At the heart of the criticism of the way the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan has unfolded is a contradiction that nobody in the American media or public policymaking space wants to grapple with. As President Biden acknowledged Monday afternoon, the images coming out of Kabul are indeed gut-wrenching,
The Washington Post revealed in some detail yesterday how, much as it did in Vietnam, the US military brass attempted to keep in the dark successive governments on the essential failure of the Afghanistan campaign. And how all governments since Bush II preferred to believe the military, with the possible exception of Trump's, which did order a withdrawal, albeit he really took his time doing so. Biden finally followed suit, while (very quietly, almost by default, really) keeping in place the fiction that it was leaving the country in hands capable of keeping the Taliban in check before defeating it; and so, inevitably, we are now situation we are. Or rather the Afghans are. Here, we have the usual pundits, talking heads and pro-war-any-time politicians making the usual noises, plus the deep sense of shame and frustration, some of us at least, feel.
Just finished the article and the interview with Anand Gopal (won’t see him anytime soon on cable news if ever). I’m also about to finish Neil Sheehan’s A Bright Shining Lie. It’s amazing how history continually repeats itself.
The Washington Post revealed in some detail yesterday how, much as it did in Vietnam, the US military brass attempted to keep in the dark successive governments on the essential failure of the Afghanistan campaign. And how all governments since Bush II preferred to believe the military, with the possible exception of Trump's, which did order a withdrawal, albeit he really took his time doing so. Biden finally followed suit, while (very quietly, almost by default, really) keeping in place the fiction that it was leaving the country in hands capable of keeping the Taliban in check before defeating it; and so, inevitably, we are now situation we are. Or rather the Afghans are. Here, we have the usual pundits, talking heads and pro-war-any-time politicians making the usual noises, plus the deep sense of shame and frustration, some of us at least, feel.
Just finished the article and the interview with Anand Gopal (won’t see him anytime soon on cable news if ever). I’m also about to finish Neil Sheehan’s A Bright Shining Lie. It’s amazing how history continually repeats itself.
Thanks, Ryan. Always love when you give us some much-needed background info.
The war machine will undoubtedly be looking to quickly wag the dog.