My thoughts yesterday as I watched the heart wrenching images from Kabul…were of this group. What was my group thinking? Thank you Robert for this great summary. I am a Marine mom. My son is there now and it is his 1st deployment. I have not seen him in over a year. I spoke with him on Sunday as he awaited his departure to Kabul. His “trained voice” was focused on what he was about to do. The edge of emotion that did leak through was disappointment that the Afghanistan National Army…melted after 20 years of investment. And that after 20 years NO Afghan citizens are fighting for their own country. He commented that Americans would not sit still like this if we were being overtaken. It was such a somber moment with my son. As a mom I had to keep my emotions in check during this moment that I dreaded. It’s so delicate and when I watch the videos from the airport or of the young women about to face an unknown world…my Heart says open our doors and bring them all here. It made me think back to the last 5 years of turmoil in our country…as we have watched white supremacy leak back out of our own dark corners…but we fought back in the streets with our voices. Or as an Authoritarian-wannabe and crooked ex-President tried to steal the votes…we as a nation of people were not silenced. And still today we speak out against the insurrection and the evil that still looms in our own dark corners. Joe Biden made a decision, owned it…and I stand behind him 100%.
Hi, Betty. Thanks for sharing your thoughts as your son awaits departure from Kabul. My wife and I will pray for his safe return. This outcome must be incredibly disappointing after such a significant personal commitment by your son. I hope that he knows that hundreds of millions of Americans are grateful for his service, even if they don't say it. Please keep me informed of his safe return., at rbhubbell@gmail.com. I wish you strength and calm.
Thank you for the incredible clarity and detail with which you informed us of the numbers of US troops and when they were withdrawn from Afghanistan. Personally, I feel even more relief having read today's newsletter. The chaos that is occurring in that country right now was just waiting in the wings for a very long time. This was a war which, from Day One, could never have been successful; the Russians certainly know that. Now that energy and investment of funds can hopefully be redirected into healing all of the many ills of our own country.
Thank you for gathering all of the facts. I agree that President Biden made the right decision. I really appreciate the comprehensive research that you did in supporting the decision.
Thank you for your analysis of Biden’s decision to withdraw troops. I think his reasoning was impeccable, not least because of his statement that is the Afghan people are not willing to defend their country against their enemies, even after twenty years of American intervention, why should our people die trying to defend it? The usual hysterical media overreaction is just politics as usual. Biden’s accepotance of responsibility for his decision makes me think of Truman’s “The buck stops here.”
There is a lot of criticsm of Biden's word choice--for instance, that he did not acknowledge his own errors strongly enough--but in a week I suspect that those will be forgotten. The logic of his position will, I hope, prevail. One thing little noticed (including by yours truly) was the essential US error of trying to teach Afghans to fight our way of war. Much of the technical support for that way of war was provided by private contractors, almost all of the rest by US forces. Foreign Policy notes that military analysts increasingly feel that the death knell for the Afghan government came when private contractors were withdrawn in the past month. Hard enough for Afghan soldiers and police to battle corruption, tribalism and the Taliban, but then to have their supports snatched from under them must have been, for many, the final blow. Switching topics: I've criticized your usage in the past, so kudos for knowing the difference between "stanched" and "staunched."
Hi, thanks for your note. I am curious of your view of what constitutes "Biden's errors." There is a lot of talk about Biden's mistakes in the withdrawal, but not much detail. In one exchange with a reader last evening, I noted that you can't assume Biden made errors because of the chaos (i.e., "there is chaos, therefore Biden made mistakes"). I have a view about what went wrong (which I haven't written about yet), but I am interested in what others believe Biden could have done differently. Thanks.
I think the US government should have started the process of getting interpreters and their families (and others in like positions) out of the country much earlier, and more vigorously. Now it may be that Biden's people tried, and were frustrated by US bureaucracy, but so far I haven't heard that. And, of course, Biden should not have said less than a month ago that the chances of a Taliban takeover were low. Is he directly to blame for that? No. But who are the people who misled him, and should that have been discovered earlier? I gather that some people are calling for Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor, to resign. Without knowing the details, that sounds like a plausible idea to me. Leon Panetta likened Afghanistan to the Bay of Pigs, and in both instances the incoming administration was dealt a losing hand by its predecessor, but Joe has been in office for more than six months--time enough to figure out what's really happening. (As you know by now, I am a big fan of Joe, and he was right to do what he did. But I want a searching and completely honest investigation of what happened, not to burnish or blacken repuations, but to do better in the future.)
