There’s a lot of disinformation & misinformation flying around, concerning the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. So I took the time to curate a few factual documents to help answer some questions
Very grateful you put this together. 20 years there and it fell apart in 20 minutes. Heart is breaking over the violence happening. The women and children and people who want for a better life, deserve better than the Taliban. When Trump invited them to Camp David, it was the worst thing a president could do. The ilk went on ad nauseum saying to pull the troops out & their anti-refugee compassion was inhumane. Biden shoulders what happens on his watch but 3 other presidents have not been able to manage a plan in Afghanistan. Bush took us into a quagmire that no one has ever won, including the Russians who spent 11 years there. Trump rallies were full of rhetoric about failed wars and bringing troops home. It’s so painful watching this unfold…Twitter is unbearable with all of the volatility…
I could not like this comment anymore - you astute observations is highly pragmatic and I have a lot of respect for your eloquence -because right now I’m dropping F bombs like people blow their nose. I’m both disheartened and pissed at the developments but I genuinely felt I owed an obligation to my readers to source as many public documents as possible. The disinformation and misinformation spewing about this is bonkers
Thank you for this. This entire agreement was a joke in part because they trusted the Taliban. Biden was handed a mess that quickly turned tragic. I too look forward to hearing from him today.
PS This whole thing turned twitter into another drama-laden sh*t storm between JS and DS. Here there are facts, which is much appreciated.
Ugg - I don’t have anything constructive to add but I’m just here in my tiny corner pumping out facts and documents— that said I do think the miscalculation here is pretty bad and it’s kind of gross seeing the indignation from Senate & House Republicans who have repeatedly abdicated their duty via AUMF - in short those lawmakers can kindly STFU
I am appreciative of your analysis and commentary. Negotiating with the Taliban was a reality under Trump as it is under Biden. Pompeo and Radcliffe are not wrong when they say the problem is one of leadership. It was a fatal flaw in the agreement. We will never know for certain whether the withdrawal would have been more successful under Trump but we have some indication that it probably would have and that is my criticism of the agreement. It relied on reputation and leadership of personalities, not the government. Had Trump won the election the Taliban would probably have been more inclined to complete negotiations with the Afghani government. In other words, the Taliban feared a person, not the U.S. Government. In regards to trusting Biden or believing in his judgement I would just remind you of Benghazi and Iran. He has been a train wreck when it comes to foreign policy and just has the wrong instincts. Trump was a necessary evil for the time. He was a wrecking ball and he scared the hell out of the establishment. Without Trump, people would still believe the press and believe the government has its best interests at heart. The curtain has been pulled back and no one, left or right, has any more excuses in regards to what really has been going on in this country. Right, wrong, or indifferent, without Trump and Pompeo's willingness to challenge head on the foreign policy status quo, getting out of Afghanistan would not be in the cards. Our wealthy warmongers would have made sure. As poorly choreographed and in artful as it was, we are out now. We have to clean up the mess and salvage what little integrity we have left and start rebuilding our reputation internationally. Hopefully, we learned a valuable lesson and will use better judgement in the future when it comes to foreign entanglements. I am not optimistic...
The Gift that keeps on giving, what a beautiful parting gift to Putin from Donald, and what a mess that was handed to the new administration that had almost zero chance of nothing going wrong. I am perplexed though why 100,000 people were lifted out of that situation and so many SIV's were left behind. In addition, I recently learned contracted military dogs were left behind at the airport in their kennels, there is a rescue taking care of them, but they are there and not here.
It’s okay that we can disagree. That doesn’t diminish the respect I have for your insight and more broadly your POV.
I partially agree with you on the “agreement” because you’re right that Biden could have easily shredded the document. After I watched Biden’s comments it seems like he was in a position of picking the lesser of two horrid choices. When the Afghani Government & Taliban negotiations broke down & the Former Afghani President refused to provide specific guarantees…I think that’s when the administration pulled the trigger.
