I guess you can take comfort in the fact that Trump didn't even attempt to get Americans out of Afghanistan? 60 Americans died in Afghanistan during Trump's presidency. 13 died in the evacuation, seems a bargain to me, even though poorly planned and/or executed.
1). No American will be left behind ( they were)
In 2016 there were 8400 american troops in Afganistan. 13000 were there in 2020. Clearly Trump didn't have a plan, either and was willing to put more Americans at risk for his failure.
2. We will evacuate Afghan citizens who helped us (we didn't)
We didn't get all the cooperative Afghanis out. Should we have bumped them up the list, replacing Americans?
3. We didn't need Bangram airport ( we did)
Did Trump's plan include the airport?
4. The 300;00 strong Afghan army will be able to hold the Taliban (there was actuall 150,000 in the arm) They folded in 11 days.
Now, that's clearly some sunshine and smoke blown up somebody's skirt.
5. The chaos was inevitable ( it wasn't)
How does one classify the "chaos" that could have been controlled and assign responsibility? A retreat, withdrawal is a very difficult operation.
6. The Afghan army let us down and didn't have the will to fight. (We deserted them knowing they relied on us for air cover and they fought hard and lost over 50,000).
When did America withdraw from a war that was eventually decided in our favor?
7. We can continue to protect Afghan women and girls (he didn't)
8. It's Trump fault because he negotiated a bad deal with the Taliban..... NO it's not Trumps deal that was bad - it's Biden ..... lousy follow through
9. Trump didn't try to create a coalition government between the Taliban and the rest of the country (yes he did. It was part of Trumps plan)
10. Trumps plan locked him in to a quick withdrawal - NO....Trumps plan was "condition based". So Biden could have reworked it since the Taliban violated the deal.
Fair points, except you don't negotiate a 'fair deal' with an Army that's winning. You negotiate to a position appear to lose less.
11. The Taliban had already taken control when Biden came in. NO.... Actually the Taliban started right after Biden took office.
The taliban didn't have their signs on any doors, but they were in control. Which is why Afghan collapsed so quickly. |