On January 20, 2021, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was inaugurated as the 46th president of the U.S. When that happened, many of our foreign policy war hawks and the so-called European allies were happy, as America’s role as the world’s police was on the verge of being restored, after four years of “America first.” However, the last month demonstrated that the only asset this administration supposedly had, “America’s relentless pursuit to protect its allies,” was just a fairy tale, as under Biden, the Taliban took over Afghanistan after 20 years of American intervention.
The question that many political and foreign policy advisors and experts are asking is: “How could an administration blow up a 20-year war with such perfection?” A war which cost the Pentagon around $825 million, according to the U.S. Department of Defense, with the Washington Post reporting an estimated cost of $2.2 trillion, not to mention the 2,448 US troops, marines and special operation forces who lost their lives in Afghanistan. A review of the opportunity cost of this war, as well as the extra costs of it: America’s humiliation in the world arena as well as the massive loss of weapons and ballistic capability, which now is in the Taliban’s hands. According to the latest intelligence assessment, 2,000 armored vehicles, humvees, up to 40 aircraft including UH-60 Black Hawks, scout attack helicopters and Scan Eagle military drones are now on the hands of the Taliban and other terrorist organizations.
On Monday, former President Trump claimed that the U.S. should respond with “unequivocal military force” if the Taliban refuse to give back American weapons and ballistic capability. To top it all, more precincts are reporting that the evacuation has not been successful, due to the large number of Americans currently trapped in Afghanistan. A pregnant woman told Insider that “the Taliban are hunting Americans,” with more Americans in Afghanistan being fearful over their lives. But still, the operation was an “extraordinary success” according to the President during his address on Tuesday from the State Dining Room of the White House.
For those wondering as to how and why we reach this point, I invite you to take a look at the history and understand that this maneuver is part of an old foreign policy playbook. And it always ends in one way: an evil force taking charge. When former President Obama announced the pull-out of US troops from Iraq in 2011, ISIS increased its operations in Iraq eventually taking over in 2014. And history seems to repeat itself. Twelve days after the US began its evacuation operations, a suicide bombing attack killed 13 U.S. marines, with ISIS now active in Afghanistan, turning Afghanistan into a gang land for terrorist organizations.
The incompetence in this scenario was also seen in the solemn ceremony held in the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where the president was reportedly caught looking at his watch, while many were graving the death of our brave soldiers in Afghanistan. So far, Islamic extremism has won over the Western values in Afghanistan. The rest will be history.
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