On Aug. 30, the United States finished pulling out over 120,000 people from Afghanistan as Taliban control spread across the country. The occupation of troops in Afghanistan has ended; something the general populace agrees with. The war is finally over.
Critics have been focusing on Biden’s hasty and costly plan to get the U.S. out as quickly as possible; the 13 U.S. lives lost to this decision, the millions of dollars of weapons left at the Taliban’s disposal, and the thousands of refugee’s that are pouring in. It is obvious that the war in Afghanistan did not end well, so we must ask ourselves: did we accomplish any of our goals? What went wrong?
When we charged into the country back in 2001 with revenge in our hearts, the goal was to eliminate Osama Bin Laden and prevent another attack from happening ever again. Results were promising at first; the strongest military in the world was making quick work of the Taliban. However, there was criticism due to a large number of civilian casualties.
To combat the claims that this war was senseless violence, the Bush Administration added a new goal to the war; nation-building. The United States attempted to put into power a functional democracy, as well as free the millions of oppressed women under Taliban control.
On paper, things looked great. Women were becoming educated and holding office, Taliban control was dwindling and Osama Bin Laden was assassinated in 2011. What went wrong with Afghanistan was not our intentions, it was our execution.
While we set up a ‘democracy’ in Afghanistan, we made very little effort to ensure it was stable and would not collapse. We sent drones to bomb cities and guns to take out whoever was still standing, and our country did not instill freedom. We instilled fear.
Over 71,000 civilians were killed in the war against Afghanistan, according the Watson Institute at Brown University’s Costs of War project research, and now we are leaving the country in almost the exact same position.
Afghanistan is proof that we cannot shape the world with just bullets and bombs. Millions of lives have been jeopardized by the Taliban’s reacquisition of Afghanistan’s provinces and cities. If our country won’t fight on our own soil anymore, I believe it is our moral obligation to take in those that can’t fight for themselves.
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