Intro
Most of the people from my generation were blind to politics growing up. We only ever heard adults talking about it. We know the 9/11 attacks were bad, horrific, and something we remember every year.
In this piece I break down & hopefully you will better understand the situation that is currently unfolding in Afghanistan.
A Quick Go-Around
As a result of 9/11 attacks, president Bush decided to take action and invade Afghanistan to suppress and combat the country that his administration believed was aiding and sponsoring terrorists. It is believed that Bin Laden and the terrorist cell Al-Qaeda operated there. After Trillions of dollars, bombs, and blood splattered on the dirt, Bin Laden was killed, not even in Afghanistan, but in Pakistan. A whole different country. Do you see how money, force, and blood was wasted in vain from that angle? That was back in 2011.
Both the Iraq and Afghan wars became unpopular after some time. In fact, many of my peers do not quite know the reason those wars were being fought to begin with. Tragically, two generations of Americans have fought in Afghanistan. People that were not even alive at the time of 9/11 have served in Afghanistan.
Perception
20 years later the war ended. It passed through 4 American presidents. The trillions of dollars that America poured into that country to sustain a science project “democracy” melted in a matter of days with no resistance. For many Americans this war was long overdue for an end. For others, perhaps they wanted to keep America there for another 20 years. It is also a fact that after 20 years in that country, with the Bin Laden dead, and with Al-qaeda severely weakend, some of the people of Afghanistan literally saw Americans as an occupying and imperialist force.
Assessment
My thoughts on this chaos is plain. A Vietnam War nightmare scenario repeated itself. The US can’t fight wars for other nations. The US should no longer fight for other nations. Revolutions and Democracy can’t be exported. These components are something that has to be born and executed by the people of those nations if they are passionate enough for the change they need. The US has to help in different ways, perhaps in humanitarian ways. As we have seen repeatedly, dropping bombs and emptying clips in the desert only makes people and groups resent the powers that be. It creates and strengthens toxic and radical ideologies, and that is immortal. Lastly, it is quick and easy to look at President Biden and say he did all this, but every presidency, since it’s beginning, in 2001, had a play in this war. While it is certainly another disaster, wars are never meant to last forever & Afghanistan absolutely had to end at some point.