Two decades should do that, yeah.
Inside the administration, top aides are just trying to keep up with the rapidly changing battlefield. U.S. officials now believe Kabul could be surrounded or fall under Taliban control within weeks, and even the future of the fortress-like U.S. Embassy is increasingly in doubt.
The president, meanwhile, is holding firm to last spring’s decision to withdraw U.S. combat troops, calculating that war-weary voters would rather tune out the alarming developments in a conflict they’ve largely ignored.
He should. Good for him.
“I do not regret my decision,” Biden told reporters Tuesday, after pointing out that the U.S. has spent more than a trillion dollars and lost thousands of its own troops to train and equip Afghanistan’s military.
Minister Atmar, I am sincerely sorry for your country.
...
Some of the fiercest advocates for pulling the plug on the U.S. military operation admit they are surprised at how quickly the country is unraveling as foreign troops depart.
“I do not regret my decision,” Biden told reporters Tuesday, after pointing out that the U.S. has spent more than a trillion dollars and lost thousands of its own troops to train and equip Afghanistan’s military.
And he should not. This is a horrific humanitarian tragedy first. It is exquisitely painful failure second.A geopolitical setback third..
“Afghan leaders have... got to fight for themselves, fight for their nation.”
“Afghan leaders have... got to fight for themselves, fight for their nation.”
Exactly right. Like Haitians, like Cubans, Afghans should fight for their country. What is America to do, give it another twenty years and another trillion dollars? No way.
It’s a message the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department and others are publicly stressing now after years of private pressure on Afghan leaders, many of whom had hoped the U.S. would never follow through on pledges to leave.
You see, they hoped we'd never withdraw. What do they suggest, we make Afghanistan the fifty-first state?
...
In a blunt assessment, Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammed Haneef Atmar said Wednesday that his government is “probably experiencing the most massive, brutal and opportunistic military campaign of violence and terror, by the Taliban, in the history of our country.”
It’s a message the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department and others are publicly stressing now after years of private pressure on Afghan leaders, many of whom had hoped the U.S. would never follow through on pledges to leave.
You see, they hoped we'd never withdraw. What do they suggest, we make Afghanistan the fifty-first state?
...
In a blunt assessment, Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammed Haneef Atmar said Wednesday that his government is “probably experiencing the most massive, brutal and opportunistic military campaign of violence and terror, by the Taliban, in the history of our country.”
Minister Atmar, I am sincerely sorry for your country.
...
Some of the fiercest advocates for pulling the plug on the U.S. military operation admit they are surprised at how quickly the country is unraveling as foreign troops depart.
Can you imagine? We're there for twenty fucking years, spilled the blood of thousands of U.S. soldiers, spent $1T dollars, and the country gets overrun in weeks.
“My guess is it is a surprise to the Taliban as well,” said Will Ruger, who was former President Donald Trump’s choice to be ambassador to Afghanistan and is vice president of Stand Together, a philanthropy that supports organizations advocating a noninterventionist foreign policy.
“My guess is it is a surprise to the Taliban as well,” said Will Ruger, who was former President Donald Trump’s choice to be ambassador to Afghanistan and is vice president of Stand Together, a philanthropy that supports organizations advocating a noninterventionist foreign policy.
Minister Atmar, you ought to be ashamed. You're such a bunch of pussies the Taliban had no idea.
But Ruger said he is heartened by the Biden administration’s unwillingness to give in to his critics in both parties who want to reconsider the withdrawal. “The Biden administration should stay the course,” he said.
But Ruger said he is heartened by the Biden administration’s unwillingness to give in to his critics in both parties who want to reconsider the withdrawal. “The Biden administration should stay the course,” he said.
