Americas Afghanistan Amnesia – The Nation
Then-President George W. Bush speaks aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln off the California coast in 2003. (J. Scott Applewhite / AP Photo)
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The American national security establishment has little aptitude for winning wars, but it is very good at defending its political power. The swift collapse of the Afghan government in August, with the leaders like Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani fleeing as its army surrendered to the Taliban, should have been an occasion for soul-searching among Americans leaders. After all, building a viable, non-Taliban government in Afghanistan has been a project carried out by four presidencies over nearly 20 years, at the cost of more than $2 trillion and nearly 2,500 soldiers. The number of Afghans who died in the war of the last two decades is difficult to establish with certainty, but best estimates are in the neighborhood of 240,000with perhaps 70,000 of those civilians.
By any measure, the effort to create a viable Afghan state was a major political project, supported not just by a bipartisan political consensus but also numerous NGOs and, intermittently, aided by American allies. Yet the Afghan government was revealed in the end to be a Potemkin regime, one that fell apart almost as fast as a house of cards encountering a gust of wind.
You would think that so massive a failureone that implicated so many leaders and institutionsmight lead to some reflection on all that had gone wrong. But such a level of mature introspection isnt common to the national security establishment. This clubby collection of military and civilian policy-makers, think tank wonks, and upscale journalists is sometimes called the Blob. (The term was popularized, if not coined, by Ben Rhodes, an adviser to Barack Obama). Its an apt metaphor; like the fabled movie monster, the foreign policy Blob may look amorphousbut still always oozes in the same general direction.
The Blob quickly decided that the end of the Afghan debacle, rather than a moment for self-reflection, presented an ideal opportunity to slime Joe Biden. The quickly formulated Blob consensus went something like this: The mission in Afghanistan didnt fail. The situation on the ground had stabilized with the Afghan government supported at a manageable cost by a few thousand US troops. Afghanistan was well on its way to becoming a viable long-term ally like Japan, South Korea, or Germany. Biden, hypnotized by the slogan end the forever wars, was guilty of a premature withdrawal. MORE FROM Jeet Heer
To make sure Biden received the requisite lashing, the media dug up all the ghouls who launched Afghanistan and earlier wars: John Bolton, Paul Wolfowitz, Tony Blaireven the prince of the undead himself, Henry Kissinger. Variations of this critique were made by everyone from Ryan C. Crocker, ambassador to Afghanistan under Obama, to Council on Foreign Relations President Richard N. Haass. Writing in The New York Times, Crocker argued, Bidens decision to withdraw all U.S. forces destroyed an affordable status quo that could have lasted indefinitely at a minimum cost in blood and treasure. Haass tweeted, The alternative to withdrawal from Afghanistan was not endless occupation but open-ended presence. Occupation is imposed, presence invited. Unless you think we are occupying Japan, Germany, & South Korea. And yes, withdrawal was the problem.
These arguments are so flimsy as to barely need refutation. Theres simply no rational comparison between the American presence, however contested by some locals, in Japan, Germany, and South Korea and two decades of ferocious blood-letting in Afghanistan. The minimum cost of Afghanistan is true only if you ignore both that American casualties over the last year are down because of Donald Trumps agreement with the Taliban to withdraw US troopsand that Afghan casualties remain numbingly high. As Joe Biden rightly said in an August 31 address, Theres nothing low grade or low risk or low cost about any war.
What Biden could have added is that his critics are willfully dishonest about the history of the warand the nature of the status quo before the collapse. One of the very best guides to that history is the blockbuster Afghanistan Papers report that Craig Whitlock released in The Washington Post in 2019 (now available in expanded form as a book). Current Issue
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Based on an internal autopsy of the Afghan mission commissioned by the Pentagon titled Lessons Learned, The Afghanistan Papers make clear that the war was lost from almost the very startand that the Afghanistan war was unwinnable because the United States lacked the knowledge and capability to build a legitimate or even viable government.
Instead, administration after administration kept kicking the can down the road by pretending the facade of a viable regime was the real thing. As MSNBC host Chris Hayes rightly observed, the philosophy behind Americas nation-building effort was fake it till you make it.
In 2015, Army Gen. Douglas Lute, who served as Afghan war czar under both George W. Bush and Barack Obama, told government interviewers, We were devoid of a fundamental understanding of Afghanistanwe didnt know what we were doing. He added, What are we trying to do here? We didnt have the foggiest notion of what we were undertaking.
The Afghanistan Papers paint a grim picture of a mission lacking in any clear focus leading to the creation of a make-believe government, a phantom local army, and a status quo maintained by massive American-directed killing. As Whitlock notes:
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In the Lessons Learned interviews, however, U.S. military trainers described the Afghan security forces as incompetent, unmotivated and rife with deserters. They also accused Afghan commanders of pocketing salariespaid by U.S. taxpayersfor tens of thousands of ghost soldiers. Whitlock adds, None expressed confidence that the Afghan army and police could ever fend off, much less defeat, the Taliban on their own. More than 60,000 members of Afghan security forces have been killed, a casualty rate that U.S. commanders have called unsustainable.
Reading The Afghanistan Papers illuminates the rapid collapse of the American mission: It fell apart because it was always one big lie. The title of the original Pentagon report now takes an ironic air: Lessons Learned. The cynical and calculated freakout over Bidens wise decision to withdraw makes clear that the Blob will never learn any lessons.
