Call me crazy
We lost 13 soldiers in the middle of a war zone surrounded by the enemy to a terrorist attack and people are blaming Americans. I blame the terrorists for the soldiers and civilians killed at the airport in Kabul.
It’s a miracle that we didn’t lose more.
This or that
Wherever the evacuation would have taken place the circumstances of a mob of civilians needing to be checked would have been the same and would have been the same target for terrorists. It’s easy to say that someone should have done this or that instead as if that would have been the perfect solution resulting in zero deaths.
In a war zone. Surrounded by the enemy.
Ask
Sure we should ask questions and get answers. We should always do that. What did we do wrong? What did we do right?
Over 120,000 people were airlifted out. That’s not a small number. It is probably a fraction of the total number that want to leave including soldiers from the Afghan military that didn’t want to fight. Whatever number that did get out it wouldn’t have been enough. There were simply too many.
The people in charge and on the ground obviously did a lot that was right. The State Department started telling people in April that they needed to leave the country. Then they told them 18 more times. Did they save everyone? Of course not. That was never possible and was never going to be possible in any plan real or imagined. That gives rise to an easy question. Why didn’t President Trump finish the mission he started?
On his watch?
Trump loves to take credit for things. He’s taking credit now for ending the war in Afghanistan just like he takes credit for the Covid vaccine. The agreement for U. S. troops leaving Afghanistan was agreed to February 29, 2020. Since Trump’s administration went out of their way to negotiate with the Taliban and exclude the Afghan government why didn’t they go ahead set an end date close to the November election to finish pulling all of our troops out? Perfect theater for Trump. A big win for ending the war.
But he didn’t.
Not a closer
It’s just like all the seditionists that tried to overturn the election for him but failed. He could have pardoned the people he loved but he didn’t. He didn't really negotiate anything with North Korea. He didn’t finish up the deal he negotiated with the Taliban. A deal that they violated repeatedly on his watch without any response from his administration.
“We’re dealing very well with the Taliban. They’re very tough, they’re very smart, they’re very sharp. But, you know, it’s been 19 years, and even they are tired of fighting, in all fairness.”
President Trump, September 18, 2020
“I started the process,” Trump says. “All the troops are coming back home. They [the Biden administration] couldn’t stop the process. 21 years is enough. Don’t we think? 21 years. They couldn’t stop the process. They wanted to, but it was very tough to stop the process when other things… It’s a shame. 21 years, by a government that wouldn’t last. The only way they last is if we’re there. What are we going to say? We’ll stay for another 21 years, then we’ll stay for another 50. The whole thing is ridiculous. … We’re bringing troops back home from Afghanistan.”
Ex-President Trump, June 26, 2021
But Trump didn’t negotiate his administration being in charge of the closing—our military withdrawal. He negotiated everything else but didn’t deal with that. He could have. Instead did what he does best.
He made a mess for others to clean up.
This link provides an excellent timeline leading up to the evacuation.
This link provides information about what the State Department was doing throughout all of this. It’s the largely untold story.