Thank you for supporting clearly and well the President’s totally right decision to do what should have been accomplished years ago. We have no business fighting in the middle of another nation’s civil war. Few Americans understand the tribalism there or the conservative beliefs of the kind of a Islam that is practiced there. We may disagree with it as I hope most do but like what is practiced in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere we cannot as a nation correct and reform. We can urge and reward , protest and withhold but not compel or force change. Where we have tried in Vietnam, in Iraq in Afghanistan we have failed. When will be learn?
While I understand US Intel may not have anticipated the rapid fall of Afghanistan, I am deeply discouraged that removing the Afghanis who helped us in advance of withdrawal appears to have not been considered yet alone planned out. And we wonder why the US has few friends?
Wow! If I had read Heather Cox Richardson first today, I could have just referred to her first several paragraphs and not bothered to even comment. She said it so well.
One thing I came away with from Biden's speech was that the Afghani government itself asked us to delay in taking out personnel. Biden did as the government there requested, expecting them to bring some order to their own people. Instead, their leaders went silent, then ran away.
The Afghan army could have made a better effort to control it's own citizens at their own airport, for example and prevent people hanging off a plane's landing gear to their tragic and unnecessary death.
In general, I have always thought that with all the opportunities we and our allies have given in the last 20 years, the corruption and tribal rivalries were never resolved, and that resolution at the last, falls sadly upon the Afghani people.
Biden knows that when you are in a hole you dug for yourself, the first action to get out of the hole is to stop shoveling.
The great tragedy is that the Afghani people, many so determined to bring human rights to their people, try as they might, could not bring the entire populace together out of the 13th century into the 21 century.
My thoughts yesterday as I watched the heart wrenching images from Kabul…were of this group. What was my group thinking? Thank you Robert for this great summary. I am a Marine mom. My son is there now and it is his 1st deployment. I have not seen him in over a year. I spoke with him on Sunday as he awaited his departure to Kabul. His “trained voice” was focused on what he was about to do. The edge of emotion that did leak through was disappointment that the Afghanistan National Army…melted after 20 years of investment. And that after 20 years NO Afghan citizens are fighting for their own country. He commented that Americans would not sit still like this if we were being overtaken. It was such a somber moment with my son. As a mom I had to keep my emotions in check during this moment that I dreaded. It’s so delicate and when I watch the videos from the airport or of the young women about to face an unknown world…my Heart says open our doors and bring them all here. It made me think back to the last 5 years of turmoil in our country…as we have watched white supremacy leak back out of our own dark corners…but we fought back in the streets with our voices. Or as an Authoritarian-wannabe and crooked ex-President tried to steal the votes…we as a nation of people were not silenced. And still today we speak out against the insurrection and the evil that still looms in our own dark corners. Joe Biden made a decision, owned it…and I stand behind him 100%.
Hi, Betty. Thanks for sharing your thoughts as your son awaits departure from Kabul. My wife and I will pray for his safe return. This outcome must be incredibly disappointing after such a significant personal commitment by your son. I hope that he knows that hundreds of millions of Americans are grateful for his service, even if they don't say it. Please keep me informed of his safe return., at rbhubbell@gmail.com. I wish you strength and calm.
Thank you for the incredible clarity and detail with which you informed us of the numbers of US troops and when they were withdrawn from Afghanistan. Personally, I feel even more relief having read today's newsletter. The chaos that is occurring in that country right now was just waiting in the wings for a very long time. This was a war which, from Day One, could never have been successful; the Russians certainly know that. Now that energy and investment of funds can hopefully be redirected into healing all of the many ills of our own country.
Joe Biden made a decision and owned it. Refreshing. I believe he did the right thing.
Thank you for gathering all of the facts. I agree that President Biden made the right decision. I really appreciate the comprehensive research that you did in supporting the decision.
