President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump both came to the same conclusion about US military involvement in Afghanistan – it no longer made sense.
Twenty years into our effort, it had become clear that no amount of money or US and coalition troops could bring the Afghan government to the point where it could ensure its own security and stability. We could no longer justify putting more American lives at risk and spending billions of additional taxpayer dollars in the effort. A year ago, Biden took the final step in the process begun by the previous administration to end our involvement in Afghanistan, ordering the withdrawal of the last thousands of US troops from Afghanistan. Many lessons can be learned from this 20-year campaign. Last year, in the annual defense bill, Congress created a bipartisan committee to examine this very important issue. But the bigger lesson seems obvious. We could not rebuild Afghanistan, a country on the other side of the world with a very different history and culture from our own, through the sheer might of US military power. ADMIN BIDEN MOVES WITH TALKS TO RETURN BILLIONS IN FROZEN FUNDING TO AFGHANISTAN: REPORT Biden and Trump made the decision that needed to be made because they both recognized this reality. Taliban fighters accompany women in a march in support of the Taliban government outside Kabul University, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue) Some disagree with this point and insist that if the United States just kept trying and had more resources in the effort, then we could build a stable government in Afghanistan that would be a strong partner of the United States. Twenty years of effort by four different presidents and more generals and diplomats than most of us can remember makes it clear that this is not the case. Had we stayed, we would have simply lost more American lives and spent more money—only to end up in the same place five, 10, or 20 years from now. Others argue that we should have kept a smaller military force in the country, not in an effort to reshuffle the government or build up Afghan security forces, but to fight and contain terrorist groups in the country. But this approach doesn’t make sense either. Who would have secured this small force from the rising Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan? This small force would be under constant threat, devoting most of its time to force protection and not adequately conducting its counter-terrorism mission. It would have become apparent that this force would either have to be withdrawn or tens of thousands more troops would have to be deployed to provide force protection for this counterterrorism mission, putting more Americans at risk and costing billions more dollars.
Finally, a large number of people are focusing their criticism on the details of the peace deal that Trump agreed to, and how Biden and his team executed the final withdrawal from Afghanistan last year. CLICK HERE TO GET THE OPINION NEWSLETTER Ending the war in Afghanistan was never going to be easy or without risk. We stayed as long as we did precisely because the leaders of the American government understood this. Analysts knew that without the support of the United States and our coalition partners, the Afghan government would not be able to stand up to the Taliban. And a Taliban takeover would mean a return to their violent, brutally repressive rule.
Trump bought some time for US and allied forces with the peace deal he struck with the Taliban in February 2019. That deal did nothing to end the Taliban’s war against the Afghan government, but it did prevent the Taliban from attack US and coalition forces. That deal, however, expired in May 2021. Only Biden’s decision just before that deadline to begin withdrawing remaining U.S. troops prevented the Taliban from targeting our service members and coalition forces again. The end was tragic. We lost 13 more brave US soldiers in last ditch efforts to evacuate as many American and Afghan allies as possible, and the Afghan people have suffered horribly since the return of the Taliban-led government. But the United States and our coalition partners made the decision to withdraw precisely because we realized that, after 20 years, a large military force could not prevent this outcome. More American lives lost and US dollars spent were not going to change that. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The evacuation was chaotic, but it was the inevitable result that the Afghan government proved unable to ensure its own security and stability. While we clearly need to look at the details of the evacuation to learn what could have been done better, we also need to look at the 20 years of decisions that came before it.
However, withdrawing our military forces from Afghanistan was the right decision. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM REP. ADAM SMITH Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., represents Washington’s 9th congressional district, serving parts of King and Pierce counties, including Seattle, Bellevue and Tacoma. As a senior member of the House Democratic leadership, Congressman Smith also serves as Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.