The Taliban took control over the Afghan capital of Kabul on Aug. 15, after the country’s government collapsed.
The government takeover comes less than a month before President Joe Biden’s vow to pull all U.S. Armed Forces members from the country by the time 9/11 expires.
On Thursday, there was an explosion outside of the airport in Kabul where evacuations were taking place, and numerous U.S. service members and Afghan American citizens were wounded and killed. This event was one of the deadliest attacks to come out of Afghanistan during the 20 years since the U.S. invaded the country.
With the Taliban takeover and recent bloodshed, many are looking for someone to blame for what happened in Afghanistan. While Biden’s poor planned removal exacerbated events, it is important also to acknowledge where his predecessors went wrong as well.
“George W. Bush got us mired in Afghanistan and all but doomed the mission by starting an unnecessary war in Iraq and dividing our forces. Barack Obama’s expanded drone warfare was a perfect recruiting tool for the Taliban as civilian collateral damage deaths mounted. Donald Trump legitimized the Taliban in a way they never could have hoped for by bringing them to Camp David to negotiate and setting us on a course for a time–limited withdrawal,” said Dr. Scott Huffmon, political science professor.
Biden’s removal, however, left not only the country unprotected but the American citizens in Afghanistan without protection from the Taliban.
“Joe Biden has put his mark on this debacle with an extremely poorly planned withdrawal that not only allowed the Taliban to retake the capital with a Sunday stroll but left American citizens, our allies and those who helped our troops and their families in a horribly dangerous situation that will surely cost many of them their lives,” Huffmon said.
It is also important to note that the Mujahideen group that eventually became the Taliban was originally funded by the U.S. under former President Ronald Reagan to fight communist influences to the area by the former Soviet Union during the Soviet War in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
A worry of many Americans is what will happen to those who are now stranded in Afghanistan due to the blockade of the airport and the tactics to keep them in the country, as well as what to expect from the group now that they have taken control.
“The Taliban is a radical sect. It should not be conflated with all Muslims, all Afghans, or all people in the region broadly. That said, the radical view of the Taliban almost certainly means that we can expect to see the country shut itself out from the world. The Taliban will, most likely, be looking to take territorial sovereignty over Afghanistan and rule without regard to international opprobrium. The treatment of anyone who aided the U.S. or our allies will be stomach-churning,” said Dr. Brandon Ranallo-Benavidez, assistant professor of political science.
The topic of Afghanistan has been a hot topic issue in the last couple of weeks, with many having strong opinions on the topic.
Sophomore social work major Victoria Hawkins believes that it’s a good thing that U.S. service members can come home, though everything happening is devastating.
“I am happy that troops can come home now, it has been 20 years, and I think it is a good thing they’re coming home, but I am scared for the women and everyone else who is stuck there,” Hawkins said.
Whether one supports the war or not, it seems like most come to the same conclusion: this was a badly handled situation that has led to senseless bloodshed, with more being likely to come.
