From WSJOpinion: Biden believes that a Taliban win in Afghanistan will not seriously affect U.S. power and prestige worldwide. One fears he may be wrong, writes wrmead
The bipartisan scuttle caucus of which President Biden is a founding member—and former President Trump an eager recruit—argued that withdrawal would enhance rather than undermine American credibility. Ending a war in a remote country of little intrinsic interest to the U.S. does not, one can argue, make America look weak. If anything, the two-decade U.S. intervention testifies to an American doggedness that should reassure our allies about our will.
Defenders of the withdrawal argue this is one way that America can reduce its footprint in peripheral theaters to focus on the principal threat in coastal East Asia. Why should the U.S. government pay the heavy price—in military resources and in the political costs at home of defending an endless engagement in a remote part of the world—required to contain the Taliban? Isn’t the jihadist group a more direct threat to both Russia and China than to America? Why are U.S.
The Taliban’s sweeping military victory should not have surprised Mr. Biden. The core of the argument for withdrawal, an argument he has embraced for more than a decade, is that the Afghan government and military are so irredeemably weak and corrupt that it is pointless for America to support them. To expect that such a government and such an army would cohere long enough to provide its vanishing betrayers a dignified retreat is magical thinking of the silliest kind.
The fall of Kabul has been heard around the world. In Europe, where allies had no say in either the substance or the timing of the president’s decision this looks like yet another instance of the incoherent U.S. unilateralism that marked President Obama’s reversal of his Syrian red line and much of Mr. Trump’s policy. It is not just that America’s scuttle threatens to produce a massive refugee crisis in Europe.
China, Russia and Iran surely interpret this shambolic performance as a sign of exploitable weakness and poor judgment. From the peaks of Pakistan to the sands of the Sahel, fanatical jihadists discouraged by the failure of ISIS sense a fresh and favorable turn of events with the arrival of their greatest victory since 9/11. Recruitment will prosper and resources will flow—fed by the sophisticated weapons and tech we left in the field.
Deutschland Neuesten Nachrichten, Deutschland Schlagzeilen
Similar News:Sie können auch ähnliche Nachrichten wie diese lesen, die wir aus anderen Nachrichtenquellen gesammelt haben.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani flees Afghanistan as Taliban fighters enter Kabul, reports sayAfghan President Ashraf Ghani and his immediate team have left Afghanistan for Tajikistan, according to Afghan government sources speaking to several media outlets.
Weiterlesen »
Opinion | The Afghan Allies Left BehindFrom WSJopinion: Some 50,000 Afghans who would qualify for U.S. visas couldn’t escape before the Taliban victory because of slow American bureaucracy
Weiterlesen »
Opinion | Why Afghan Forces So Quickly Laid Down Their ArmsOpinion: Opposing Afghan factions have long negotiated arrangements to stop fighting — something the U.S. either failed to understand or chose to ignore
Weiterlesen »
US veterans are disappointed with how the war in Afghanistan is ending -- and fearful for their Afghan alliesCNN News, delivered. Select from our newsletters below and enter your email to subscribe.
Weiterlesen »
UN chief urges world to open doors to Afghan refugeesSecretary General Antonio Guterres calls on countries to unite to protect hard-won rights of women as he warned the UNSC “to suppress global terrorist threat” as Taliban takes control of Afghanistan.
Weiterlesen »
America may pay dearly for defeat in AfghanistanBy August 14th Joe Biden was reduced to trying to shift some blame to Donald Trump. “When I came to office, I inherited a deal cut by my predecessor,” he said
Weiterlesen »