Expectations
From what I gather a significant number of you are astonished that the withdrawal from Afghanistan is not going smoothly. Let me ask you. Did you think that those people would just call an Uber or catch a bus to the airport at Kabul? Did you ever consider just what would have to be done to establish an orderly removal of whatever portion of the Afghan people decided they'd be better off in the United States? Lastly, how many of you are actually aware of what has been going on in the negotiations between the United States and the Taliban to facilitate this withdrawal?
Look, I agree that what we are seeing is horrendous. To see people so desperate to leave their home country that they seriously try to hang onto the sides of a huge, roaring jet is just unbelievable but there they were. No one can deny the horrific nature of what we are seeing.
But, let's take a look at the facts on the ground. The United States has been negotiating with the Taliban since President Trump was in office. As a matter of fact, his administration is the one that initiated this deal. That represented a scarce moment when I agreed with him but that does not absolve President Biden of responsibility. According to his own admission he would have sought withdrawal even if it were not already in the works. I agree.
We were down to 2500 troops in Afghanistan which is not enough to secure even the embassy much less a mad dash to the exits that we are seeing now. Did the people of Afghanistan think we would just stay there to protect them from all harm indefinitely? Did none of them expect that they may be required to defend their own country? More to the point, did you expect we would do that? According to polls some 70% of the American public wanted the United States to withdraw. In my opinion the public is experiencing a bout of irrational expectations and blaming the President for what they are seeing. As the President said, “There was no scenario for withdrawal that did not include chaos.” The choices were bad and then worse.
Maybe you think the United States could have airlifted 100,000 troops to Afghanistan overnight and created patrolled corridors for any Afghan that wanted to leave. That is not realistic and, without a doubt, would have instigated armed conflict with the Taliban. If you are paying attention you will note that there has not been any armed conflict during this withdrawal.
I don't mean to say this has been flawless. It most certainly has not but to even consider that it could have been is foolish. Visas apparently were not issued in a timely manner to those deemed deserving of evacuation. One report I read said that began with the state department under President Trump and his advisor, Stephen Miller. Reportedly they did not want those people to receive Visas without undergoing all of the checks and investigations that are usual. Just offhand, I'd say quite a significant number of you wouldn't want that either. It should not go unsaid that nobody expected the Afghan Army to just go home or that the President would catch a flight (reportedly with cars full of cash) to the UAE.
We have removed some 30,000 people from Afghanistan. That number includes many who were working with us but, as one official said, this is changing from a withdrawal to a refugee mission and I know how many of you feel about refugees. We have the capacity to remove 9,000 people a day and the President just commandeered some commercial carriers to facilitate that removal.
We should remember that “War is Hell.” A phrase credited to General William Tecumseh Sherman and he certainly should have known since he brought hell to Georgia. How we as a people can feel divorced from that dictum is an indictment of not only our intelligence but also of our compassion. War is the least noble of mankind's achievements and represents our most significant failure. I don't mean just for the United States but for all nations. Sometimes it is forced upon us but usually we just stumble into it. What we should never do is diminish the odds of things happening that we just did not see coming. Another military man said that plans go out the window when combat starts and ne'er a truer thing was ever said.
What I would like you to do is when you see those images of desperate people ask yourself. What could we as a nation have done to prevent this from happening? Go ahead and criticize the President. As he said, the buck stops with him. But try to not be unjust about it and just be an armchair quarterback.
My Take is this. We are a soft and fickle people. As has been noted, less than 1% of our population has any relationship whatsoever with our armed forces. That means not just those serving but those who are related in any way. That makes us too willing to sacrifice someone else's loved ones.
