This has been brewing since the US armed and trained the Mujahideen (and old Osama) to fight a proxy war against the USSR in Afghanistan. IMO the issue isn’t Biden, it’s seventy years of US foreign interference and incompetence. Which could not be better displayed today than their continuing support for the two foremost rogue states, Israel and Saudi.
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Don’t wholly disagree, but you have to question his timing. Trump handed (potentially himself!!!) a suicide pass with the original May withdrawal. As I’ve previously posted, IMO Biden should have chosen a militarily strategic deadline for withdrawal, rather than the symbolic one of before the 20th anniversary of 9/11. He’s a practising Catholic and the US is a very religious country, so he could have instead chosen the Christian festival of Easter 2022 (symbol of rebirth) and in the meantime have gradually wound down US and allied presence throughout the Afghan winter (when there isn’t any fighting).
But of course, this is only a simplistic analysis from a retired lecturer in art history, who knows nothing about the history of warfare…
Yes, but if you have been handed a hospital pass is it better to move quickly and put it to bed? Is a disaster now better than a disaster later in the presidency?
I think you’ve answered your own question, Biden’s obviously thinking about US voters in 2022. What’s going to be interesting is how Republican politicians try to ideologically separate Biden’s withdrawal from Afghistan from Trump’s so-called treaty with the Taliban fot the US to withdraw in May 2021. Presumably there’ll need to be yet more re-writing of US history.
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Apparently the Taliban were asking those who had been in charge of the country’s finances where the financial reserves were kept. The answer didn’t please - back in the US with taps turned off. So the country needs cash and of course the people will be the first to suffer. I wonder if China will step in. Could the Taliban’s cruelty be moderated if it’s left to the USA?
Whilst Biden isn’t responsible for the initial (and inevitable) decision to withdraw US troops he is 100% to blame for the speed and manner of the withdrawal and the short term consequences. I read yesterday that in their haste to leave US troops had left behind 0000’s of planes, vehicles and weapons as well as biometric data readers that could be used by the Taliban to track down those who helped the Allies over the last 20 years.
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China might actually bring stability to Afghanistan, just not in the way you want: Deploy 500,000 members of the PLA and treat the locals as they do their own Muslim population.
I agree totally Tim.
I understand that he was told that an abrupt withdrawal would cause chaos and went ahead with it anyway.
I can’t understand how Jill let him do it.
Do you really think that Republican voters will remember that the withdrawal lies at Trump’s door?
They will use this debacle to have a go at the Democrats.