Afghanistan Troop Withdrawal

Tiberius Lee

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President Biden announced troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. As a conservative who deeply care about US foreign policy and stability of World, I think this is a mistake. We had less then 2500 troops in Afghanistan. They could have stayed there for years along with other NATO troops and give assistance to Afghan government.



I know many on the right and left agree with this “troop withdrawal” but I fear we will repeat history once again. It was a mistake for Regan administration to completely leave Afghanistan in 80s , and it is a mistake now.

Having said that, from Biden speech I agree on one thing

“When I came to office, I inherited a diplomatic agreement, duly negotiated between the government of the United States and the Taliban, that all U.S. forces would be out of Afghanistan by May 1, 2021, just three months after my inauguration,” Biden said.

“It is perhaps not what I would have negotiated myself, but it was an agreement made by the United States government, and that means something. So, in keeping with that agreement and with our national interests, the United States will begin our final withdrawal — begin it on May 1 of this year.”


One hand I think it is a mistake to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, on the other hand the agreement was made with US in previous administration, regardless it is a mistake or not, US Gov should fulfill her International agreement.

Your thoughts ?
 
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lsume

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President Biden announced troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. As a conservative who deeply care about US foreign policy and stability of World, I think this is a mistake. We had less then 2500 troops in Afghanistan. They could have stayed there for years along with other NATO troops and give assistance to Afghan government.



I know many on the right and left agree with this “troop withdrawal” but I fear we will repeat history once again. It was a mistake for Regan administration to completely leave Afghanistan in 80s , and it is a mistake now.

Having said that, from Biden speech I agree on one thing

“When I came to office, I inherited a diplomatic agreement, duly negotiated between the government of the United States and the Taliban, that all U.S. forces would be out of Afghanistan by May 1, 2021, just three months after my inauguration,” Biden said.

“It is perhaps not what I would have negotiated myself, but it was an agreement made by the United States government, and that means something. So, in keeping with that agreement and with our national interests, the United States will begin our final withdrawal — begin it on May 1 of this year.”


One hand I think it is a mistake to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, on the other hand the agreement was made with US in previous administration, regardless it is a mistake or not, US Gov should fulfill her International agreement.

Your thoughts ?
I do not believe that Afghanistan will be the cause of the fall of America.
 
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TLK Valentine

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President Biden announced troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. As a conservative who deeply care about US foreign policy and stability of World, I think this is a mistake. We had less then 2500 troops in Afghanistan. They could have stayed there for years along with other NATO troops and give assistance to Afghan government.

Wasn't that the plan in Vietnam... at first?

Having said that, from Biden speech I agree on one thing

“When I came to office, I inherited a diplomatic agreement, duly negotiated between the government of the United States and the Taliban, that all U.S. forces would be out of Afghanistan by May 1, 2021, just three months after my inauguration,” Biden said.

“It is perhaps not what I would have negotiated myself, but it was an agreement made by the United States government, and that means something. So, in keeping with that agreement and with our national interests, the United States will begin our final withdrawal — begin it on May 1 of this year.”


One hand I think it is a mistake to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, on the other hand the agreement was made with US in previous administration, regardless it is a mistake or not, US Gov should fulfill her International agreement.

Agreed -- Right or wrong, Donald's administration made a deal to appease the Taliban. If the US is to have any credibility on the international stage, it must stand by its words... even its unwise ones.
 
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Tiberius Lee

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I do not believe that Afghanistan will be the cause of the fall of America.

I agree with you, Afghanistan will not be the cause of the fall of America, but if history teach us any thing, we will end up there again 20 years from today.
 
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Tiberius Lee

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Wasn't that the plan in Vietnam... at first?



Agreed -- Right or wrong, Donald's administration made a deal to appease the Taliban. If the US is to have any credibility on the international stage, it must stand by its words... even its unwise ones.

This is the part Trump never understood. But again, he never had any creditability of his own , so how would he understand that when US Gov made an agreement with international body, that agreement needs to be up-hold.
 
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TLK Valentine

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This is the part Trump never understood.

Never understood or never cared -- take your pick.

But again, he never had any creditability of his own , so how would he understand that when US Gov made an agreement with international body, that agreement needs to be up-hold.

Without credibility of his own, he borrowed from the credibility of the Office -- and then, true to history, declared bankruptcy.

It's amusing that the people who supported Donald by claiming he'd run the country like one of his businesses won't acknowledge that that's exactly what he did.
 
