Afghanistan War

Re “Ex-generals pin debacle in Kabul on White House” (March 20): The generals blame President Joe Biden for the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan that caused the death of 13 service members. I wish those generals had used their vast military knowledge years ago to prevent us from getting in that useless war.

Getting out of a war you just won is easy. Getting out of a war you’re losing is tough; witness the debacle of our exit from the Vietnam War. The loss of 13 service members truly is a shame. However, the Afghanistan War was roughly 20 years old at that time. And during each year of that war, an average of about 120 military personnel died and roughly 1,000 service members were injured.

Three presidents presided over that war with no end in sight. Biden ended the killing in his first year, not only stopping the loss of American lives but also saving us the $300 million per day that this war has cost us since its start. The Afghanistan War has cost the U.S. more than $2.3 trillion.

Former President Donald Trump has said, if he is reelected, he “will have that (Russia-Ukraine) war settled in one day, 24 hours.” I wonder why Trump didn’t use those magical powers to end the Afghanistan War while he was in office. If he had, he would have saved hundreds of American lives, thousands of wounded personnel and countless billions of U.S. dollars.

— John J. Martin, Norfolk