Failure in Afghanistan Was Trump's Doing

Afghanistan was never given much thought by most Americans, ever.  Other than having to locate it on a map in a geography class, it was one of those remote, desert, Muslim countries that was way off the beaten path.  We got a few glimpses of it when the Soviets were in there because their failure was good propaganda for anti-Communist America.  But otherwise, it might as well been a country that existed on the dark side of the moon. 

Then Osama Bin Laden succeeded in taking down the World Trade Center.  Using Afghanistan as a base for his Al Qaida operations, that got the attention of the United States.  And it became one of the places on which to vent the frustration and anger caused by 9-11.  It also became a place for the military industrial complex to test weapons and spend money.  

And while the Bush administration frittered away its chance to actually take out Bin Laden by attacking Iraq for no good reason, Bush, pushed along by Dick Cheney, decided that Afghanistan would be a great place to try out our nation-building skills.  The Soviets failed to impose communism on the Afghans, who are actually a combination of tribal and Islamic religious sects, but the United States would not fail in the much more righteous cause of imposing Democracy on the Afghans.  Turns out they didn't want that, either. 

The Obama Administration was stuck with the job, and political consequences, of extracting the United States from Iraq, where it had also embedded itself in a fruitless, failed, nation-building, Democracy imposing occupation.  Personally, I had always hoped that President Obama would get us out of Afghanistan as well, especially after bringing Bin Laden to justice and finding out he wasn't in Afghanistan any more, but hiding out in the capital of one of our alleged "allies".  But the job in. Afghanistan was to help the struggling, "Democratically elected" government get to its feet, become legitimate among its own people, and build a military that could support it.  I think it was apparent, by the time President Obama came along, that neither of those things would happen, but he was the kind of President who followed the advice of his advisors. 

Trump Wanted Us Out

We knew that Trump wanted us out of Afghanistan because he mentioned it at moments convenient for him during the campaign in 2016, especially when he was attacking Jeb Bush.  Trump never really intended to do much of what he said, he could hardly remember all the rambling topics of conversations in his rallies, but he was at least consistent when this subject came up.  

I don't believe for a minute that Trump saw Afghanistan as anything more than another political issue to be used for his own advantage.  The freedom of the people there, the security of the country, he couldn't have cared less.  He weighted the issue for its political value and then acted based on what he thought would make him look best and to get out of it what he could.  It presented somewhat of a dilemma for him because many of those in his base still saw it as bulwark against communism and an anti-Russia, anti-China pro-democratic position.  But a clear majority of Americans saw it as a political, national security and financial liability and wanted out.  

So if you're going to leave, you want it to be a success.  The goals were pretty clear.  One, the country needed a viable military force loyal to the democratically-elected government.  Two, the government needed to be recognized by the people as legitimate.  The United States spent over $6 trillion on the military in Afghanistan.  Why did that money not go to providing the infrastructure that was needed for support?  Why were the maintenance equipment and the military bases not being equipped and Afghans trained to operate it on their own?  Trump had four years to do it, but not being the kind of President who listens to advice, and not having the slightest inkling of how to accomplish that, it did not get done.  And that failure, more than anything else, is the reason why the country collapsed so quickly as the Taliban advanced. 

Is there any record of any negotiation, meeting or diplomatic conference between the Trump administration and the democratically elected government of Afghanistan, corrupt as it was by the time Trump came along?  No, nothing.  The key piece of the "nation building" enterprise, the central government, did not know whether or not it even had an ally in the Trump administration.  And as it turns out, the big fat "deal maker" let them know, in no uncertain terms, that they counted for less than zero.  

As usual, Trump's foreign policy focused on dictatorship, oligarchy and the totalitarians and when he did start to move to shut things down, he went to the Taliban and negotiated the exit.  He wanted to do it in secret, inviting them to a private conference at Camp David, of all places!  His apologists claim that was just reality.  And they're probably correct in making that evaluation of the situation.  But the way he went about it was a diplomatic disaster.  That's when Afghanistan became a botch, a fiasco, a disaster.  

The withdrawal date was carefully planned so as not to cause Trump any political problems.  I'm sure he thought that August 30, 2021 would be in his second term where he wouldn't have to worry about what the voters thought about it.  And if not, it would be the can kicked down the road to trouble his successor.  The problem is that the only Americans who really care about the humanitarian side of all of this, and who are genuinely grieved that our country could not support and nurture a democratically-elected government in Afghanistan are liberals who are genuinely interested in democracy, not Trumpies who don't care.  So the media bashed Biden for it, even though he'd only been in office eight months and the deadline had already been negotiated.  

Setting the Record Straight

I really don't like to talk about the orange menace.  He needs to fade out of the media until he is charged with sedition or treason in the January 6th Trump insurrection or until his other illegal activities and tax evasion are on the radar screen again.  There are a lot of Americans who think he is indeed above the law and will not ever be brought to justice.  If that turns out to be true, it will be a failure of the Biden administration, the courts and our justice system.  

Biden should get credit for ending the Afghanistan nightmare, and for one of the most remarkable evacuations in history.  His supporters should be pushing back against the media and covering social media with his success.  It's time to write history as it should be done.  Trump did a whole lot of damage to this country, and Biden is the guy who can bring it back.