On Tuesday, August 31st, 2021 the last of 2,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan left the war-torn country. The August 31st date was four months after the May 1st, 2021 exit date agreed to by former president Donald Trump last year.
No sooner did American troops start pulling out of Afghanistan, than did the Taliban forces take complete control of the country. The speed at which the Taliban were able to takeover has raised many questions about the wisdom of the pullout, the reason for being in Afghanistan in the first place, and who is to blame for the Taliban takeover of the country 20 years after they were driven out by the U.S. military.
In the midst of the blame game and politically motivated attacks, it’s necessary to shed some light on the facts and add some perspective surrounding this 20-year war.
The Beginning
-The purported reason for the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, was to capture Osama Bin Laden and destroy the Al-Qaeda terror organization he created, which launched the deadly September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. mainland. The ruling Taliban, who were indebted to Bin Laden for his role is expelling Soviet forces from their country in the 1980’s as well as for his financial support of their regime, refused to handover Bin Laden to the U.S.
Bin Laden’s Death
-After the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, Bin Laden secretly fled to neighboring Pakistan, where U.S. special forces eventually caught up with him and killed him in May, 2011. With its leader killed and other deputies either killed or on the run, Al-Qaeda became a shell of its former self. Radical Islam ultimately found a younger and more deadly replacement for Al-Qaeda in the form of the Islamic State in Syria (ISIS), which expanded with deadly franchises in Iraq, Libya, Africa and even parts of Europe.
The Costs of the Decision to Stay
-After the killing of Bin Laden in May 2011 and the eventual disintegration of Al-Qaeda, the role of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan changed from a war mission to a nation-building mission. This was not what the American public, American politicians or the U.S. military had initially bargained for. However, a decision was made to try to transform a tribal society into a western-style democracy.
-The war in Afghanistan has cost U.S. taxpayers a total of around $2 trillion. Over 6,000 American lives have been lost in the Afghan war effort. There have also been deaths among allied forces, Afghan civilians, journalists, aid workers, etc.
-Realizing the enormous human and financial cost of the seemingly unending war, former president Donald Trump negotiated a withdrawal with the Taliban. The exit date was scheduled for completion by May 1st, 2021. The U.S.-backed Afghan government was left out of the negotiations.
-The Biden administration extended the Trump-negotiated exit date by four months to August 31, 2021 to give the U.S. military and the U.S.-backed Afghan government more time to prepare.
-There have been some accusations that the former Trump administration refused to fully cooperate with the incoming Biden administration on a coordinated exit strategy and a smooth transition regarding Afghanistan.
Lessons
-The U.S. military is a superior military fighting machine, not a nation-building institution.
-American taxpayers should not shoulder the costs of developing and modernizing a tribal society with a vastly different set of social values and cultural norms.
-Congress should require the Commander-in-Chief to clearly define the purpose, strategy, military objectives, exit-strategy and financial costs of any future war.
Conclusion
It’s high time for this longest of wars to come to an end. American troops need to come back home and the black-hole sucking trillions of U.S. dollars needs to be plugged.
Perhaps there was a better way for this to unfold. However, in the grand scheme of things, it’s always going to be ugly to take off the band-aid and expose the wound. It’s time for America to get this war behind her and let the healing begin.