Brainonska511
Lifer
- Dec 10, 2005
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Keeping Bagram open was going to still be a clusterfuck thanks to it being a bit of a way from Kabul and crappy roads between. It would have just been a different clusterfuck.I'm sorry but this is horseshit revisionism that it was done in a "best" fashion. I fully support Biden's decision to finally withdraw. It was the right policy, and his arms were tied by Trump announcing it without having any plan. Didn't DJT want to invite the Taliban to Camp David for a signing ceremony? Around the 9/11 anniversary no less LOL
The problem is that the Biden administration also had an unrealistic plan. It is well chronicled that we just assumed the AF government would stand up as we stood down and left. We closed Bagram Airfield long before the withdrawal date, and just assumed things were stable. That summer there were signs that the Taliban was ready to pounce, but we didn't really react to it. Later when the shit hit the fan, we had to pivot to military evac of tens of thousands. This part went about as well as you could expect under difficult circumstances.
IIRC the week before we burned all the documents at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, the State Dept. was still claiming the embassy was staying open. In hindsight, the withdrawal was always going to be difficult but let's not BS and say it couldn't have gone better. To be clear, I'm not agreeing with GQP talking points on the AF withdrawal because as usual, they are lying sacks of shit.
Regardless of the eventual outcome, how many people are still talking about Afghanistan? Like 0, because we no longer have a presence there. Biden ripped the bandaid off when other administrations continued to buy into the ridiculous belief that a low level conflict supported by a corrupt warlords-turned-government government would eventually develop legitimacy and stabilize.