one gets is not always good.

[BlueGreenLady]

4. IMHO, No country on earth

has ever made a graceful exit from a major war. Please let me know of one if I am wrong. Of course, hindsight provides 20/20 vision. I think it was high time to get out. As a former anti- Afghanistan war protester, i believe we should never have invaded.

[andym]

7. I'm not sure I agree: the US made a graceful exit from WWII for example

although our exit lasted years: leaving occupied Japan and Germany took a while.

[BlueGreenLady]

10. We didn't withdraw from WWII

We were one of the winners. Withdrawals from Korea, Vietnam and Iraq left quagmires in their wake. Again IMHO. Glad I'm not in any way in charge of any of these messes.

[andym]

16. "No country on earth has ever made a graceful exit from a major war" is not correct

Last edited Sun May 1, 2022, 08:58 PM - Edit history (4)

You didn't mention that you meant if we (or whoever) were not one of the winners. We did withdraw from the countries we occupied in WWII for years, just as we withdrew from Iraq, Vietnam and Granada after fighting there.

In stalemate situations where there was not an outright total victory, Korea still has a 30,000 troop contingent but has been stable for almost 70 years with a friendly country in place in the south and our exit from Iraq has been more successful as the government remains a democratic republic that is not our adversary.

Vietnam was a disastrous exit for the USA and our Afghanistan exit is more reminiscent of that than the Korea (most US troops left) or Iraq exits.

[Skittles]

11. anyone who couldn't see the Taliban would take over immediately was a fool

did they never talk the troops on the ground? they constantly lamented that the Afghanistan "Army" would NEVER be capable

[peggysue2]

5. I've been wondering if the Biden Administration and our Intelligence Agencies . . .

didn't have a heads up months in advance on Putin's intentions for Ukraine, kept the Afghan withdrawal schedule, messy or not, because of the rising threat they perceived galloping down the road. Despite all the withdrawal criticisms, most Americans did not see the point in spending anymore blood or treasure on what many viewed as a 20 year-long lost cause. I was reminded of this the other day while reading a news report of helicopters turned over to Ukraine that were originally scheduled for the Afghan theater. How much support could we have realistically given if we still had troops, military hardware and money pouring out elsewhere?

Lucky stars, prescient analyses, whatever. It certainly worked out for Ukraine's benefit. As did having President Biden and his team healing the diplomatic damage the Trumpsters exacted on our NATO relationships.

All things converged at the right moment.

[canetoad]

6. Good points

Nothing happens is a vacuum.

[BlueGreenLady]

9. I was wondering the same thing

US intellegence new Russia was up to something and we couldn't confront two enemies at once.

[mahina]

8. If war with Russia has begun, it started a long time ago

And we were just pretending that it hadn’t

[getagrip_already]

12. I agree it's good to be out of afg, but it wouldn't matter if we werent......

We have had a 2 global war strategy for decades. Our military has planned to be able to support two "major" global conflicts at once for a long time. As in fighting Russia and China at the same time.

Our involvement in Afghanistan wasn't drawing a lot of resources; certainly not at the major conflict level, and neither would ukr.

It wouldn't have mattered.

[bucolic_frolic]

13. There are always fascists, terrorists and dictators to oppose freedom and democracy

Sometimes the bad guys go underground for awhile or for decades. There are powerful people who make their money on exploitation, power and control. This has the look of something that might drag on for years, and other forces of oppression could join Russia. We are in a fight for democracy and freedom, even at home. If we can just hold on to some part of Congress in November, gain a state or two, and get through covid. For sure we're not in control of our own destiny. Even if we get voting right, no sure thing.

[sarisataka]

14. Remind me,

How many troops do we have deployed in Ukraine?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

15. I agree