Biden says he does not regret Afghanistan withdrawal

[left-of-center2012]

Source: The Hill

President Biden on Tuesday said he does not regret his decision to pull U.S. forces out of Afghanistan amid reports of rising civilian casualties as the Taliban make gains in the country.

"We spent over $1 trillion over 20 years. We trained and equipped with modern equipment over 300,000 Afghan forces," Biden said at a news conference. "And Afghan leaders have to come together. We lost thousands, we lost to death and injury, thousands of American personnel. They’ve got to fight for themselves, fight for their nation."

"But they’ve got to want to fight," Biden added.

"I think they're beginning to realize they’ve got to come together politically at the top," the president said. "But we’re going to continue to keep our commitment. But I do not regret my decision."



Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/567216-biden-says-he-does-not-regret-afghanistan-withdrawal

[msongs]

1. 20 yrs to get their acts together while grifting every US dollar they could. good luck to them nt

[peppertree]

7. +1

[Mosby]

17. The taliban makes a ton of money from the drug trade

That taliban ban in 2001 was a form of market manipulation, because the prices spiked and they cleaned up.

This is from 2016:

Moreover, about $3 billion of the total opium produced remains in Afghanistan. The Taliban is earning up to $400 million annually from the illicit drugs, particularly from the restive Southern provinces of Helmand, Kandahar, and Nimruz. This income from drugs goes to fund the Taliban’s war engine, which has continued for more well over a decade now and remains alarming.

The idea that the taliban does not want opium production in Afghanistan and doesn't profit from it is a lie.

[Lasher]

2. Obama missed his chance there.

He should have pulled us out of Afghanistan right after declaring victory when he got bin Laden.

[maxsolomon]

6. I think there was a calculus that it was salvageable.

The sunk cost fallacy.

Or that the political costs of pulling out would have left Dems vulnerable in elections... which we 100% lost anyway.

[Sherman A1]

14. Agreed

We should have never gotten into the place as deeply as we did. This is all on George Bush.

[chia]

18. Goes back to Reagan

[JI7]

3. What's going on now in some ways shows there wasn't much more

we could have done. I guess it might be different if Afgan govt forces were willing to fight then there might be debate about whether American or other foreign soldiers could help them.

But with what we are seeing the US would have continued to be the main ones .

[J_William_Ryan]

4. This will forever be GWB's failed, illegal war.

It will forever be his failure and his failure alone.

[former9thward]

9. Nothing illegal about it.

Congress passed, almost unanimously, the Authorization for the Use of Military Force. Later NATO approved its role. This is the fourth administration to have responsibility for our actions in Afghanistan. All of them own what was done there during their time. All were CIC of the military during their time.

[PSPS]

12. Yes, that's true. But Bush still squandered it.

We had the taliban decimated and cornered in a small area of Afghanistan. We could have finished all the rest of them off in a very short time. But, instead, bush let off the gas and sent everyone to Iraq.

But the bottom line is that there's a reason they call Afghanistan "where empires go to die." Look at what happened to russia when they tried it.

[Steelrolled]

5. Is it a lack of nationalism in Afghanistan?

An army requires people to fight for others they don't know, but feel a bond with. And when it comes to US forces fighting in Afghanistan, it would seem that bond becomes even more tenuous. Take this how you will, but the US military is an incredible force.

[thenelm1]

10. The "graveyard of empires" didn't get that reputation by chance.

I think I can safely say that no outside conqueror or nation has ever been able to subjugate or gain control of Afghanistan for very long. Not the Persians, Alexander the Great, the British (a couple of attempts), the Russians (amongst others) and now, us. The only entity seeming to have had any lasting impression on the country appears to be Alexander with several cities baring some form of his name, the most noteworthy being Kandahar, city & province (a contraction of Iskandar - itself a contraction of Alexander).

[tavernier]

15. Interesting information

Thanks!

[Steelrolled]

16. Good points

Today I saw on the news people in some Afghan town or city getting "selfies" taken with the Taliban soldiers. That might say a lot, they are not viewed as invaders.

[IronLionZion]

23. The conflict is Afghani vs Afghani

Taliban is taking control of land and people from the US-supported Afghan government. It was never the US trying to subjugate or control them.

[Strelnikov_]

20. I think so

Reminds me of 1917 Russia. A lot of factions, including most who just wanted the fighting (WW I) over.

The Bolsheviks were a relatively small faction, but had their act together being bonded by their fanaticism.

[McKim]

8. Good for President Biden!

Good for President Biden!!! He recognizes that the American people are fed up with the forever wars and the squandering of trillions of dollars on testosterone bravado. At last!!!!

[dalton99a]

11. The Afghan government received $140 billion in direct aid from the U.S.

How much of it went to Swiss bank accounts?

[Skittles]

13. our young soldiers now weren't even BORN when 9/11 happened

ENOUGH ALREADY

[Javaman]

19. 20 years for nothing.

as soon as we pull out the whole thing is collapsing.

we were there only for the right wing and military machine to make money

as I have long said, the iraq war and the afghan wars were nothing more that gigantic money laundering operations.

so many people and soldiers dead and wounded, for what?

the taliban will now erase the blackboard as if we were never there.

[left-of-center2012]

21. We could have, should have ...

We could have, should have caught Osama bin Laden when we first went to Afghanistan (had him cornered in the mountains)
but then Bush diverted most troops to his Iraq invasion/war.

[Mysterian]

22. Thanks for getting us out, President Biden

Time for the Afghans to fight their own wars.

We should have gone in full force, destroyed terrorist training camps, killed and captured terrorists, including Bin Laden, and been out of there in six months. No occupation. No nation building. No training an Afghan Army. Just go in, accomplish the mission against the people who attacked NYC, and get the fuck out. But the criminal Cheney/Bush regime had their greedy eyes set on Iraq, so no no real effort was made in Afghanistan until Obama became president.