Evan
Member
Afghanistan...humiliating debacle for our country.
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What President hasn’t screwed it up?Biden has so throughly screwed the pooch in Afghanistan that I'm not sure even Donald Trump would've handled it worse.
What President hasn’t screwed it up?
remember when Pompeo met with the leader of the Taliban, then 5000 prisoners were released?
This entire thing was garbage from the start. Nation building doesn’t work. They have to want it for themselves.
It was garbage in the beginning because we tried to rebuild Afghanistan into our mold. We went in with the wrong plan for the finished product.It wasn't garbage. I will go to my grave defending Afghanistan as a just war. That the American people and domestic politics didn't let our military win the war, or at least achieve a strategic victory, is not their fault. It's the fault of politicians like Biden and Trump.
I've got a long post in the old politics thread taking Trump to task for trying to invite the Taliban to Camp David. I'm very familiar with the history. None of that excuses the current admin's absolute botching of the withdrawal. Biden wanted this. He now owns it. Period. Trump was also foolish. He's also no longer President. Biden didn't have to stick to the deal Trump negotiated. We didn't need a large force to keep Afghanistan from turning into this. We were doing it with 5000 - 7500 troops (close to what we have there right now), and decent air support.
It was politically popular to end the mission in Afghanistan. Doesn't mean it was right or that the American people were right in demanding it end. Leaders have to lead you know...Biden is failing reprehensibly. I will always call it how I see it. I don't care for partisan politics. Surely people know that about me by now.
It was garbage in the beginning because we tried to rebuild Afghanistan into our mold. We went in with the wrong plan for the finished product.
after that, every President, including Biden, has made several grave mistakes.
Civilians certainly died, just in different ways.I don't recall people falling from USAF planes while trying to escape the Taliban happening under any other administration.
A bunch. The Taliban have enough military supplies to easily control the people.How many aircraft (jets/planes/helicopters/drones) did we abandon that are now in the hands of the Taliban?
Civilians certainly died, just in different ways.
I agree with this post. I just don’t think Biden has made any more grave mistakes wrt Afghanistan than bush, Obama, or trump.People die due to viruses every day, too. But, when deaths are preventable, and the incompetence of leadership is largely responsible, we should hold them accountable instead of playing what-about games.
Lots of people are responsible for Afghanistan turning into the quagmire that it did. But, there's only one person responsible for the ill-fated and incompetent withdrawal we're seeing: Joe Biden. If Trump were in office I think everyone here knows I'd be saying the exact same thing.
I refuse to accept the fait acompli the Biden admin is offering as an explanation for this disaster. Because it's simply not true. It didn't have to go this way. They've admitted that they didn't expect things to go this way, which is quite amazing considering how many people warned them that an unconditional withdrawal, not based on the situation on the ground, would lead to Taliban rapidly taking back control of Afghanistan.
There are tens of thousands of Westerners who haven't been able to get out. If you think it's a smart plan not to plan for their withdrawal, or even a relatively successful one, then we have totally different metrics for measuring success.
I agree with this post. I just don’t think Biden has made any more grave mistakes wrt Afghanistan than bush, Obama, or trump.