They say they will bring them home by September. We shall see. What four more months will accomplish in this long, catastrophic, pointless war is not clear to anyone, including those among Biden’s handlers who made this decision. All the four more months will establish is that Biden’s handlers are not Trump, and that they know better than he did, and that the self-anointed, self-congratulatory “experts” are back in the saddle.
The incoherence of these “experts” is summed up here: “If we break the May 1st deadline negotiated by the previous administration with no clear plan to exit, we will be back at war with the Taliban, and that was not something President Biden believed was in the national interest.”
Okay, so we’re breaking it in order to avoid breaking it? Is that how this goes? You “experts” are so experty, it’s virtually impossible for common folk to have any idea what you’re blathering about.
“Biden will withdraw all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 2021,” by Missy Ryan and Karen DeYoung, Washington Post, April 13, 2021:
President Biden will withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan over the coming months, people familiar with the plans said, completing the military exit by or before the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that first drew the United States into its longest war.
The decision, which Biden is expected to announce on Wednesday, will keep thousands of U.S. forces in the country beyond the May 1 exit deadline that the Trump administration negotiated last year with the Taliban, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters Tuesday under rules of anonymity set by the White House.
While the Taliban has vowed to renew attacks on U.S. and NATO personnel if foreign troops are not out by the deadline, they made no initial statement in response to the announcement, and it is not clear if the militants will follow through with the earlier threats given Biden’s plan for a phased withdrawal between now and September.
Officially, there are 2,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, although the number fluctuates and is currently about 1,000 more than that. There are also up to an additional 7,000 foreign forces in the coalition there, the majority of them NATO troops.
Biden’s decision comes after an administration review of U.S. options in Afghanistan, where U.S.-midwived peace talks have failed to advance as hoped and the Taliban remains a potent force despite two decades of effort by the United States to defeat the militants and establish stable, democratic governance. The war has cost trillions of dollars in addition to the lives of more than 2,000 U.S. service members and at least 100,000 Afghan civilians.
“This is the immediate, practical reality that our policy review discovered,” said one person familiar with the closed-door deliberations who like others spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss policy planning . “If we break the May 1st deadline negotiated by the previous administration with no clear plan to exit, we will be back at war with the Taliban, and that was not something President Biden believed was in the national interest.”…
gravenimage says
Biden’s handlers to keep US troops in Afghanistan for four months beyond Trump’s deadline
…………………
Will there be many extensions to follow? Or is this just pointless twitting of President Trump?
mortimer says
‘Pointless’? That is a matter of opinion. Soon after international troops leave, the Taliban will sweep the country and re-start its rule of terror. All the advances and new institutions will be shut down and Afghastlistan will revert to the 7th century.
Afghanistan’s democratic infancy needs to be coddled until it can stand and fight for its life against an implacable foe. Without a large secular cohort within Afghanistan, there is little hope for a flourishing democracy.
If the Taliban seizes power again, then international troops will just have to return at a considerable cost.
gravenimage says
Mortimer–with all respect–Afghanistan is not a real democracy. They have put *stoning* back on the books. Should any American have to die so that Muslims can stone their victims to death?
And there are very few secularists in Afghanistan–the country is virtually 100% Muslim.
Kesselman says
Team Joe shows that they are out of sync. It seems that they have absorbed George Orwell’s characteristics of the one-party state in his ‘1984’: constant war keeps everybody on their feet. It’s a condition suitable for a power being unable to deliver what common folks need—clarity and safety in their daily life.
mortimer says
Constant war is not a goal, but constant peace must be vigilantly protected and to protect, the military engineers and scientists must constantly improve.
As much as some people here don’t see a purpose in fighting in small scale wars, there is a great advantage for military engineers to test out new equipment and techniques to defeat the enemy in a remote location.
Finally, if we don’t fight Islamism in the remote mountains of Afghastlistan, they will regroup there and bring the fight to us … perhaps another 9-11.
PRCS says
One of those “experts” being General Jakck Keenel (ret), whose continued regurgitation of “radical Islam” has misinformed the public for years now.
A warfare expert no doubt, but apparently quite uninformed about Islam’s actual teachings.
mortimer says
Disagree. Black-and-white chatter is fine on a barstool pulpit, but it is not fine in diplomacy. Public figures like Gen. Jack Keane must speak with the knowledge that our Muslim allies are listening. You may not like nuanced phraseology such as ‘radical Islam’, but that keeps our Muslim allies satisfied that their populations won’t rise up and attack their governments as apostates. Geopolitics is a murky game.
gravenimage says
Mortimer, what about Islam is worth defending? I note that you do not say.
And lying about Islam is not “nuanced”, and does not actually make us safer.
