Afghanistan: A Retrospective

     We were so sure of ourselves.

     What I originally thought would be a straight-up “justice / vengeance” mission for the 9/11 atrocities:

1. Invade in force;
2. Locate, close with, and destroy the al Qaeda / Taliban forces;
3. Go home;

     …turned into yet another exercise in “nation building.” Whose idea was it? Unknown. But someone had to think the United States could succeed where the British and Soviet Empires had failed. Apparently someone was wrong.

     The reason for the debacle of the past few weeks is that Step #2 above was not prosecuted to completion. We permitted the Taliban to retreat to safe territories, to rebuild and rearm, and to come surging forth as American forces drew down. Clearly, the American effort in Afghanistan destroyed neither the Taliban’s will to fight nor its capacity to fight. Worse, rather than do what we could to repatriate American civilians and rescue cooperative Afghans, the feckless Usurpers currently in control of the federal government decided to drop their pants, bend over, and invite the Taliban to do what they like.

     While the Usurpers deserve full “credit” for the disastrous withdrawal and the loss of lives – present and future – it entails, let’s not be blinded by partisanry. This was a twenty-year debacle that enveloped three previous administrations. Only one – that of President Donald Trump – saw our continuing presence in Afghanistan as the pointless, fruitless exercise it was.

     And so, after twenty years of bloodshed and expenditure, the War in Afghanistan, originally known as Operation Enduring Freedom, has succeeded in replacing the Taliban by…a bigger, better armed Taliban.

     Concerning the withdrawal itself, the most telling of all peripheral phenomena is the unwillingness of the Departments of State and Defense to admit to what’s happened and what’s currently going on. The extent of the disaster, the sheer number of stranded Americans, the immense wealth of weaponry abandoned, and the appalling unwillingness of our remaining forces at HKIA Airport to cooperate with private efforts to rescue the American civilians still there have left their spokesmen unable to speak. Hearken to Nina Bookout:

     The Pentagon really doesn’t want us asking about Americans left in Afghanistan. By 3:30 pm Eastern time tomorrow, there pullout of our troops and diplomats will be complete. That does NOT include Americans nor the Afghan SIV’s. They will be left behind to fend for themselves….

     But please whatever you do, do NOT question our betters at the Pentagon! When asked about the exact number of Americans left behind, Pentagon spot John Kirby told the reporter to ask the folks at the State Department. Guess what? The LAST time the State Department held a briefing was on August 27th.

     We don’t know exact numbers, but by golly we used our plans to do all those fabulous evacuations in the last two weeks, so dammit, Please clap!

     State and Defense are claiming to know nothing and evading questions for a simple tactical reason: Sources on the ground in Kabul and at the HKIA airport are providing near-real-time reports on the situation there. Thus, State and Defense can’t tell us their preferred self-protecting lies. Any lie they could tell us would fall apart when challenged by evidence. The safest course, when you can’t face the truth and can’t lie credibly, is to keep silent.

     Note that Usurper-in-Chief Biden won’t answer questions, either.

     To close, Selwyn Duke at The New American has produced a scathing evaluation of the withdrawal disaster as of today. His gut punch:

     The Afghanistan withdrawal reflects either world-record incompetence or pure, unadulterated evil — or both. In fact, often ignored is that malevolence and incompetence to a degree go hand-in-hand. For bad people will rationalize their actions — bend reality for themselves — and when you do this habitually, year after year, you can lose touch with reality. You often then can’t find it even when you want to.

     Whether Joe Biden has been “in touch with reality” to any detectable degree these past two years is dubious. Nevertheless he is the face of the Usurper Administration. His handlers ought to prop him up well enough to take the odium for Afghanistan…not that he or they would do so willingly. It’s all President Trump’s fault don’t y’know. We say so, and you folks who say otherwise are just racists and terrorists-in-waiting anyway, so sit down and shut up.

     Any decent American, regardless of his political leanings or affiliation, should be deeply ashamed of what has occurred, and volcanically angry at the “leaders” who permitted it. We may rest assured that those “leaders” will never admit to error. Politicians and their “advisors” never do that, as it would be hazardous to their careers. But what about the many figures in the media and punditry that promoted the Usurpers during the 2020 campaign season and have praised and defended them ever since? What are the odds that we’ll ever get a muttered, qualified mea culpa from any of them?

     I know not what course others may take, but as for me, I shan’t hold my breath while I wait.

     Time to pray.