CNN - Politics: Reports " US military ordered to begin planning to withdraw about half the troops in Afghanistan "
Lets Get Real:
This is ANOTHER mistake by President Trump, the US is needed in Afghanistan, the Kabul Regime needs the backstop of the US presence in Afghanistan. Those that have read my blog from the start know that this blog has always opposed going in to Afghanistan and the various increases in troop numbers over the past few Presidencies. Afghanistan is the graveyard of Empires, the British Empire had problems with Afghanistan, in the end after a few Wars, we just flew planes from British India over Afghanistan and bombed any threats to Imperial interests. Then the USSR not having learned the mistakes of the British invaded, this WAR is seen as the Vietnam of the Soviet Union, it was a WAR they could never win, and of course the US supported the Afghan rebels, of course this lead to problems later on, but during the Cold War any negative for the USSR was seen as good for the West. After the USSR withdrew we saw the development of the Taliban, they supported Al Qaeda and thus 9/11. The US war in Afghanistan has been going on for nearly 18 years, as the article notes the US and its allies have kept the Taliban out of the major cities but they are still a threat, the fighting these days on the whole is done by Afghan Forces, what happens to the Afghan Government and Forces if the US is seen as cutting and running. They could fall. Thus it can be argued that the US and its Allies need to stay in Afghanistan, the costs have gone down, the costs could go up again if Afghanistan becomes a terrorist base again. One would hope that the ex - Presidents from Bush 43 onwards would oppose the move and lend their voice to the counter view, the US can not afford lose Afghanistan, the US and the West can not afford another 9/11, what if next time it is the use of WMD, Western security needs Allied troops in Afghanistan.
