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The Means to Ending the War in Afghanistan Wasn't Worth It

Jason Minto/U.S. Air Force via AP

I don’t know anyone who wanted the war in Afghanistan to continue any longer than it should have. Ending it was a goal that many in America have been calling for for years, including myself. I was always of the position that America’s involvement in foreign countries should sit at a bare minimum. Having strategic bases in foreign countries was one thing, but continuing police actions and effectively overseeing an entire country wasn’t anything America was ever built for.

Tucker Carlson made a very good point in his recent book “The Long Slide.” Unlike the British who conquered with the intention to rule, America goes into countries, conquers them, but has no intent to actually stay there. The goal to leave is hardwired into pretty much every victory scenario. Some timelines are longer than others, but America’s proposed belief system of independence doesn’t really allow for that “empire” attitude the British once had.

With that said, the Afghanistan withdrawal shouldn’t have happened. Not like this.

Still, there are people out there who think that the withdrawal was an extraordinary success, and I don’t just mean Biden, who used those exact words. I also mean some on the right, such as Justin Amash who tweeted this out.

“There was no perfect time or way to exit Afghanistan. President Biden directed the evacuation of more than one hundred thousand people and got our troops out. I disagree with the president on a lot, but I’m grateful he pushed through despite all the pressure,” he tweeted.

Amash is correct, in that the Afghanistan withdrawal would have had some hiccups and complications no matter what, but I think he’s dead wrong on applauding Biden for his willingness to “push through despite the pressure.” Biden said that 90 percent of the people we wanted to get out of Afghanistan got out, and for some reason, this is a success and we’re supposed to applaud.

I think leaving behind 10 percent of our people wanting to escape what will certainly become a terrorist-ridden, Sharia hell is an abject failure. At no point should we be happy that Biden pushed through that kind of pressure to be able to slap his name on the credit for ending the Afghanistan war.

My take: so long as a single one of our people is in danger in that country, the war isn’t over.

Biden should be mobilizing the fires of Hell itself against our enemies in order to get these people home. Retribution for one hair harmed on the heads of any American or our allies should be at the forefront of the minds of those who are currently going door to door and executing people. The Taliban should be so scared of us and what we might do to them that they’re rolling out the red carpet to these people to get to America quickly and safely.

But they’re not. The Biden administration’s Chamberlain approach to our enemies has taught them that they can act up all they want and we’ll Obama-bow before them.

What’s more, our enemies are witnessing this and patting each other on the back. They know now that when it comes to a conflict, we’re more than willing to tuck our tails and run. We’ll run so fast that we’ll abandon our own.

If someone told me that 13 of our servicemen would have to die, millions of dollars worth of military equipment, abandoned Americans, allies, and contract animals, and the disrespect of the world was the cost of the withdrawal, I would have said to go back to the drawing board and try harder. I would have said that this wasn’t even remotely good enough and that no plan would be acceptable that left a single life, dog, or bullet behind.

I wanted to leave. You probably did too, but not like this. I think we need to be very clear that a withdrawal for withdrawal’s sake was not a good withdrawal.

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