President Biden announced last week that we would withdraw from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021.
Twenty years ago, this date was seared into our memories with four hijacked planes.
Two toppled the World Trade Towers. One crashed into the Pentagon. The last was heroically brought down by passengers confronting the terrorist/hijackers before it could crash into the White House.
The American public demanded retaliation. President Bush responded with bipartisan Congressional support by attacking Afghanistan to remove the terrorist training ground. Bin Laden was the leadership that needed to be taken out.
Twenty years later, Bin Laden is gone, Al Quada is essentially neutralized, thousands of United States soldiers are dead or wounded and billions have been spent.
So, has the goal of the Afghanistan War been achieved? Should we end it and move on to new objectives?
President Biden respectfully listened to the advice of his military leadership. As Commander in Chief, he chose a different path. We do not have the intelligence data that our leaders have, so it is difficult to agree or disagree based on facts.
Here are a few things to consider:
* America never won a war without the will of the people behind the effort. That will has waned after 20 years and the panoply of new challenges including mass shootings and the pandemic grows by the day.
* The objectives of the war have been essentially accomplished. The leadership of this enemy has been removed and his organization reduced to a small band of Taliban. Perhaps no war ever ends with unconditional surrender unless you use the nuclear option like we did in Japan. Heaven forbid that the nuclear option is ever used again.
* Most of the major wars we have fought conclude with the enemy becoming our ally. Germany, Italy and Japan are our staunch allies. Vietnam has become a capitalist society. If we truly believe in nation building, we try to leave a war zone with a more democratic government that believes in a capitalist system.
* A global War on Terror cannot be won in the traditional sense of a clean and decisive closure. The terrorists are like a balloon. If you squeeze them in one place, they just move to another. Vigilance with pinpoint targeted responses as needed is the appropriate action to protect us from the threat.
* We do not dishonor the sacrifice of life and limb suffered by our veterans and their families if we leave Afghanistan. All we do is add to their ranks by extending the conflict. There are much better ways to honor their service.
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My son-in-law, Andy Goehring, is a West Point graduate who was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star in the Iraq War.
When I discussed this column with Andy, he responded with great wisdom. He suggested that we reframe the question about the right and wrong of leaving Afghanistan from “Should we leave?” to “Should we stay?”
Think about that, my friends.
Roger Carlton writes a bi-weekly column for The Graham Star. He can be reached via email, rcarlton57@hotmail.com.