Trump’s Taliban deal sealed war’s fate
There is no shortage of blame for America’s sorry misadventure in Afghanistan. Over the course of its 20 year history mistakes of various consequence were made by succeeding American administrations.
Not least among those mistakes was our support of a corrupt government which employed a cadre of domestic mercenaries looking for a paycheck to fight against a motivated, battle-hardened force ready to die for their God.
The odds were stacked against us from the start. But former President Donald Trump’s attempt to blame President Joe Biden for the fiasco is a distortion of the known facts.
Our ignominious departure from Afghanistan can be traced directly to Trump’s exclusion of the Afghan government from the negotiations that led to his deal with the Taliban.
Without the Afghan government’s knowledge or involvement, Trump gave the Taliban a date certain for the withdrawal of American troops and provided for the release of thousands of Taliban militants who quickly returned to the fight.
The result was a loss of faith of the government in Kabul among regional leaders who quickly made deals with the emboldened mujaheddin to lay down their arms. Thus, the script for America’s shameful exit was written.
The end might have come more quickly than predicted. But making a deal to end a forever war with people who are willing to fight forever made that end inevitable.
Chuck Ardo, Lancaster