Today, my friend, Barnett, pinned this post to his Facebook page:
Monday morning quarterbacks have come out of the woodwork. There is no doubt that the Biden administration underestimated how quickly the Afghan army would capitulate fleeing from the Taliban notwithstanding their military advantage in men and equipment. That was an intelligence failure for which the Biden Whitehouse must take responsibility. As a result the evacuation of Americans and Afghan allies has given rise to heartbreaking images of desperation.
But if truth be told that is not the complete story. After 9-11 President Bush ordered the invasion of Afghanistan to achieve two objectives capture Bin Ladin and impede terrorists from using Afghanistan as a base to attack America. Many thousands of American soldiers were sent to Afghanistan to achieve these objectives. And they were in fact achieved during the Obama administration . Bin Laden was killed and terrorists were defeated. . At that time VP Joe Biden strongly advocated withdrawal of our troops as he believed we had achieved our goals . He was overruled by President Obama. In stead we’d embarked on a slow effort to reduce the number of American troops while still at war.. Upon President Trump’s election he advocated and ordered a further withdrawal of troops . He entered into an agreement with the Taliban who were engaged in battle against Afghan and American troops to withdraw all American troops by March 31, 2001. The expectation was that the 300,000 Afghan military trained and suppled with the most sophisticated weapons by the United States would take up the fight against the Taliban. That expectation has proven to be wishful thinking . Trump’s agreement with the Taliban including the release from prison 5000 terrorists and kind words by Trump for Taliban leaders who promised not to Attack American soldiers until the withdrawal. Also included was a potential invitation to visit camp David. Upon Biden’s election he was faced with the Trump agreement with the Taliban to withdraw by March 31 or renege on Trump’s agreement. He knew that if he did not honor Trump’s agreement the Taliban they would resume their effort to kill American soldiers. More than 2500 American soldiers had died and 60,000 wounded during this 20 year war. Enough was enough.Consistent with his long standing opinion that we should have withdrawn our troops years ago Biden decide not to risk additional American lives and to honor Trump’s agreement. He extended the withdrawal date until August 31 with an agreement with the Taliban. The evacuation is ongoing . As of today approximately 30,000 Americans and Afghan’s have been evacuated . Thousands more each day. Our involvement in this war has ended. The Afghan government has collapsed . The Afghan army has surrendered. The Taliban has won. It would by futile to continue to engage . To do so would only result in more American lives with no end in sight. Biden was right when he argued against this war while he was Vice President and he is right today. The human suffering is inevitable and the media optics are awful but in the end Biden did what a President is often called upon to do . Make tough decisions and protect American lives. He is doing just that.
My comment: Barnett, thank you for leading us on a much needed factual walk back into recent history, offering those with short memories sound reason to reconsider why we’re all watching heart-wrenching scenes of desperation playing out on our tv screens, every day. At a glance, world history reminds us of how often mankind’s lust for power destroys lives that pray for a peaceful co-existence amongst all people. And, once again, that is exactly what we are witnessing, via the internet, as the Taliban’s cold hearted lust for power lunges against masses of peace-loving people, who feel that their only hope is to board one of the planes scheduled to fly to the USA. And here is what is too sad for words—every generation has need of freedom fighters, challenged to win over whomsoever the current tyrant-want-to-be proves to be. Yesteryear, whole nations were devastated by Hitler before his heinous crimes against humanity were defeated. Today we set our sights on the Taliban while the emergence of tomorrow’s lust for power remains to be seen.
As to Biden, history attests to the fact that being President of The USA suggests that he oversees fires that have burst into flame; however, just as with real firefighters, Biden, who does his best to extinguish every flaring fire or flash flood that leaves destruction in its wake, throughout the world, is not equipped with super powers. And thus do I surmise that any adult who disagrees with Barnett’s take (and mine) concerning Biden’s role during this horrendous catastrophe is thinking as would a child who still believes that daddy can fix everything that goes wrong.👩🏻Annie
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