And what actual allies do we have in Afghanistan? Muslims there, including solidiers who are supposedly our allies, regularly murder American and coalition forces because we feel we have to pretend that Islam is civilized.
Peace says
Is it possible for political idiot bunnies to get any stupider ??
“All the four more months will establish is that Biden’s handlers are not Trump, and that they know better than he did, and that the self-anointed, self-congratulatory “experts” are back in the saddle.”
They would appear less stupid, and get at least 50% respect if they pulled the troops out by Trumps dedline,,,,,,,,, roll on the next election …
Christopher Watson says
I hope brainless Biden will explain to the parents of the American soldiers who will die in those extra months exactly why they died.
StacyGirl says
And since Biden’s* announcement of the symbolic departure date, expect some fanfare in the form of fireworks, seeing us out in a literal blaze. You know it’s coming.
ALLAH IS ONE AND POTENT OVER ALL THINGS says
THE INNER JEW IS PLOTTING AND SCHEMING
THE QABBALIST WANTS TO BRING AMERICAN TROOPS OUT OF AFGHANISTAN INTO THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
THE TIME HAS COME
THE JEW WILL DIE SCREAMING IN PAIN
KIKES = ANGLOSCUM = GERMOIDS = CHINKOIDS = ZIOSLAVES
THE JEW IS THE ENEMY OF THE WORLD
THE ANGLO-SAXON IS THE ENEMY OF THE WORLD
CHARLEMAGNE’S EUROPEANS ARE THE ENEMIES OF THE WORLD
KHALEEJI ZIONISTS ARE THE ENEMIES OF THE WORLD
ALLAH EXISTS
ALLAH IS ONE
ON THE DAY OF RECOMPENSE
IF YOU ARE AN UNBELIEVER
YOU WILL ENTER JAHANNAM
IF YOUR EVIL DEEDS OUTWEIGH YOUR GOOD DEEDS
YOU WILL ENTER JAHANNAM
DRIED CACTUS TO EAT
WOUND-PUS TO DRINK
YOU WILL NOT LIVE IN JAHANNAM
YOU WILL NOT DIE FROM JAHANNAM
ALLAHU AKBAR!
EAST ASIA’S TIGER ECONOMIES ARE THE ENEMY OF THE WORLD
Phil Copson says
Go and have a nice lie-down until you’re feeling better, dear.
When you’ve recovered a bit, please bear these three things in mind:
1. Mohammed was one of the most evil men who ever lived.
2. There isn’t any “Allah”.
3. Islam is a pile of garbage that has no place in any civilised society and should be banned.
Then take up a hobby suitable for somebody of your limited intelligence – jigsaws will probably be beyond you, but a set of crayons and a child’s colouring-in book should do the trick and hopefully keep you from bothering other people.
mortimer says
Reply to the rant of ‘ALLAH IS ONE AND POTENT’ … Islam is man-made.
-There are 37 different printed ARABIC TEXTS OF THE KORAN. Which version is the true version … or are they all imperfect?
-Allah was actually impotent to protect or defend the Arabic text of the Koran … this proves that the Koran is false and Islam is false.
-The Koran is now seen by modern scholarship to be a man-made book created by the caliphs. Islam is based on a man-made text and a human fabrication. Islam is not ‘revealed’ but ‘concocted’ as a conspiracy.
-The hadiths were concocted for political reasons.
-The foundations of Islam are 100% human.
-Thousands of Muslims are leaving Islam for those reasons every day.
gravenimage says
Once again, pious Muslims reveal how unhinged they are.
And note with his ranting about “KHALEEJIs” that he doesn’t even consider Saudi Arabia to be Islamic enough…
Infidel says
Easy on the ALL CAPS, Achmet!
very old white guy says
BS and bafflegab, the order of the day and S O P for democrats.
Msl says
ALLAH IS ONE AND POTENT OVER ALL THINGS
WITHOUT ISLAM THERE IS NO CIVILISATION.
gravenimage says
So Msl here considers the Taliban “marrying” small children, committing genocide against other-sect Muslims, and stoning women to death in the streets to be civilisation. Just grotesque–but this is how pious Muslims think. *Ugh*.
David says
The Taliban are just twiddling their thumbs and waiting for the US to leave. After that happens, they will take over control. This is so obvious.
Christopher Watson says
Afghanistan has always been a total disaster. The British couldn’t control it; the Russians couldn’t control it so why did the Americans think they would be more successful? When the Americans finally leave it will become an Islamic dictatorship and fade to the political importance of Zimbabwe.
gravenimage says
It is impossible to civilize Afghanistan–it is almost 100% Muslim.
StacyGirl says
Yes, civility and Islam do not intersect.
gravenimage says
So true, StacyGirl.
And good to see you posting here again.