The haphazard withdrawal of American troops and the utter collapse of the Afghan government is making President Joe Biden a laughingstock, the foolish jester on the global stage, and is hurting the country’s standing. China has already joked that the transition of power in Afghanistan is smoother than that of the U.S. presidential election.
The U.S. intelligence agencies aren’t looking very good either. For example, after saying Kabul could fall in 90 days, it took less than a week. Even the defense establishment looks bad for not understanding their enemy, the Afghan army they reportedly trained, and the will of the country they all but occupied.
Unfortunately, this is about more than optics and looking bad. Millions of dollars in captured American equipment are now in the Taliban’s hands, from M4s to Hummers to helicopters. Millions of girls and women who grew up in Afghanistan under U.S. protection that were able to go to school and have something approaching equal rights are being raped and forced into slavery and sexual servitude. A generation of American warriors spent years of their lives in Afghanistan, and for what? All that blood and treasure wasted. We didn’t even hang on to a couple of air bases.
What Message Does this Send?
The U.S. did not recover from the embarrassment of its Saigon moment in Vietnam until Reagan was president. I have to question if we will ever recover from this embarrassment of letting a ragtag band of AK-47 wielding Islamic fundamentalists take over a country where we claimed we had trained 300,000 soldiers and equipped them as well as “any army in the world.”
When the Afghani president absconds, in effect handing the keys to Kabul and the government offices to the Taliban, you have to question what message this sends to adversaries like Iran and China. The debacle in Afghanistan will empower our enemies and could bring us closer to war by emboldening them.
You also have to wonder what message it sends to our allies in places like Israel, Taiwan, and South Korea. They may wonder if we will turn our backs on them as well. It would not surprise me if our adversaries step up their aggressive action or if Israel takes matters into its own hands and attacks Iran. Believing was with Iran is inevitable, were I in Israel’s shoes, I would prefer to launch a devastating sneak attack than to be on the receiving end of one.
Lessons for Preppers and Patriots
This withdrawal of U.S. forces tells us many things about the state of the country and its leadership, and none of them are awe inspiring. Seeing us running away with our tail tucked between our legs is going to be the lasting image of this era.
We also see—and not for the first time—that even with with advanced weaponry and technology, it is difficult to beat guerrilla forces. The USSR learned this the hard way, and it contributed to the collapse of a superpower; we have to hope that story does not repeat itself.
To win that battle, you need boots on the ground, intelligence, and support of the populace. Believe me, there are places in the mountain states where the government has no support from the populace (with the possible exception of those who just moved there from California).
For anyone thinking about resisting government mandates, unconstitutional laws, and Civil War II, the Afghanistan withdraw gives lie to Biden’s speech about not being able to oppose the U.S. government without nuclear weapons and F15s. It tells would-be patriots that all they need to resist the government is a few pickup trucks with machine guns mounted in the back, some rocket-propelled grenade launchers, determination, and patience.
Video of the Day
Here’s a look at what Biden said about the Taliban’s chances of taking over Afghanistan and what actually happened.
