By Aly Kamadia, Editor-In-Chief, iDose
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Dear Readers,
Benign intentions are never an excuse for gross negligence.
It was precisely unmitigated stupidity that fueled the Unites States (US) to embark on its war in Afghanistan, which was initially a justified response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, though quickly transformed into a delusional fantasy of creating a Western-style liberal democracy.
Many knowledgeable experts exercised stunningly foolish judgement in thinking that unparalleled US military power could socially engineer the culture and politics of a complex country like Afghanistan. (To be fair, a number of war supporters who never cared about American interests made untold financial fortunes throughout the fiasco.)
More than 7 000 days into America’s intervention (i.e., roughly 20 years), with the death of roughly 2 500 American lives (not to mention, the roughly 21 000 wounded and torturous mental trauma among many American troops), and a price tag of $2 300 000 000 000 ($2.3 Trillion), what did the US have to show for its astronomical sacrifice in Afghanistan?
HUMILIATING D-E-F-E-A-T.
The Taliban not only controlled vast areas of Afghanistan, but was in a position to secure additional strategic gains in the coming months. (A former Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan, Djoomart Otorbaev, assesses the current situation in Afghanistan in this month’s issue of iDose.)
Within this context, if President Biden wanted to act like a typical politician, he could have easily recited fancy speeches that were detached from on-the-ground realities, marketed the fiction that Afghanistan represented a necessary war that required more US blood and treasure for an indefinite period, and kept the conflict alive while kicking its problems down the road to the next President.
But Biden refused to act like a typical politician.
In repudiating many American political elites, a batch of whom had never met a potential war that they didn’t embrace (not to mention, their cheerleading halfwit “journalists” populating mainstream US broadcast media outlets), Biden loudly acknowledged an obvious truth: The US had no direct national security objectives that merited continuing its war in Afghanistan.
After two long decades of American military action that crowned Afghanistan the longest war in the Republic’s history (i.e., US history), enough was enough.
By ending the US war, Biden chose the least painful option amongst a list of horrific choices.
And at least on the question of Afghanistan, history would rightfully applaud him for his courage.
Stay safe,
