Afghanistan: Biden's mess

A lot of people on both sides of the aisle have long contended that America's presence in Afghanistan was wrong-headed, possibly from the beginning. I don't recall the details of the complete history of the US's involvement in Afghanistan after the Russians left, but I would generally agree that expending military resources with no clear notion of an endgame or an exit strategy is a bad idea, expensive in both blood and treasure, and in no way serving national interests. To be sure, I'm not an isolationist who thinks America should simply unplug itself from global affairs: I think the world is too interconnected, at this point, for any sort of true isolationism ever to be feasible. But America has involved itself in world affairs this military way before—especially with neocons at the helm but even with Democrats running the show—and I think it's past time for us to stop meddling in other countries' sovereignty unless there's a direct threat to Americans. This aligns me with Trumpian foreign policy: Trump de-emphasized war in favor of negotiation.

But where we stand now, with Biden having suddenly yeeted us out of Afghanistan (although he's sending 5000 troops back to rescue remaining US personnel and Afghans who helped the US), leaves me alarmed. On the one hand, I think ending our presence there is a great idea. On the other hand, this idea isn't new, and Biden's ham-fisted handling of the withdrawal—in which he messed with Trump's already-negotiated timeline just to make sure things didn't happen According to Trump—has made the situation into a real mess.  

Here's Styx's latest on the topic:

So while Biden maybe deserves praise for actually withdrawing the US from a costly and unproductive military effort ("never get involved in a land war in Asia"), he bungled the withdrawal the way he's bungled pretty much everything else in his barely-there presidency.

Trump had set up a withdrawal timetable with Afghan leaders that he would have carried out by this past May had he been around for a second term. Biden, to put his own stamp on the withdrawal, moved the dates to later, thereby violating the Afghan leaders' trust (a point Styx makes in the above video: certain Asian cultures put a lot of stock in your word as your bond). Biden then somehow thought and said that the Taliban would not take over the country, but that's exactly what's happening now. Most of Afghanistan—two thirds—now belongs to the Taliban, and since, in our haste to withdraw as ignobly as we did, we left behind millions of dollars in American military technology, the Taliban is now better-armed than it's ever been. Could our withdrawal have been handled any more stupidly?

Over at his blog, Dr. John Pepple argues that, no matter how well-armed the Taliban might be, they don't represent an immediate threat to the mainland US. He concedes that they might be a threat to Americans abroad and possibly to US ships, but a 9/11-scale event reoccurring these days is unlikely. That could be so, although with our porous southern border, it wouldn't surprise me if certain bad elements slipped in and made mischief on our shores. (I keep wondering why terrorists never think to capture and execute American celebrities on camera, or to bomb the physical studio lots of Hollywood itself. To me, that would be the quick way to demoralize the country, not flying planes into financial buildings.)

Anyway, as Styx contends, this is a mess entirely of Biden's making. He and his administration will do their best to somehow blame Trump for all this, but the fact is that Biden decided to piss all over an agreement that Trump had already hammered out with all parties concerned, and now the opportunity to withdraw from Afghanistan with any honor and dignity is past.

ADDENDUM: the US is apparently sending B-52s to bomb our own equipment and make it unusable. Too bad we didn't have the presence of mind to take the equipment with us when we turned tail and fled. Wait, who am I kidding? Presence of mind? Our leader is a drooling idiot with no mind to speak of. As Trump might say: Sad!

ADDENDUM 2: from the Instapundit comments:

So now it is plain to see the world over that the USA is an ADHD enemy and a worthless ally.

ADDENDUM 3: from Twitter (via Instapundit comments):

“There's going to be no circumstance where you see people lifted off the roof of an Embassy of the United States of America from Afghanistan”

- Joe Biden, July 8, 2021

pic.twitter.com/LjpAjsPIMF

— Jewish Deplorable (@TrumpJew2) August 15, 2021

Expect the above tweet to be blocked at some point.

Sincerely, fuck this "president." Koreans should take a lesson from this.