The U.S went to Afghanistan to get those who had attacked us on 9/11/2001. We had international support. We asked the Taliban government of Afghanistan who had given al Qaeda safe harbor to give up al Qaeda or allow us to enter and attack them. The Taliban refused. After about 90 days we had toppled the Taliban government and then pursued al Qaeda and specifically bin Laden who was said to have planned the attack.
The Bush2 Administration then tired to tie the attack to Iraq’s Saddam Hussein. They put Afghanistan on the ‘back burner’, move resources and invaded Iraq.
Had the Bush2 Administration simply finished the job in Afghanistan, defeated al Qaeda and killed bin Laden, it would have been done in under one year, and the U.S. could have left the country in a somewhat stable condition. Instead it was the Obama Administration who finally defeated al Qaeda and killed bin Laden almost 10 years later.
Those ten years had a cost in U.S. lives, and money. To walk away would give the Taliban the upper hand to retake power in Afghanistan. It’s soon to be 20 years now. More lives, more money. All lost if we have to go back into Afghanistan 2, 3, 5, 8 years from now for the very same reason, harboring terrorists. If the Taliban continues to refuse the harboring of terrorists, then they must be stopped. The Taliban still refuses to that commitment.
It should all be long done, but was bungled initially and became a quagmire. The Bush2 Admin refused any knowledgeable advice and had no knowledge about the Middle East or Persia. Hindsight is great, but we had foresight that Bush2 refused to consider. And we had an example in the Soviet Union’s failures there, also rejected by Bush2. We could have gone back into Afghanistan 3 or 4 times at less than a year each and been more effective than the almost 20 spent. Now we have much different, and more complicated decisions to make.
The U.S went to Afghanistan to get those who had attacked us on 9/11/2001. We had international support. We asked the Taliban government of Afghanistan who had given al Qaeda safe harbor to give up al Qaeda or allow us to enter and attack them. The Taliban refused. After about 90 days we had toppled the Taliban government and then pursued al Qaeda and specifically bin Laden who was said to have planned the attack.
The Bush2 Administration then tired to tie the attack to Iraq’s Saddam Hussein. They put Afghanistan on the ‘back burner’, move resources and invaded Iraq.
Had the Bush2 Administration simply finished the job in Afghanistan, defeated al Qaeda and killed bin Laden, it would have been done in under one year, and the U.S. could have left the country in a somewhat stable condition. Instead it was the Obama Administration who finally defeated al Qaeda and killed bin Laden almost 10 years later.
Those ten years had a cost in U.S. lives, and money. To walk away would give the Taliban the upper hand to retake power in Afghanistan. It’s soon to be 20 years now. More lives, more money. All lost if we have to go back into Afghanistan 2, 3, 5, 8 years from now for the very same reason, harboring terrorists. If the Taliban continues to refuse the harboring of terrorists, then they must be stopped. The Taliban still refuses to that commitment.
It should all be long done, but was bungled initially and became a quagmire. The Bush2 Admin refused any knowledgeable advice and had no knowledge about the Middle East or Persia. Hindsight is great, but we had foresight that Bush2 refused to consider. And we had an example in the Soviet Union’s failures there, also rejected by Bush2. We could have gone back into Afghanistan 3 or 4 times at less than a year each and been more effective than the almost 20 spent. Now we have much different, and more complicated decisions to make.