The Afghanistan Debacle
- We went there back in 2001 after 9-11 because that is where Usama Bin Laden, leader of Al Qaeda was spending most of his time training terrorists.
We wanted to capture or kill Bin Laden
We wanted to deny Al Qaeda the use of Afghanistan as a base of operations.
We deposed the Taliban - US and Coalition forces supported a newly created Afghan government
- President Trump promised to pull our troops out of Afghanistan
Troop presence was reduced to approximately 2500 US servicemen, plus several thousand of our NATO allies.
The original plan was to leave by May 1, 2021, before the fighting season began (roughly May-October)
When President Biden was elected, he changed to target date to depart to Sep 11th for the symbolism of it.
The new date became August 31st at the height of the fighting season, when Taliban fighter strength would be at its max. - On July 1, 2021, the US abandoned Bagram Airbase, the major airbase in Afghanistan (a move later to prove foolish)
Further reference: Why did the United States Abandon Bagram Airfield? National Review, 8/18/21 - Soon after we abandoned Bagram, the Taliban started a major push to retake the country.
- By Aug 14th, the Taliban had taken over the country, precipitating a crisis of Americans, Afghan allies, and others struggling to flee the country from the airport in Kabul, where the last vestige of US and allied forces remain
- The Taliban have warned those fleeing the country to be out by the Aug 31st deadline.
- There are thousands of Americans currently stuck in Afghanistan.
