Well, let me tell you some facts you may not be aware of. A look at the situation in Afghanistan over the past 6 years, instead of going all the way back 20 years. Certainly, most rational people would think the past six years would be more relevant as whether the United States should stay or leave. It also speaks to the allege commitment of the Afghan military:
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Brookings Institution:
Year - Afghan military deaths from combat - U.S. military deaths from combat - Non-US/NATO deaths from combat
2015 - 7,000 - 11 - 1
2016 - 8,000 - 9 - 2
2017 - 8,000 - 11 - 2
2018 - 8,000 - 13 - 4
2019 - 10,900 - 18 - 2
2020 - 10,900 - 4 - 0
U.S. Troop levels in Afghanistan from 2015 to present:
2015: 9,800
2016: 8,400
2017: 14,000
2018: 15,000
2019: 13,000
2020: 8,000
2021: 2,500 until April 14, 2021
Annual cost of keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan per year:
2015: $10 Billion
2016: $10 Billion
2017: $15 Billion
2018: $15 Billion
2019: $13 Billion
2020: $7 Billon
2021: Would have cost less than $3 Billion to keep a deployment of 2,500 troops in Afghanistan this year and each year after.
BOTTOM LINE: The U.S. military effort in Afghanistan was a low cost effort that huge benefits when it came to collecting intelligence on terrorist, keeping the Taliban held back to rural areas in the country, less than 20% of the total districts of Afghanistan, preventing a terrorist safe haven, commitment to protecting the Afghan government and people that had partnered with the United States to fight the Taliban and Terrorism for the last twenty years.
It was working and since 2015, the Afghan military was taking 99.99% of the casualties. ALL 34 PROVINCIAL CAPITALS REMAINED IN AFGHAN GOVERNMENT CONTROL THE WHOLE TIME UNTIL THE UNITED STATES WITHDREW ITS TROOPS IN 2021!
This is a Terrible failure and it all belongs to Joe Biden!