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Fantine

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Afghanistan has a history of being the country other countries get mired into without ever accomplishing their goals.

It has no natural resources (you can grow poppies and turn them into opium in a greenhouse.) It is landlocked. Its mountainous terrain isolates groups of people from one another, and it is a good place for terrorists to assemble (it is not good, however, for them to unite into one cohesive government).

We initially went there because Osama Bin Laden, who was captured and killed 11 years ago, was thought to be hiding there. The president we supported, a former CIA collaborator, was not accepted. Mission accomplished.

Their oppressing women and denying them education is horrible, but it is not a reason to have standing armies there. There are NGO's dedicated to assisting in those areas.

My nephew spent a year there as a Navy Seabee reservist rebuilding their infrastructure---while ours is crumbling. Is there some kind of point in blowing up their bridges when we should be fixing our own?
 
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lsume

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I agree with you, Afghanistan will not be the cause of the fall of America, but if history teach us any thing, we will end up there again 20 years from today.
Honestly I don’t think that America will have the national interest at heart in 20 years. I don’t think it exists now. As I’m sure you will agree, the best policy for a strong America is for the country at large to put Christ first.

as to the Taliban, I honestly don’t think they ever lost power. They may no longer occupy front and center to the world but it’s doubtful that centuries of Taliban teachings have evacuated the region. It’s tied to their religious beliefs. I believe that only Christ can free such a mind.
 
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Tiberius Lee

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Never understood or never cared -- take your pick.



Without credibility of his own, he borrowed from the credibility of the Office -- and then, true to history, declared bankruptcy.

It's amusing that the people who supported Donald by claiming he'd run the country like one of his businesses won't acknowledge that that's exactly what he did.

And there are some in 2016 who reluctantly voted for Trump thinking when he became president the awesome responsibility of the office will change him.

People who say “ we need to run the country like business” or “ in our personal life we don’t borrow money to pay for things we can’t afford, why should our country borrow money to pay for social safety net” . They have no idea how government works. Gov is not a business where you measure everything from financial balance sheet. In my personal life if I have money problem I can cut down cable tv, worse thing can happen, I miss some fav TV show, or sell my new car and buy something cheap. But when Gov cut a program to “save money” it effect millions of people.
 
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lsume

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President Biden announced troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. As a conservative who deeply care about US foreign policy and stability of World, I think this is a mistake. We had less then 2500 troops in Afghanistan. They could have stayed there for years along with other NATO troops and give assistance to Afghan government.



I know many on the right and left agree with this “troop withdrawal” but I fear we will repeat history once again. It was a mistake for Regan administration to completely leave Afghanistan in 80s , and it is a mistake now.

Having said that, from Biden speech I agree on one thing

“When I came to office, I inherited a diplomatic agreement, duly negotiated between the government of the United States and the Taliban, that all U.S. forces would be out of Afghanistan by May 1, 2021, just three months after my inauguration,” Biden said.

“It is perhaps not what I would have negotiated myself, but it was an agreement made by the United States government, and that means something. So, in keeping with that agreement and with our national interests, the United States will begin our final withdrawal — begin it on May 1 of this year.”


One hand I think it is a mistake to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, on the other hand the agreement was made with US in previous administration, regardless it is a mistake or not, US Gov should fulfill her International agreement.

Your thoughts ?
Something that you might want to research follows;I was told that under Obama, 40,000 bombs were dropped on Islamic nations in one year. This apparently made the news which of course does not make it true. America is probably very unpopular with Islamic nations right now and pulling out of Afghanistan might seem pragmatic to some.
 
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mark46

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Something that you might want to research follows;I was told that under Obama, 40,000 bombs were dropped on Islamic nations in one year. This apparently made the news which of course does not make it true. America is probably very unpopular with Islamic nations right now and pulling out of Afghanistan might seem pragmatic to some.

This number could be a bit of any exaggeration, but probably not if drones are counted.

What is your point? Given US foreign policy at the time, should Obama used more troops and fewere drones?
 
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mark46

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I agree with you, Afghanistan will not be the cause of the fall of America, but if history teach us any thing, we will end up there again 20 years from today.

We will still have a presence in the region. In Afghanistan, we will be protecting our embassy. We will likely retain our large presence in the UAE and Qatar, to fulfill our strategic goals, including being one of the leaders of NATO.

