Here is the forlorn note I sounded at the beginning of “Friday Will Effectively Mark The End of America’s 20-Year War in Afghanistan,” January 11, 2021:
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I have been pleading for nearly 15 years for the United States to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan. Because it has been patently clear for at least that long that the United States is fighting an unwinnable war eerily reminiscent of Vietnam.
Titles to just a few of my commentaries chronicle and bemoan this fateful symmetry:
- “Please Spare Us the al-Qaeda Obits!” December 5, 2005
- “Meanwhile Over in Afghanistan: Snatching Defeat from Hands of Victory,” September 18, 2006
- “‘Without [or Even With] More Forces, Failure in Afghanistan Is Likely’,” September 23, 2009
- “Obama Saluting War Dead Will Be Defining Image of His Presidency,” October 30, 2009
- “WikiLeaks on US War in Afghanistan,” July 27, 2010
- “Afghanistan: How Many More US Soldiers Must Die for a Mistake?” September 19, 2012
That’s why this come as all too belated but heartening news, as reported yesterday by CNN:
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President Joe Biden formally announced his decision to end America’s longest war on Wednesday, deeming the prolonged and intractable conflict in Afghanistan no longer aligned with American priorities.
Biden said he would withdraw US troops from Afghanistan before September 11, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that launched the war in the first place.
Those origins had long given way to other objectives, and Biden declared Wednesday that no amount of time or money could solve the problems his three predecessors had tried and failed to fix. …
‘We cannot continue the cycle of extending or expanding our military presence in Afghanistan hoping to create the ideal conditions for our withdrawal, expecting a different result,’ Biden said.
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To reinforce the grave nature of his announcement, Biden made a public show of visiting Arlington National Cemetery right after doing so.
Truth be told, though, I have already written far more than I ever wanted to on this war. It probably suffices to know that I’ve been decrying it for far too long as a tragic march of folly that willfully repeated all the mistakes of Vietnam.
Therefore, I’m only going to address two of the most notable critics of Biden’s decision: the Republicans and the Taliban.
The Republicans have denounced this decision as “dumber than dirt.” They think it’s smarter to continue sending Americans to die for the lost cause of bringing democracy to Afghanistan.
Except that these are the same Republicans who are back here still pledging allegiance to Donald J. Trump. A man who not only spent his presidency doing his damndest to destroy democracy in America, but capped it off by inciting white supremacists to mount an insurrection in a vain attempt to thwart the transition of his democratically elected successor.
The Taliban have said they will not meet for an peace meetings until the Americans are no longer on Afghan soil. And why should they?
After all, given Biden’s announcement to withdraw all troops by 9/11, they need only wait a few more months to declare victory. This, after fending off a 20-year onslaught by the most powerful military in the history of mankind. And we thought the war in Vietnam was a humiliating lost cause.
Fears abound that, once the Taliban reclaim power, which they seem bound to do, they will provide safe haven for terrorists.
The proverb, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, obtains. So yes, it’s far more likely that the Taliban will provide safe haven for terrorists today than, say, 15 years ago, when some of us were already urging America to cut its losses and withdraw from Afghanistan.
Besides, America abides drug cartels operating out of several narco-states just south of its border. Therefore, it can abide terrorist groups operating out of Afghanistan. In any case, America has more to fear these days from terrorists operating out of several countries in Africa.
Far more intriguing, is the prospect of history repeating itself in a different respect. Because the Afghans can be forgiven for expecting the Chinese now to try to transform Afghanistan in their image.
After all, the US backed the Mujahideen to force the Russians to retreat with their tails between their legs; the Russians in turn backed the Taliban to force the Americans to retreat now in similar fashion.
So, if the Chinese fail to heed Santayana’s famous admonition, one wonders which local faction the US and/or Russia will back to force them to retreat too.
Welcome home, soldier.
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20-year war in Afghanistan…