Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) harshly criticized those people including President Biden who have lamented “no more endless wars” regarding Afghanistan. Crenshaw wrote, “They prefer to live in a dream world rather than face the reality that our enemies are ideologically opposed to Western civilization and will gladly stage another 9/11 if they have the opportunity and means.”
Crenshaw began by acknowledging, “Almost everyone agrees that what’s happening in Afghanistan is an unmitigated disaster. There is no way to whitewash it, and few are trying. The scenes from Kabul speak for themselves, casting shame and embarrassment on the world’s greatest superpower.”
“There is plenty of blame being passed around, including to the ‘neocons,’ the generals and the Afghans themselves,” he continued. “But what got us here was the widespread belief that American foreign policy should be dictated by a simple slogan: ‘No more endless wars.’ The current spokesman for that belief is President Biden.”
“Few deny we needed to take action after 9/11, but few understood what our strategy would be after we got there,” Crenshaw pointed out. “Leaders failed to explain that simply leaving would allow the Taliban to re-emerge and again provide safe haven for terrorists.”
“With this growing impatience, the case for cutting our losses grew stronger. But it fails to acknowledge trade-offs—and this simple question: If we evacuate Afghanistan, what will happen?” Crenshaw asked. “The ‘no more endless wars’ crowd always refused to answer. They prefer to live in a dream world rather than face the reality that our enemies are ideologically opposed to Western civilization and will gladly stage another 9/11 if they have the opportunity and means. They are at war with us whether or not we are at war with them. Leaving Afghanistan would inevitably create a terrorist safe haven.”
“The ‘no more endless wars’ position has another blind spot,” Crenshaw surmised. “Its advocates are unable to distinguish between wasteful nation building and a small residual force that conducts occasional counterterror operations. As a result, when many Americans hear that there is a single soldier on the ground in Afghanistan, they interpret it to mean ‘nation building’ and ‘world police.’ That’s wrong. There are a lot of foreign policy options between nation building and giving up.”
“The U.S. presence in Afghanistan was meeting the original strategic goal of denying a safe haven for terrorists and preventing another 9/11. The 18 months before withdrawal saw no U.S. combat deaths,” Crenshaw noted. “Does that really sound like ‘endless war’ in any traditional sense? More important, does it sound better or worse than the current outcome?”
America didn’t lose a war, or even end one. We gave up on a strategic national-security interest. We gave up on our Afghan allies, expecting them to stave off a ruthless insurgency without our crucial support, which came at minimal cost to us. This administration’s actions are heartless, its justifications nonsensical. The consequences are dire for innocent Afghans and for America’s prestige. Twenty years after 9/11, I pray they don’t become equally dire for Americans at home.
All the effort we put into Afghanistan was flushed down the toilet the day the military was instructed to quit the focus on counterterrorism and start nation-building. Afghanistan will reestablish itself as a terrorist operating base and training facility. The lessons have not been learned and the enemy is not yet defeated.
This could have been finished years ago if we had actually fought a war instead of piecemeal battles in Iraq and Afghanistan. This war—any war— can be brought to a relatively quick finish by dedicating every military resource—tactical, strategic, and intelligence—to kill the enemy. They attack us, we annihilate them. Every single one of them. It isn’t hard. Pick your targets and commence fire. I’d have started with all the capitals: Baghdad, Damascus, Kabul, Riyadh, Tehran, Islamabad, Amman, all of them.
I’d have rocked their fucking Casbah with neutron bombs and put a quick end to their quest for a new Caliphate. But then, I’m a former Soldier, not a politician.
Terrorism is part of Islamic doctrine. Muzzie terrorists are trained, funded, indoctrinated, supported, and bred all across the Middle East. It’s the epicenter of Islamofascism.
This war ain’t over by a long shot.
The Biden regime currently occupies the Oval Office and America is less safe. We are saddled with a White House hijacker who is corrupt, incompetent, a liar, and suffering from dementia. Foreign enemies like China and even allies are laughing at his bumbling idiocy.
The catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan left 13 American service members dead, hundreds of Americans stranded, and the Taliban in charge.
Biden thought it would be a great idea to import thousands of unvetted Afghan ‘refugees’ into the country. God only knows how many of them are ISIS, al Qaeda, and Taliban terrorists. A former FBI agent said that the Biden regime disseminated blank visa papers throughout Afghanistan, thus giving them a chance to waltz right into the country.
Biden just brought the war to America. The next attack will make 9/11 look like a picnic.
Related post:
https://sfcmac.com/on-the-withdrawal-from-afghanistan/