Yes, our emphasis will mover to Asia as Obama signaled to the world. As far as the Middle East, our interest cannot be the internal affairs of the various countries, whether that be Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia. As long as we are part of NATO, we will need to have to deal with the internal Muslim conflict in the region. IMO, Biden will continue his efforts to re-establish to the nuclear agreement with Iran, while continuing to object to and sanction Iran over other issues (much as we are doing with regard to Russia).

IMO, we need to stop supporting Saudi Arabia, and concentrate on our "real" allies in the region (Israel, UAE, Qatar, and Jordan).
 
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disciple Clint

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President Biden announced troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. As a conservative who deeply care about US foreign policy and stability of World, I think this is a mistake. We had less then 2500 troops in Afghanistan. They could have stayed there for years along with other NATO troops and give assistance to Afghan government.



I know many on the right and left agree with this “troop withdrawal” but I fear we will repeat history once again. It was a mistake for Regan administration to completely leave Afghanistan in 80s , and it is a mistake now.

Having said that, from Biden speech I agree on one thing

“When I came to office, I inherited a diplomatic agreement, duly negotiated between the government of the United States and the Taliban, that all U.S. forces would be out of Afghanistan by May 1, 2021, just three months after my inauguration,” Biden said.

“It is perhaps not what I would have negotiated myself, but it was an agreement made by the United States government, and that means something. So, in keeping with that agreement and with our national interests, the United States will begin our final withdrawal — begin it on May 1 of this year.”


One hand I think it is a mistake to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, on the other hand the agreement was made with US in previous administration, regardless it is a mistake or not, US Gov should fulfill her International agreement.

Your thoughts ?
Yes I have thoughts. that agreement is nothing but an excuse, it was violated multiple times by the Taliban, it is no longer valid, which is why Trump was not intending to proceed. Also we are going to regret not having the intelligence resources we now have due to our being in country. This stinks of the very same mistake the Obama administration made in Iraq, that mistake cost us dearly this one will also. Our troops are at very little risk, we should maintain a minimal amount of troops there as long as it serves our interests.
 
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hislegacy

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This is the part Trump never understood. But again, he never had any creditability of his own , so how would he understand that when US Gov made an agreement with international body, that agreement needs to be up-hold.

You mean like honoring previous administrations commitments to move our Embassy to Jerusalem?
 
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Yes I have thoughts. that agreement is nothing but an excuse, it was violated multiple times by the Taliban, it is no longer valid, which is why Trump was not intending to proceed.

Unfortunately, we'll never know what Donald intended to do with the deal he made, since he got voted out before he could honor/renege on it.

Also we are going to regret not having the intelligence resources we now have due to our being in country. This stinks of the very same mistake the Obama administration made in Iraq, that mistake cost us dearly this one will also.

And the mistake Donald made ordering the retreat from Syria.
 
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Tiberius Lee

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You mean like honoring previous administrations commitments to move our Embassy to Jerusalem?

There were never an agreement or commitment between US Gov and Israeli government to move US embassy to Jerusalem. GW Bush, Clinton talked about moving embassy to Jerusalem to American people, Bush even promised during campaign to move embassy, Obama didn’t talk about moving embassy but recognize Jerusalem as Israeli Capital. But no official Gov to Gov agreement made. Closest agreement you might consider when “US Congress passed a law in 1995 called the Jerusalem Embassy Act which described Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and said it should not be divided.”

When Trump administration moved embassy to Jerusalem, he fulfilled a campaign promise to Evangelical Christian in America, nothing to do with US commitment to Israeli, because there were no official US Gov commitment to Israeli on this matter.

I do admit one thing, I thought moving US embassy to Jerusalem will have very negative consequence, but it didn’t. Thank goodness. It didn’t change any thing in Israel. Only thing it gave is Evangelical Christian in America can brag about it.
 
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hislegacy

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US President Barack Obama on Thursday renewed a presidential waiver, again delaying plans to relocate the American Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem for another six months.

You were saying.....
 
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Tiberius Lee

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US President Barack Obama on Thursday renewed a presidential waiver, again delaying plans to relocate the American Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem for another six months.

You were saying.....

Again, that waiver is the one which congress passed in 1995. Not the waiver US gov agreed with Israeli Gov. Clinton did the same thing , GWB did the same thing and Obama did the same thing. There were never an agreement between US Gov and Israeli Gov to move the Embassy.
 
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Only thing it gave is Evangelical Christian in America can brag about it.

...which bought their undying and unconditional support for Donald, so it was certainly a win for him.
 
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