Who's to Blame for Afghanistan?

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 As I watched the news on Afghanistan, my feelings ranged from relief for finally ending a decades-long war and watching the evacuation of Americans and allies to the disbelief of the media and some political leaders' opinions about Biden's withdrawal attempts as being weak. Anger is another emotion that came and went. Mostly this anger was drawn from the previous administration's withdrawal agreement with the Taliban that excluded the Afghan government that we spent years, lives, and money to prop up, and only to give it back to the oppressive power that we "allegedly" defeated in response to 9/11. We went full circle, literally.  Also, Biden's withdrawal was poorly planned and flawed on so many levels. The Middle East wars have been a quagmire the moment they began, and they began long before 2001.

Right now, as I read and listen to analysts and read this agreement, I thought about all the US men and women that served in Afghanistan (and other ME places), how do they feel? What about the families who lost their loved ones who served?  I can't imagine, I can't know without talking to any of them.  It is sympathy that lets me think that some might feel that it was our military's failure. To those veterans and service members, I say the blame should not be placed with you at all, not on this.  The Middle East's endless wars are the fault of our leaders, political and military.  It is the cowardice of three previous administrations for not ending it.  It is the previous administration's ignorance and its egotistical leader for only meeting with the Taliban without any conditions.  It seems they gave them everything they wanted, and because of the xenophobic stance on refugees from Afghanistan, did not begin to evacuate Americans and allies when it was signed.  I can't imagine what would have happened if Trump would have won in 2020. Would that Administration uphold this agreement and not fly anyone out? But know that I have plenty of bipartisan blame to dish out on this. Honestly, we should have never been there setting up bases and such, especially for 20 years?  How is that for bipartisanship? For when it comes to war, both parties are to blame. The Cold War and the War on Terror are difficult lessons our leaders never seem to learn, or maybe they don't care. Recently, a US Senator asked, "What lessons did we learn from Vietnam, and why didn't we apply them to Afghanistan?"  I am not sure why we didn't, as Americans, a lot of us seem to have short-term memories.

As for my part in this, I want to apologize for my failure (because who am I?), and our American society's failure in stopping and demanding an end to this war. Though I have been anti-war since I can remember, I never would forget those who just wanted to do what they thought was right. Though, if we stopped volunteering for the military, if we take away the military's bait for poor, working and middle-class kids to join, maybe we will stop fighting wars of idealogy, better yet for capitalism.  Maybe as a democratic society, we will do our jobs and ask our leaders, "Is this really necessary? Is it worth the lives and money?"  We don't need to be the police or enforcer of the world, no matter what our leaders say.  We have better ways to spend our money, our lives, and improve our nation and the world.  We can still have a volunteer military, but maybe for true defense.  Right now, our biggest enemy is the simplest life form that we cannot see, but you all know how that is going.

Now we owe all those that have been damaged by these forever wars recovery and healing. This means truly taking care of those who served and are serving. This means taking in refugees from Afghanistan and Haiti, and from all over the world. Maybe we examine ourselves as a violent society one city at a time.  My wish is that we turn inwards, not as isolationists, but as a force for peace.  But I know it is a dream that many had before me, and I am sure many will have it after me.

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