Responses to the U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan
September 2021
by Anthony Arnold
Writer and Host of "Smart Politix"
"The President’s speech was a masterclass of political theater. On the one hand, he correctly highlighted that our evacuation effort, conducted under extreme duress, was impressively logistical. It’s almost certainly true that no other nation could have done it.
He, in some cases appropriately, laid the blame at the feet of his predecessors, who all share blame for the 20 year headache that has been our war in Afghanistan.
It was a good effort to try to spin what’s undoubtedly been a rough news cycle for his administration. If you were looking to have your support for the President justified, then you probably found some things to like.
It didn’t all make sense, though.
For starters, it’s clear that the President wasn’t totally bound by the terms of President Trump’s deal. He even said as much, when he admitted to changing the withdrawal date.
There’s also the decision to frame the evacuation itself as 'a success story', when it’s clear that isn't the case. The President said there was a plan for this exact kind of rapid collapse, and maybe what we all saw was it. But images of people hanging from planes, or crushed in wheel wells don’t scream success or forethought.
But, wait, there's more.
We struck ISIS-K terrorists this week for the murder of 13 of our soldiers and Afghans gathered near and around the airport in Kabul. We also, according to reports, killed civilians and children in the process. Unavoidable tragedy, one might say; but was this really part of the plan?
We did good, by one narrow measure. The broader context, though, isn’t nearly so rosy."
by Francine Dash
Writer and Host of " We, the Voters..."
"Although many Americans supported President Trump's motion to end the war in Afghanistan and President Biden's efforts in actually carrying out that motion, some may be left feeling as though history will not look kindly at how we exited a country, where we may have stayed too long.
When President Trump announced that a deal was cut in Doha, Qatar, in February 2020, it barely registered on the radar of public opinion. For, other presidents said that they, too, were going to end the war, of course, nothing happened. But, this time was different.
Trump announced that there was a deal, with an actual timeline.
“The United States, its allies, and the Coalition will complete withdrawal of all remaining forces from Afghanistan within the remaining nine and a half (9.5) months,” per the deal with the Taliban. “The United States, its allies, and the Coalition will withdraw all their forces from remaining bases.”
Additionally, the deal laid out a specific number of prisoners to be released by the Taliban and the U.S.
When it was Biden's turn to bat, after accepting the deal, but only changing the end date, new questions began to arise as to how this would all work and what was to become of those Afghan citizens who worked with U.S. troops and helped to maintain order for the past twenty years. Then panic set in as the end day approached, with little progress having been made.
Now, here we are, at the end of the thing being reassured that this was the better of the presumptive two options: to end the war or to escalate it. I tend to agree that while this was not the way I would have liked to see this all come to an end, I'm glad to see that we are no longer in Afghanistan, a country we know so little about.
I only wish more could have been done to get all of those promised refuge out of the country. My heart and prayers are with them and with Americans who have yet to be evacuated."