Well, it's been a mess but it's finally over. The last American troops have withdrawn from the country of Afghanistan, bringing the longest war in American history to a close.
Given the chaotic pullout, and the tragic death of scores of people (including thirteen members of the American military) in a suicide bombing just a few days ago, many political pundits are wondering if the American public will blame President Joe Biden for what's been going on. Today he made another direct address to the world asserting that he has done the right thing, despite the difficulties that have arisen. Interestingly, his approval ratings have taken a hit even as most Americans still support the withdrawal. But then, that's where I am; I think after twenty years and two trillion dollars, it was time to end the war, but I also think that that ending certainly could have been handled better by the Biden administration. Obviously he was wrong when he asserted that the American trained Afghani army wouldn't be overrun by the Taliban. He was also wrong about not evacuating Afghan refugees earlier when he had the opportunity.
So Joe Biden deserves some blame for the violence in Afghanistan. But then Donald Trump also deserves some blame for negotiating a withdrawal agreement with the Taliban that released thousands of Taliban soldiers and mandated no Taliban attacks on American soldiers while saying nothing about preventing ones on the Afghan military, allowing the Taliban to say they were following the agreement while overwhelming the Afghan military. And Barack Obama also deserves some blame for having a surge of American troops enter Afghanistan back in two thousand and nine, which did nothing to quell the violence. And of course, George W Bush must take some blame (most of the blame in my opinion) for getting us into the mess of Afghanistan in the first place. As the New York Times recently reported, the Taliban were ready to negotiate an American withdrawal as early as two thousand and one, but Bush refused them. So, just like the mess of Viet Nam could be blamed on both Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, the mostly disastrous Afghan war that has endured through four presidencies can be blamed on all four presidents. (And both political parties for that matter!).
Honestly, my cynical nature about the American public makes me think that most Americans will stop even thinking of Afghanistan much now that all the American troops are home. Although there may be a few stories about the Taliban's mistreatment of women and the refugees arriving in the coming months, I imagine that in about a year or so our longest war will already be forgotten by most of the public, and things like the economy and covid will be given much higher priority.
If there's one good thing that can come out of what has happened in Afghanistan, it this: hopefully, the country will realize that, even though we have the biggest military in the world, invading and occupying hostile foreign countries is not something that can be done lightly. The last successful American war was way back in nineteen ninety one when America attacked Iraq, drove their forces out of Kuwait, but decided not to completely force Saddam Hussein out of power. However you may have felt about that war, it was done quickly with a clear mission, something that our last two messes in Iraq and Afghanistan have never had.
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