‘Bin Laden is dead and al Qaeda is degraded in Afghanistan and it’s time to end the forever war’. So said Joe Biden earlier this year when he announced his decision to pull US troops out of the country. The scenes of chaos that have followed that departure makes it vital that this myth – that western troops had already outstayed their welcome in Afghanistan – is not allowed to go unchallenged.
The reality is rather different: Biden’s decision to ‘end’ the war (or at least America’s involvement in it) was a politically motivated one, which suited the president. As the Taliban stormed into Kabul, Biden told the American public that:
‘If Afghanistan is unable to mount any real resistance to the Taliban now, there is no chance that one year — one more year, five more years, or 20 more years of U.S. military boots on the ground would’ve made any difference.’
The shocking scenes which we have witnessed unfold over the last few days and weeks is evidence enough that this was not the right time to simply cut and leave
This couldn’t be further from the truth.
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