Why should anyone be surprised that the United States left Afghanistan the way it did? The U.S. has a distinguished record of quitting.
But it is worse than that. A clumsy withdrawal for the optics of peace. No regard for anything but political posturing. And they got that wrong too.
I remember Vietnam. I remember the images of April 1975 as the United States government abandoned our friends and allies of South Vietnam.
I remember the images of Vietnamese citizens begging to be taken out of the country as the American military and civilian personal were airlifted off the embassy roof in Saigon.
The image of helicopters and equipment, no longer needed, being pushed off of ships is vivid in my memory.
The United States government proved to the world we were not to be trusted. Politicians did as they always do. They see how the wind is blowing.
I Know It’s More Complicated
From nearly every view, Vietnam was a mistake. Why we were there was likely a giant hoax dreamed up by politicians to get us into a hot war. The reason, as it nearly always is, would be money.
Wars mean big government contracts. Government contractors are benevolent folks.
Afghanistan Was Different.
We were attacked on September 11, 2001. Thousands of Americans died. We still feel the pain.
Going to Afghanistan was an effort to strike at those responsible. So we did. In less than 30 days, bombers struck targets in the nation controlled by the Taliban.
By Thanksgiving, Marines were in the country.
What was the mission?
Here are the words of President Bush.
“These carefully targeted actions are designed to disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations, and to attack the military capability of the Taliban regime,”
Make no mistake. The United States was after those who attacked us on 9/11.
But it didn’t end there. The ‘Buffalo Solders’, The Marines, Special operators, The CIA, and others accomplished the goal in six months. Then the Generals showed up and turned the operation into a 20 year, $2 Trillion debacle that cost the lives of more than 2,300 patriotic Americans with another 20 thousand wounded.
The Mission Changed
The war in Afghanistan, like Vietnam, was run by politicians. Sure, there are Generals giving orders, but it’s all done to please the whims of the political class.
In Afghanistan, the nation-building process found favor, and money was spent to that end.
Afghanistan is a tribal nation. It is run by a band of about fifty strong men. It has been that way for two thousand years. It was never going to be transformed.
A warm and fuzzy feeling of nation-building allowed politicians to enrich contractors.
After the first months, America was never able to get the fighting right. Politicians have a way of doing that. The same thing happened in Vietnam. Bombing targets required the personal approval of Robert McNamara. He did it from the Pentagon in Washington. Really!
In war, Generals and Colonels become political animals. Congress must approve promotions to General. Promotion to Major General must be confirmed by the Senate.
There is a reason military officers become political. It’s how they advance. There are exceptions. There are many wonderful flag officers. But there are many more with a clouded view.
Can’t Even Quit Right
America decided to quit. Pull everybody out. And do it now.
America moved fast, with no plan. Weapons, ammunition, equipment, and installations were left to any force that wanted to claim them. So the Taliban was given all the weapons they could ever want to wage war.
Headlines around the world announced such things as, Taliban Offensive Gathers Pace, as United Kingdom Sends Troops to Evacuate Staff. Or United Nations Warns of Humanitarian Crises.
Afghanistan has the potential to be worse than Southeast Asia.
When the military pulled out, they left the civilians behind. The embassy in Kabul was left with little or no defense. The Taliban sweeping the nation will soon over-run the embassy. Maybe a week, maybe a month. Certainly no more.
Send in troops was the answer, so the administration announced that 3,000 Marines were going back to evacuate the civilians. The 82nd Airborne will likely secure the airport. When they arrive, the Taliban will be fitted with U.S. arms and ammunition to oppose them.
The weapons left behind include artillery pieces and deadly surface-to-air missiles.
Did the administration not think the Taliban would over-run the Afghan government? Did our government not think Afghanistan would soon be controlled by those who ran the place in 2001?
There Had Been a Plan In Place
The United States had a plan to leave Afghanistan. It was what many called, a conditions-based withdrawal. A plan that was well thought out. The consequences of leaving were understood. It was a plan to end a ‘forever war’.
But, there is always a but. The generals lied to the President in 2017, giving him facts and numbers that were not correct.
The withdrawal would be too risky, stay the course.
The fact that the Afghan government would not stand up to the Taliban was well known. A plan with conditions was important.
In Summary
The United States was successful in the mission of November 2001. It took six months.
Then for 20 years, the U.S. squandered blood and treasure without any clear understanding of what we were actually doing.
In those twenty years, contractors raked in billions of dollars, and politicians were treated benevolently. Working-class patriots paid the bill in both blood and treasure.
In Vietnam, when the U.S. left, those who opposed the communists, the people that had stood side-by-side with America, were killed. They numbered into the thousands.
In Southeast Asia, the number could be 20 million.
Cambodia was ripe for the picking, and the communists took over. A power vacuum was created in the region when the U.S. pulled out. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge seized control. It became known as the Killing Fields. Millions were executed.
Why Don’t We Get It Right?
It’s not whether we should leave or not leave Afghanistan. It’s about having a clear plan. A plan that does not create exactly what America created with the hasty, unplanned, ill-timed, pull-out. Both in Vietnam and in Afghanistan.
Politicians start wars with no skin in the fight. They will walk away when they feel some heat, or if the honey pot runs dry.
In Southeast Asia, millions died. In Afghanistan, we can be sure that the Taliban of 2021 and beyond will be worse than that of 2001. And they will have all we left behind to embolden them to bring carnage to the world.
Where Are We?
We are in a world spinning out of control. A world where the seats of government are occupied by the powers, principalities, and rulers of the darkness of this world. They are called the ‘Party of Davos’. They are the globalists working towards a one-world order.
American politicians are members of the Party of Davos. They come from both sides of the political aisle.
The Answer Begins With Prayer
It is vital that the people of God pray for a worldwide revival. The world needs a Great Awakening.
Pray that the powers of darkness are cast out, that the strongholds of wickedness are pulled down. Pray that corruption is exposed. Pray that we enter into a time of signs and wonders. That God moves. Pray that God shows Himself with miracles the world can not deny.
Pray that the principalities of evil are defeated.
Pray, the whole world depends on it.
