A predictable Afghan disaster

Although I agree with the bulk of the Biden agenda, the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan is a massive mistake.

While Afghanistan has been a disaster my entire life, the limited U.S. troop presence has for years prevented the Taliban from reclaiming control in this country at minimal risk to U.S. military personnel. However, in a matter of just four months, the Taliban has completely overrun the Afghan security forces and retaken most of the country.

A lot of people on both sides of the political spectrum are happy to see the U.S. troops coming home from Afghanistan, but if history has taught us anything it is that having a relatively small military presence in a nation after a war provides stability for both the local population and U.S. national security interests. 

Look at the evidence, the U.S. has kept a military presence in both Germany and Japan since World War II, and now both countries can be considered stable democracies and staunch political allies of the U.S. Need more evidence, the U.S. has also kept a military presence on the Korean peninsula since 1953 - the end of the Korean War - and it has prevented North Korea from overtaking the South. Again, as a result South Korea is one of our biggest allies, and despite all of the North's bluster, they have never taken serious action against the South Koreans.       

There is no reason that the United States could not have done the same thing in Afghanistan to help maintain the peace. 

Afghanistan, often referred to as the Soviet Union's Vietnam, has been a problem for any country who has dared to try and tame it. The Soviets invaded the country in 1979, and spent the better part of the next decade fighting a guerilla war with the U.S.-backed Mujahidin. The U.S., who was in the midst of a cold war with the Soviets at the time, backed the Islamic fighters in Afghanistan, including Osama Bin Laden until they finally forced the Soviets out of Afghanistan in the late 1980s. This is largely seen as retaliation for the Soviet's backing of the North Vietnamese guerillas a decade earlier.

When the Soviet's withdrew in the late 80s so did the U.S. and a result, a terrorist state was created. Afghanistan served as a training ground for terrorists until the U.S. was forced again to intervene after September 11, 2001 attacks.

For the last twenty years, the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan has provided the country with some stability and allowed the Afghani Security Forces to maintain control, knowing full well that the U.S. was there to back them up if needed. The minute those forces withdrew, it as a green light for the Taliban to reassert its draconian way of life, and that's exactly what has happened. 

Here is a look at life in Afghanistan currently.