I kind of wished Biden just said “the evacuation plan is on me, I made the decision based on the best available intelligence but ultimately I am the commander in chief and I made a mistake —but I give you my word as a Biden, I won’t let the SIVs, Women & Children be re-victimized by the Taliban” <—if he had been more like that —then I don’t think Biden would be facing the swift and righteous blowback
Also you’re right about Afghans & the Taliban —although I don’t think most Americans are fully aware of the history of Afghanistan and Russia. My closing thought is I think we are actually in agreement with👇🏻
If you (as a Nation State) can’t or won’t at least try to defend yourself then you should expect America to be your “on call Military”
Very grateful you put this together. 20 years there and it fell apart in 20 minutes. Heart is breaking over the violence happening. The women and children and people who want for a better life, deserve better than the Taliban. When Trump invited them to Camp David, it was the worst thing a president could do. The ilk went on ad nauseum saying to pull the troops out & their anti-refugee compassion was inhumane. Biden shoulders what happens on his watch but 3 other presidents have not been able to manage a plan in Afghanistan. Bush took us into a quagmire that no one has ever won, including the Russians who spent 11 years there. Trump rallies were full of rhetoric about failed wars and bringing troops home. It’s so painful watching this unfold…Twitter is unbearable with all of the volatility…
I could not like this comment anymore - you astute observations is highly pragmatic and I have a lot of respect for your eloquence -because right now I’m dropping F bombs like people blow their nose. I’m both disheartened and pissed at the developments but I genuinely felt I owed an obligation to my readers to source as many public documents as possible. The disinformation and misinformation spewing about this is bonkers
Thank you for this. This entire agreement was a joke in part because they trusted the Taliban. Biden was handed a mess that quickly turned tragic. I too look forward to hearing from him today.
PS This whole thing turned twitter into another drama-laden sh*t storm between JS and DS. Here there are facts, which is much appreciated.
Ugg - I don’t have anything constructive to add but I’m just here in my tiny corner pumping out facts and documents— that said I do think the miscalculation here is pretty bad and it’s kind of gross seeing the indignation from Senate & House Republicans who have repeatedly abdicated their duty via AUMF - in short those lawmakers can kindly STFU
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I just updated to include more info
I am appreciative of your analysis and commentary. Negotiating with the Taliban was a reality under Trump as it is under Biden. Pompeo and Radcliffe are not wrong when they say the problem is one of leadership. It was a fatal flaw in the agreement. We will never know for certain whether the withdrawal would have been more successful under Trump but we have some indication that it probably would have and that is my criticism of the agreement. It relied on reputation and leadership of personalities, not the government. Had Trump won the election the Taliban would probably have been more inclined to complete negotiations with the Afghani government. In other words, the Taliban feared a person, not the U.S. Government. In regards to trusting Biden or believing in his judgement I would just remind you of Benghazi and Iran. He has been a train wreck when it comes to foreign policy and just has the wrong instincts. Trump was a necessary evil for the time. He was a wrecking ball and he scared the hell out of the establishment. Without Trump, people would still believe the press and believe the government has its best interests at heart. The curtain has been pulled back and no one, left or right, has any more excuses in regards to what really has been going on in this country. Right, wrong, or indifferent, without Trump and Pompeo's willingness to challenge head on the foreign policy status quo, getting out of Afghanistan would not be in the cards. Our wealthy warmongers would have made sure. As poorly choreographed and in artful as it was, we are out now. We have to clean up the mess and salvage what little integrity we have left and start rebuilding our reputation internationally. Hopefully, we learned a valuable lesson and will use better judgement in the future when it comes to foreign entanglements. I am not optimistic...
The Gift that keeps on giving, what a beautiful parting gift to Putin from Donald, and what a mess that was handed to the new administration that had almost zero chance of nothing going wrong. I am perplexed though why 100,000 people were lifted out of that situation and so many SIV's were left behind. In addition, I recently learned contracted military dogs were left behind at the airport in their kennels, there is a rescue taking care of them, but they are there and not here.
Thank you.😉🙋
It’s okay that we can disagree. That doesn’t diminish the respect I have for your insight and more broadly your POV.
I partially agree with you on the “agreement” because you’re right that Biden could have easily shredded the document. After I watched Biden’s comments it seems like he was in a position of picking the lesser of two horrid choices. When the Afghani Government & Taliban negotiations broke down & the Former Afghani President refused to provide specific guarantees…I think that’s when the administration pulled the trigger.
I kind of wished Biden just said “the evacuation plan is on me, I made the decision based on the best available intelligence but ultimately I am the commander in chief and I made a mistake —but I give you my word as a Biden, I won’t let the SIVs, Women & Children be re-victimized by the Taliban” <—if he had been more like that —then I don’t think Biden would be facing the swift and righteous blowback
Also you’re right about Afghans & the Taliban —although I don’t think most Americans are fully aware of the history of Afghanistan and Russia. My closing thought is I think we are actually in agreement with👇🏻
If you (as a Nation State) can’t or won’t at least try to defend yourself then you should expect America to be your “on call Military”