We should have left long ago, but it took a President Biden to say, ‘enough is enough.’
It took a man like Biden to say, ‘I was elected president of the American people, and will do what I must to improve their lot.’
That takes guts.
Presidents came and went but it took Biden to say, ‘it’s time. We have to leave.’
And no one, no one, could in their right mind, expect a tidy exit.
The same way that no one had thought that the Afghan army, stronger in numbers than the Taliban, would choose to lay down their arms as the mujahideen advanced.
Was their country not worth fighting for?
That will be on the consciences of Afghans to deal with.
As to the chaos at the airport in Kabul, it will soon settle down as evacuations come to an end in the next few days. And if it doesn’t, so be it.
We need to rebuild our nation. We need to work on improving the skills level of our citizens, their education and health, all of which will result in greater wellbeing and productivity.
Many of our cities and rural areas are in desperate need of attention and assistance.
President Biden sees that. But the whole lot of his critics, both Republicans and Democrats, who claim to be aghast at the messy exit and the tragic scenes of Afghans clinging to a moving airplane on the tarmac of the Kabul airport, instead of empty blabber, should take a good look at themselves and ask if they’re not being unfair with Biden.
Afghanistan had long ago ceased to be geopolitically important and yet we stayed and stayed.
Almost 2500 American soldiers have died in the effort.
It has taken a president like Biden, who is mindful of our people’s needs, to put things in perspective and better allocate our resources.
It was time to leave. And it is time to reassess our role in defense of others around the world.
Here in our nation, we, the citizens, have a right to not be the victims of senseless violence. We, the citizens, have a right to have the opportunity to be the best we can be.
We can and will help others in need elsewhere in the world, even when it takes something that we ourselves don’t have enough of, but we cannot be careless with how we use our resources.
For we have also a duty to remind those we help, that they must do all they can to help themselves.
Our interventions abroad must be time limited. Are we in northern Syria to support the Kurds? Then we must make it clear that the arrangement is not permanent. Same with Iraq.
We have a large military base in Qatar, which should be enough as far as the Middle East is concerned.
The wide political divide here at home is a glaring sign of long standing neglect.
What is the use of sending troops all over the world if we don’t manage our problems here at home?
Working hard to improve our people, will help us project an image of strength that is fully grounded in reality.
Oscar Valdes. Oscarvaldes.net
