I don’t believe anyone could accuse me being a simp like Joe Biden. Sometimes the right thing is done and that’s something we should be grateful for. Follow through on the President Trump’s Afghan withdrawal decision.
Even though Biden’s execution of our withdrawal from Afghanistan was an utter dog’s breakfast of failure on every level and demonstrated that the Biden White House, his woke Defense Department, and the “white rage” cult commanding our military forces were not up to any task of any significance (Deputy Secretary of State Claims That the ‘Process Worked’ for the Afghanistan Mission and Everything You Know Is Wrong), the decision was 20 years overdue.
By time we left Afghanistan we were there for more than the lives of some soldiers who were fighting that war. So, why are we still there? Because the plot to attack America on September 11, 2001, was hatched there by al Qaeda forces in training camps protected by the government. In October 2001., President Bush outlined the mission to destroy those camps and remove government protections.
This problem was solved in the spring of 2002. Then, in April 2002, George Bush gave a speech that laid out an expansive plan for fixing Afghanistan and making it a place where “…peace will be achieved through an education system for boys and girls which works,” and “develop[ing] an economy that can feed its people without feeding the world’s demand for drugs.” That section begins at 23: 42 of the video.
I have one question after we completed the mission to overthrow the Taliban and drive al-Qaeda from their camps. What now? When our goal is to transform Afghanistan’s culture, society and economy, what does it mean for a win? What does it mean to be satisfied? Who thought they would be able to change a society where women are treated like commodities without having to populate the country with Afghans? Were we aware that us interfering in Afghan society and culture, especially at the level of the family units, could lead to the recruitment of Taliban troops? Were we aware that sending DEA agents out to eliminate opium poppy, which is the sole cash crop in large areas of the country might encourage farmers to grow kale and quinoa rather than DEA agents?
In my opinion, the best thing was to keep 2002 in place and to make clear that, if they started to deteriorate, we would be back to killing people and breaking things. The CIA’s long-in-the-tooth and out-of-the-loop execution of Zayman al-Zawahiri, chieftain al-Qaeda, is a confirmation that the withdrawal was successful (Al-Qaeda Chieftain Ayman al-Zawahiri killed by CIA drone strike). Although the Taliban said they would not shelter terrorists in the negotiation process, did anybody really believe that? Al-Zawahiri was found, but rumors say he was killed by one Taliban faction.
What worries me is reading conservatives criticizing Biden for showing up in Afghanistan with al-Zawahiri. Please, don’t be so hard on me. Terrorists will be there, it is obvious. What can we do to stop terrorists from appearing there? Are we going to follow the Bill Clinton strategy and tie ourselves so tightly that it stops us from taking action? Do we adopt the Bill Clinton strategy of tying ourselves in such a legal knot that we stop ourselves from acting? Don’t take my word for it; read Ghost Wars by Steve Coll; I highly recommend it.
Tonight’s Trey Gowdy show, he spoke with Mike Gallagher from Wisconsin. Gallager, who is on the House Armed Services Committee, stated that al-Zawahiri’s presence in Kabul was a sign of the inability to withdraw from Afghanistan and favor an “overthe horizon” presence. Unstated, the implication was that an on-the ground presence was necessary.
We shouldn’t worry more about terrorists moving into Afghanistan than we should be concerned about Antifa activists gathering in Portland. There are enough intelligence resources to make sure that no camps form or the Taliban does not partner with terrorist groups. We have the capability to strike if these things happen.
I’m not suggesting that we should give Biden credit for the messed up stuff he does. Biden must be accountable for his tragicomic withdrawal of Afghanistan. However, we don’t need a war without victory conditions as China is our next opponent in the Pacific. We did that for 20 years. It was a mistake that we should have learned.
