We will have been in Afghanistan for two decades or one full generation. There is no reason to stay, but, be cognizant of the fact there are still terrorists hiding in Afghanistan.
We left Afghanistan to a minimal military complement to focus primarily on Iraq. That was the wrong thing to do. The USA was never able to fully suppress the drug corruption of Afghanistan while improving the outcomes of the people.
April 19, 2021
By Julian E. Barnes and Eric Schmitt
Washington - The Sept. 11 attacks led American troops (click here) into Afghanistan in 2001 for what became a two-decade war. Now President Biden’s decision to withdraw military forces has prompted a central question: Will the threat of terrorism against America re-emerge from Afghanistan?
The answer is no, at least not right away. But over the longer term, the question is far more difficult to answer. The United States could find itself pulled back into Afghanistan much as it was in Iraq, some current and former officials warned.
Intelligence officials have offered the Biden administration an overall grim portrait of the future of Afghanistan itself, predicting that the Taliban will make battlefield gains, Afghan government forces will struggle to hold territory and a peace deal between them is unlikely. The broad outlines of that assessment were made public in an intelligence report released on Tuesday.
Still, on the critical question of whether direct threats to the United States still exist in Afghanistan, U.S. spy agencies have privately offered a rosier picture....
President Biden, who I think is a really great president, has picked an arbitrary date to bring all the troops home. It is a symbolic date that all those in Afghanistan should not ignore. The USA is not sincerely leaving Afghanistan, we are allowing two decades of protecting the people to cement into profoundly democratic governance that has no fear of the American military.
The USA has allies nearby that require vigilance. We have had a questionably loyal relationship with Pakistan. Pakistan allowed a radical religious sect, the Taliban, to reconstitute into a militia with deadly intent. Pakistan also allowed Osama bin Laden to live under the protection of it's ISI. The ISI is nearly an autonomous body in Pakistan and there is doubt as to the president of the country having knowledge of bin Laden's existence in Pakistan. No one will ever convince me that the ISI knew nothing of bin Laden's residence and his covert activities that used thumb drives and couriers to order heinous acts by others within the al Qaeda network.
Under President Obama, the safe haven bin Laden had was ended, and ultimately the house destroyed by the Pakistan government.
Pakistan also tolerates to this day the Haqqani Network. They are a drug cartel with a great deal of power because of their lucrative poppy business. From the beginning of the Afghanistan retaliative invasion by the USA I stated we should march through Pakistan to reach Afghanistan's al Qaeda network, but, Don Rumsfeld opted for a "paid by the taxpayer" fly-over privilege. Those monies that went to Pakistan allowed the country to order munitions from China. Those monies allowed China to build 100 more nuclear warheads. IT WAS A MISTAKE OF MONUMENTAL PROPORTION.
The USA will be leaving behind an Embassy (click here) and a vibrant diplomatic effort. The USA, through USAID, has many partnerships with Afghanistan. When the USA military leaves Afghanistan with all it's munitions and hardware, it will not be leaving a blank slate for any other country or terrorist organization to occupy. China and Russia should conduct their interests in Afghanistan accordingly.
The USA military needs to have at the ready a plan to institute another offensive into Afghanistan if the country fails in it's commitments to the US. There are many, many improvements in Afghanistan to further it's economy, including, roads and bridges. It would be a shame if those were destroyed by the USA military in a reoccupation of a dangerous country.
The USA is always demanding peace. It demands people to live a good quality of life. It demands countries move to take care of those most vulnerable to disease. And in Afghanistan, the USA demands equality for women and girls, an opportunity for women to serve in the government and be educated at universities.
There are many good and decent reasons for the USA military to have a hand on Afghanistan to increase stability while eliminating the influence of Daesh and other terrorist networks. The USA military also needs to decide about Pakistan. Is Pakistan a friend or so disinterested in it's alliance that any manner of governance is good governance. The Haqqani Network must be dismantled and any terrorist influence in Pakistan ended, that includes disloyal people within the ISI that sabotage the Pakistani governance and substitutes terrorist fear as a real solution to any president.
The Late Ambassador to Afghanistan, Richard Holbrook (click here) had expectations for that country that cannot be forgotten. I don't know if the USA Afghanistan Embassy has been named yet, but, it should bear his name.
Those hopes are not empty dreams. Afghanistan has an opportunity to take what has occurred over two decades and become a real country and not simply a terrorist haven. The Afghan people are good people. They love their country and their families. They also welcome change and improvement and they do not tolerate corruption.
The region needs to remain stable. The USA is bringing their troops home after many have died, but, it also has expectations for that country and at the first sign of deterioration of it's democracy the USA will never think twice to occupy it once again.
Afghanistan and Pakistan are challenges to the USA military and one that it should welcome to protect NATO allies and insure terrorism doesn't rule again in that country or the region.
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