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Americas Afghanistan Amnesia - The Nation
- At town hall, Trump mixes up Alaska and Afghanistan with confusing remarks on oil - Alaska Beacon - September 22nd, 2024 [September 22nd, 2024]
- Where is Afghanistan Three Years into Taliban Rule? - United States Institute of Peace - September 22nd, 2024 [September 22nd, 2024]
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- Afghanistan vs South Africa 3rd ODI Live Streaming: When And Where To Watch - NDTV Sports - September 22nd, 2024 [September 22nd, 2024]
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- Opinion: The Taliban are waging war on women in Afghanistan. This is how we are resisting - The Globe and Mail - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
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- GOP-led House panel tells Blinken to testify on Afghanistan withdrawal "or face contempt" - Axios - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
- Afghanistan vs New Zealand One-Off Test Live Streaming: When and where to watch AFG vs NZ Test in Greater Noida? - The Indian Express - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
- House Republicans subpoena Secretary Blinken for testimony on US withdrawal from Afghanistan - The Associated Press - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
- Afghanistan vs New Zealand one-off Test Live streaming: When and where to watch - India Today - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
- New Zealand seek to exploit Afghanistan's red-ball inexperience in one-off Test - The Hindu - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
- 'In Waves and War' Review: Doc Explores Afghanistan Vets' PTSD - Variety - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
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- Blinken Subpoenaed for Testimony on Afghanistan Withdrawal - Newsweek - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
- 'We can beat any team' says Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi ahead of facing New Zealand - The Times of India - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
- Austria to team up with Germany in joint deportations to Afghanistan - Euronews - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
- Assessing Claims That Trump Freed the Leader of Afghanistan From Prison in 2018 - The Dispatch - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
- Afghanistan Vs New Zealand One-Off Test Live Streaming: Date, Time, Venue, And Other Details - Outlook India - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
- AFG vs NZ Live: When and where to watch Afghanistan vs New Zealand Test live on TV and streaming in India? - India TV News - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
- 'Thats false': Trump caught lying about Afghanistan withdrawal to families of slain veterans - AlterNet - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
- Scotland, Gaza and Afghanistan Where have the Gods Gone? - The Wire - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
- White House says Biden and Harris werent invited to Arlington Cemetery by families of service members killed during Afghanistan withdrawal - NBC News - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
- Reading the UAEs outreach to the Talibans Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan - Observer Research Foundation - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
- Afghanistan: Meet the midwife who stayed - UN News - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- The Taliban says it wants people to visit Afghanistan. Heres what its like - CNN - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- We may be done with Afghanistan, but it's not done with us: Ex-Green Beret - Fox News - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Three years after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, meet the midwife who stayed, delivered and saved lives - United Nations Population Fund - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Trump would demand Afghanistan disaster resignations, back pay for troops fired for refusing vax on Day 1, he says at NC rally - New York Post - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- A Marine's harrowing account of how he knew Afghanistan was doomed nine years before the withdrawal - Daily Mail - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Whats more important, my dream or the women of Afghanistan?: breakdancer Manizha Talash on her Olympic protest - The Guardian - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Uzbekistan Forges Ahead, Deepening Relations With Taliban-ruled Afghanistan - The Diplomat - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
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- No singing or reading aloud: Afghanistan introduces new law putting further restrictions on women - The Times of India - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- US Has Hit Back At Militants For Afghanistan Suicide Bombing That Killed 13 Service Members: Official - International Business Times - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Inside the Virginia Newsroom Trying to Save Afghanistan From Tyranny - The Atlantic - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- A shootout on Pakistan's frontier with Afghanistan kills 5 militants and 3 Pakistani soldiers - ABC News - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Three years ago this month America withdrew from Afghanistan - The Economist - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Afghanistan owes Trump building $200,000 - Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Former Afghanistan president calls on Taliban to allow education for girls - JURIST - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Inside the Talibans Afghanistan - The National Interest Online - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Hundreds of cases of femicide recorded in Afghanistan since Taliban takeover are tip of the iceberg - The Guardian - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- How Biden allowed the Taliban to return to rule Afghanistan - New York Post - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Harris sidesteps blame for bungled Afghanistan withdrawal; congressional report to outline role - Washington Times - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Reimagining Womens Rights in Afghanistan: Federalism as a Pathway to Gender Equality - JURIST - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Need for an Urgent Rethink of International Response to the Human Rights Crisis in Afghanistan - Human Rights Watch - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and Uzbekistan have agreed to increase trade to $ 3 billion. - Eurasia Daily - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- 3 years after the Talibans return, Afghanistan is a broken country swarming with terrorists again - The Conversation Indonesia - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Uzbek prime minister is in Afghanistan in highest-level visit since the Taliban took power - Stars and Stripes - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Life in Afghanistan dire as Taliban mark 3 years of rule - DW (English) - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
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- A timeline of events in Afghanistan in the 3 years since the Talibans takeover - The Associated Press - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Afghanistan: Three years of Taliban rule and international inaction have left Afghan community with little hope - Amnesty International - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Afghans in Vermont recognize 3-year anniversary of U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan - Vermont Biz - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Stefanik Statement on the Third Anniversary of the Biden-Harris Catastrophic Afghanistan Withdrawal - Congresswoman Elise Stefanik - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Taliban celebrates three years since returning to power in Afghanistan - FRANCE 24 English - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- UNGA Side Event Ensuring Aid Effectiveness Amidst Afghanistan's Growing Food Insecurity - Princeton School of Public and International Affairs - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
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- I was imprisoned and tortured by the Taliban for protesting gender apartheid in Afghanistan - Atlantic Council - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
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- Radical Taliban observe third year of ruling Afghanistan - Voice of America - VOA News - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]