In the midst of disinformation and horse poop, there is finally a gleaming nugget of truth. Secretary of Defense Austin took a brief respite from fighting White supremacy. He turned his attention to Afghanistan and admitted that Al Qaeda will return to fill the vacuum we left.
If the administration knew this, why did they leave a vacuum in the first place? Why didn’t we keep sufficient troops to hold Bagram Air Base? Why didn’t we keep sufficient air power and Special Forces to hit Al Qaeda or similar groups while they were still forming and weak? Afghanistan is landlocked. Flying in from the sea, or from land bases, takes time and effort.
Secretary of State Blinken and his people treat the Taliban as if they were fellow graduates of prestigious schools of government, sitting at a conference table, sipping tea and nibbling French pastries, while they discuss the minutiae of Section 17d of a treaty.
On the contrary, former President Trump reported that the Taliban leader he talked to on the phone spoke in grunts. Trump added, ‘You go to Broadway shows, they fight, they’ve been fighting for 1000 years.” So tell me frankly, who had the more accurate read on our enemies? Who was better equipped to operate in a dangerous world? Who was more qualified to protect American interests – and lives?
We left a vacuum for Al Qaeda to fill? Now they tell us.