Biden says U.S. war in Afghanistan will end August 31
Source: Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) President Joe Biden on Thursday said the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan will conclude on Aug. 31, saying speed is safety as the United States seeks to end the nearly 20-year war.
We did not go to Afghanistan to nation build, Biden said in a speech to update his administrations ongoing efforts to wind down the U.S. war in Afghanistan. Afghan leaders have to come together and drive toward a future.
Biden also amplified the justification of his decision to end U.S. military operations even as the Taliban make rapid advances in significant swaths of the country.
The effort to further explain his thinking on Afghanistan comes as the administration in recent days has repeatedly sought to frame ending the conflict as a decision that Biden made after concluding its an unwinnable war and one that does not have a military solution.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-afghanistan-government-and-politics-86f939c746c7bc56bb9f11f095a95366
Warpy
(111,121 posts)by people who don't realize Afghanistan does not belong to us. I don't know what it will take for that to penetrate all those cement lined imperialist skulls, but there it is.
Yes, they'll fight a war against each other. Yes, we will not like what comes ouit of it, that's a guarantee. However, it was never our choice and the longer we stay, the more determined they will be to erase every scrap of westernism there.
We should have left when we whacked Bin Laden and ruined all his training infrastructure, honestly.
maxsolomon
(33,232 posts)We could have chosen to leave after Tora Bora, yes.
The Taliban were pushed out in 2002; now they'll be back in charge. Think they've learned a lesson about harboring Terrorist groups? I have my doubts.
Warpy
(111,121 posts)I think I can guarantee we won't like whoever moves into the government there when we leave.
They might find it necessary to retreat back into the thirteenth century to purge themselves of all western influences. If we leave them alone, it is unlikely to last long. Kabul was a modern city before the Russians fouled things up. It can be again.
However, once Bin Laden was dead and his training infrastructure destroyed, our job was done. We should have left then. Will another rich Saudi or other scumbag pop up? Oh, count on it. Our best hope is that he isn't as wily as Bin Laden was and that we learned a lesson in a 20 year quagmire: get in, get rid of the threat, get out.
Thomas Hurt
(13,903 posts)BumRushDaShow
(128,372 posts)pwb
(11,245 posts)This one is a new record of money wasted.
Deminpenn
(15,265 posts)in VN we left nearly 50 years ago. As soon as the US left, South VN and its army collapsed and the North Vietnamese easily reunited the country under their rule. It's going to be the same ending in Afghanistan, too except with the Taliban playing the role of NVN.
onetexan
(13,019 posts)need to decide to fight Taliban rule if they don't want it. The US cannot nation build where we are not wanted. Damn GOP misled the country to go into Afghanistan in the first place. It's time a Dem POTUS ends the nightmare.
Deminpenn
(15,265 posts)strict religious rule makes one rueful, but there have been 20 years for them to figure out an exit plan. I do believe the US owes it to Afghans and their families who helped our military to help them leave and resettle elsewhere or here in the US if they choose.
Maybe in the end, it will better to have a consolidated government. Then the world will know with whom to engage. It will be different for taliban leaders once they are in charge and responsible for governing. The world can slap economic and financial sanctions on them when needed to change their behavior. And perhaps the State Dept will finally seriously engage to resolve the root problem of India vs Pakistan.
onetexan
(13,019 posts)Politicub
(12,165 posts)The American occupation is unsustainable. A UN force would probably be unsustainable, too, but the U.S. should not be expected to fix the country or shoulder the burden alone.
I don't think the Taliban is redeemable, honestly. They're a force that is hostile to humanity, and I don't think society is equipped to deal with them. There's no good answer -- only a hellscape.
maxsolomon
(33,232 posts)Cooperation, not sabotage, from Pakistan's ISI might have made a difference.
Now, the Refugee Crisis.
IronLionZion
(45,380 posts)is clearly not America's ally
peppertree
(21,595 posts)First as tragedy,
then as farce.
IronLionZion
(45,380 posts)20 years is enough. GOP will blame him for the Taliban of course as if Bush didn't exist. But the Taliban isn't much of a threat to Americans at home.
onetexan
(13,019 posts)>$1 trillion dollars was the cost of the war, not to mention the countless lives shattered and lost. This is the work of the GOP. Bush, Cheney & Rumsfeld have blood on their hands. The GOP will try to pin this one on Biden but it won't work.
OnlinePoker
(5,715 posts)The lives and lucre lost in this boondoggle have been a complete waste.
mac2766
(658 posts)I didn't even read the post, just the title.
We need to end the endless, useless, meaningless, money suck for the super-rich. We need to stop throwing money to the wealthy. Of course... maybe they've finally decided that they've made enough.....
LOL... Like they will ever think that they've pilfered enough public money.
trof
(54,256 posts)Yes, ferret out Bin Laden, but not make it a countrywide excursion.
2. Sooner or later some president would have to draw the line on an impossible situation.
3. Unhappily it came on Biden's watch.
Somebody had to end our involvement and 'we' (Democrats) get to be the 'bad' guys (according to the repugs.).
'We' have absolutely no business and no hope of success in 'democratizing' anywhere in the middle east. We are working against centuries of conflict that we can in no way bring to a conclusion.
A bad end to a bad decision.
Response to trof (Reply #17)
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Rhiannon12866
(204,628 posts)https://www.democraticunderground.com/1017666288