"Untitled" by Zack D.

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 The war in Afghanistan has been going on since September 11, 2001, the day of the fateful attack on the world trade center carried out by the Taliban. Former US President Trump had struck an agreement with the Taliban to move US troops out by May. Biden decided to continue with this date and started a withdrawal that should end on September 11. The administration moved the deadline forward to August 31, although the withdrawal was messy and left many American and Afghan citizens stranded, President Biden considered the withdrawal a success. The C-17 pilots of the last flight to leave Afghanistan described it as being like a zombie apocalypse, there were destroyed and burn-out planes everywhere, and their planes were parked in an area of the airport that had previously been breached by Taliban forces. The soldiers that had been defending the airport were crowded onto the large carrier aircraft, many laid down and tried to get any sleep they could after several days of being on high alert. 

The Taliban began to gain strength in early July, at the time President Biden said that a total takeover was “highly unlikely". "It is wrong to order American troops to step up when Afghanistan’s own armed forces would not,” said the president. Biden refused to allow this 20-year war to continue any longer, it had already cost the US hundreds of lives and billions of dollars. Although, as evidenced by the current state of Afghanistan, President Biden’s prediction was wrong, even as he remained adamant to have US troops out of Afghanistan by August 31. Near the end of July, the US began conducting airstrikes against Taliban forces to support the already flagging Afghan army. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani blamed the “abrupt” withdrawal of the US for the failure of Afghan troops to hold off the Taliban. By early August the Taliban controlled multiple large cities and economic centers. The Taliban captured several more cities throughout the following days, including Kunduz, a city with a prison that housed many Taliban militants, they were freed and joined the Taliban fighting force. On August 12 the United States announced that it would send 3,000 combat troops to help diplomats, civilians, and Afghans that helped the US escape in response to the rising Taliban threat. The Biden administration sent more troops, bringing the total to near 5,000, to help evacuate as the Taliban reached the outskirts of Kabul on August 14. The Taliban entered Kabul the next day and Ghani fled the country, signaling governmental collapse. The Taliban took over almost all of Afghanistan in just nine days after capturing the first provincial capital. Many think that this “messy and hard” withdrawal was unnecessary and saw it as a weakness on the part of the US, however confident President Biden was in his choice to retreat. In the end, the 20-year war in Afghanistan is over and the US will no longer be pouring resources and manpower into something that was ultimately a failure.

https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-departure-6eb69c3dc94c622e65a8c2ed056eef21

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-withdrawal-afghanistan-brings-biden-new-tests-home-2021-08-31/

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/08/16/us/politics-news

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/08/16/taliban-timeline/

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 9, 2021 at 9:31 PM

    It was incredibly short sighted to order such a withdraw. It was far too hasty and will probably cost the lives of many people. They should've stuck with a gradual withdraw or at least thought it out a bit more.
    - Isaac

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 13, 2021 at 9:24 AM

    I think the way the withdraw was handled was not very good and could've been done in a more efficient way. Like Isaac said it should've been drawn out more.
    - Wyatt

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownSeptember 13, 2021 at 9:26 AM

    This was a very good topic. The war between the US and Afghanistan lasted for so long. They could've ended it a better way but in the end the war is over.
    -Sierra

    ReplyDelete
  4. GillianSeptember 13, 2021 at 11:30 AM

    I think that the withdrawal of the troops was handled poorly. While the US troops had been in Afghanistan far too long, I think that such a hasty withdrawal was a mistake. The situation has quickly deteriorated, and I hope that the remaining stranded citizens receive help.

    ReplyDelete

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