Was the Afghanistan Tragedy Avoidable?
Democrats are defending Joe Bidenās actions that led to the debacle in Afghanistan by pretendi
pjmedia.com
17 Aug 2021 ~~ By Rick Moran
Democrats are defending Joe Bidenās actions that led to the debacle in Afghanistan by pretending the debate is about whether he was right or wrong in ending āThe Forever War.ā Thatās a strawman argument. Very few people are arguing we shouldnāt have left Afghanistan. Most are arguing we should have left long ago.
The real debate about the tragedy in Afghanistan is whether competent leadership could have avoided it.
Biden defended his administration by pointing the finger at everyone else. Itās Trumpās fault because he
āleft a bare cupboardā in Afghanistan. Apparently, there was no plan by the Trump administration to evacuate from the Kabul airport if the Taliban took over.
Why there should have been a plan in the first place is a question that goes unanswered ā especially since the endgame envisioned by most American policymakers during the Trump years was a gradual drawdown of American troops while the Afghan army āstood upā to replace them. That drawdown would have taken place simultaneously with the conclusion of a negotiated agreement between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
Bidenās rush to withdraw American troops gave the Taliban absolutely no incentive to negotiate. They attacked thanks to the opening given them by the Biden administration. The Afghanistan national army, seeing that they had been abandoned by the United States, realized the hopelessness of their plight and skedaddled.
Why would Biden expect that Afghan army to stand and fight when he had signaled loud and clear to the Taliban that the U.S. would politely step aside and let the Taliban pass?
~snip~
Biden did not face Hobsonās choice on Afghanistan withdrawal. There were several possible outcomes ā all of which were predicated on the U.S. not cutting and running while leaving the Afghan army, government, and people to fend for themselves.
Perhaps most concerning of all is that āThe Biden Doctrineā of surrender and panicked retreat might give some other bad actors in the world ideas.
The world has seen a President portraying surrender as an act of political courage, and retreat as strategic wisdom. As we write this, the worldās rogues are looking for ways to give him a chance to deliver a similar speech about other parts of the world.
Itās a long way to 2024 and the American people have short memories ā especially when it comes to our humiliations. But whatever claims that Biden could have made of being superior in intelligence and political skills to Donald Trump have been blown up by his fumbling in Afghanistan.
Comment:
Not to be left out, the Quisling Media has a big hand in this Afghanistan tragedy. They pimped the s.o.b. Joey Xi Bai Dung, now look at what we have. Joey has made the aspirations of both China and Russia now real.
China and Russia plans can now go fully into motion.
In a slow-moving project where delays have been the norm, Turkmen officials will be relieved to hear that at least work on the project is taking place in Tajikistan.
www.rferl.org
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Desperate to jump-start its economy, Kabul is sick of waiting for Beijing to tap the countryās mineral wealth.
foreignpolicy.com