Thank you for your analysis of Biden’s decision to withdraw troops. I think his reasoning was impeccable, not least because of his statement that is the Afghan people are not willing to defend their country against their enemies, even after twenty years of American intervention, why should our people die trying to defend it? The usual hysterical media overreaction is just politics as usual. Biden’s accepotance of responsibility for his decision makes me think of Truman’s “The buck stops here.”
Thank you for your excellent discussion of Biden's decision re withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
There is a lot of criticsm of Biden's word choice--for instance, that he did not acknowledge his own errors strongly enough--but in a week I suspect that those will be forgotten. The logic of his position will, I hope, prevail. One thing little noticed (including by yours truly) was the essential US error of trying to teach Afghans to fight our way of war. Much of the technical support for that way of war was provided by private contractors, almost all of the rest by US forces. Foreign Policy notes that military analysts increasingly feel that the death knell for the Afghan government came when private contractors were withdrawn in the past month. Hard enough for Afghan soldiers and police to battle corruption, tribalism and the Taliban, but then to have their supports snatched from under them must have been, for many, the final blow. Switching topics: I've criticized your usage in the past, so kudos for knowing the difference between "stanched" and "staunched."
Hi, thanks for your note. I am curious of your view of what constitutes "Biden's errors." There is a lot of talk about Biden's mistakes in the withdrawal, but not much detail. In one exchange with a reader last evening, I noted that you can't assume Biden made errors because of the chaos (i.e., "there is chaos, therefore Biden made mistakes"). I have a view about what went wrong (which I haven't written about yet), but I am interested in what others believe Biden could have done differently. Thanks.
not trusted the Afghani government to protect their people. They haven't got a good track record on that.
I think the US government should have started the process of getting interpreters and their families (and others in like positions) out of the country much earlier, and more vigorously. Now it may be that Biden's people tried, and were frustrated by US bureaucracy, but so far I haven't heard that. And, of course, Biden should not have said less than a month ago that the chances of a Taliban takeover were low. Is he directly to blame for that? No. But who are the people who misled him, and should that have been discovered earlier? I gather that some people are calling for Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor, to resign. Without knowing the details, that sounds like a plausible idea to me. Leon Panetta likened Afghanistan to the Bay of Pigs, and in both instances the incoming administration was dealt a losing hand by its predecessor, but Joe has been in office for more than six months--time enough to figure out what's really happening. (As you know by now, I am a big fan of Joe, and he was right to do what he did. But I want a searching and completely honest investigation of what happened, not to burnish or blacken repuations, but to do better in the future.)
Thank you. Joe Biden is being a grown up. We hardly recognize it in leaders anymore.
Thank you for supporting clearly and well the President’s totally right decision to do what should have been accomplished years ago. We have no business fighting in the middle of another nation’s civil war. Few Americans understand the tribalism there or the conservative beliefs of the kind of a Islam that is practiced there. We may disagree with it as I hope most do but like what is practiced in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere we cannot as a nation correct and reform. We can urge and reward , protest and withhold but not compel or force change. Where we have tried in Vietnam, in Iraq in Afghanistan we have failed. When will be learn?
Thank you being the voice of sanity. Furthermore, I appreciate your comments on Politico's journalism which daily cheapens its reportage.
While I understand US Intel may not have anticipated the rapid fall of Afghanistan, I am deeply discouraged that removing the Afghanis who helped us in advance of withdrawal appears to have not been considered yet alone planned out. And we wonder why the US has few friends?
Wow! If I had read Heather Cox Richardson first today, I could have just referred to her first several paragraphs and not bothered to even comment. She said it so well.
One thing I came away with from Biden's speech was that the Afghani government itself asked us to delay in taking out personnel. Biden did as the government there requested, expecting them to bring some order to their own people. Instead, their leaders went silent, then ran away.
The Afghan army could have made a better effort to control it's own citizens at their own airport, for example and prevent people hanging off a plane's landing gear to their tragic and unnecessary death.
In general, I have always thought that with all the opportunities we and our allies have given in the last 20 years, the corruption and tribal rivalries were never resolved, and that resolution at the last, falls sadly upon the Afghani people.
Biden knows that when you are in a hole you dug for yourself, the first action to get out of the hole is to stop shoveling.
The great tragedy is that the Afghani people, many so determined to bring human rights to their people, try as they might, could not bring the entire populace together out of the 13th century into the 21 century.