The first thing to remember about the situation in Afghanistan is that it was always going to end this way.
Afghanistan isn’t called the “graveyard of empires” without good reason. Just as the British failed to conquer it in the 19th century and the Russians failed in the 20th century, we have received our own comeuppance for hubris in 2021.
When we invaded Afghanistan in. 2011 after the Al Qaeda attacks in September of that year, our goal was ostensibly to capture or kill Osama bin Laden. In December of that year, we had him trapped in the caves at Tora Bora but somehow allowed him to slip away. It was then we should have taken the opportunity to leave Afghanistan, where there was never anything more to be gained or won.
But Gee Dubya Bush and Dick Cheney — true American empire builders — not only committed to staying there, they expanded the mission to include Iraq and get rid of Saddam Hussein.
So many dead, so little accomplished.
Seven and a half years under Bush, eight years under Barack Obama and four under Donald Trump. To give Trump credit, he spoke of ending our mission there late in his term but was talked out of it.
We’re two months shy of 20 years of American troops in Afghanistan, supposedly teaching the Afghan army to stand up and defend its own country.
Twenty years.
If you add the American Revolution, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, our involvement in World Wars I and II and the Korean War together, they add up to less than 20 years.
And our withdrawal wiped away everything in three or four days.
Republicans are blaming Joe Biden for “losing” Afghanistan, but if it hurts him politically, at least he did the right thing in finally ending our role in the war.
“I stand squarely behind my decision,” Biden said. “After 20 years, I’ve learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw U.S. forces.”
Back in the early days of our involvement, someone said — prophetically, as it turned out — we could stay two years or 20 or 200, and whenever we left, six months later there would be no sign we had ever been there.
It may be too much to ask, but maybe we’re finally beginning to see the end of our self-appointed role as the world’s policeman.