The meltdown in Afghanistan is upsetting to the point of being sickening. Thousands of American lives are in jeopardy. We are plagued by thoughts of how this untenable turmoil will be resolved, and nagging thoughts of the oppression the future will bring at the hands of the extremist Taliban for so many people, particularly Afghan women.
Regretfully, for many of us, it is not surprising. We have seen these wrenching scenes before in Vietnam and Iraq, and many foretold years ago that our attempts at nation-building in Afghanistan were inappropriate and futile from the start, for many reasons.
First of all, we should have learned from history that an uninvited invasion of a nation by foreigners with a different language, culture, and religion has seldom resulted in lasting conversion of the subjected people, no matter how well-intentioned the invaders thought they were.
For example, tribal, ethnic, and national groups of people conquered by the ancient Romans rebelled and repulsed Rome's rule, even though they suffered hundreds of years of brutal oppression before they were able to achieve self-rule. The Irish never gave up the armed struggle for freedom from rule by Britain, despite the loss of hundreds of thousand of lives over several centuries, until they achieved independence in the 1920s.
Afghan rebels fought and succeeded in outlasting British control in the late 1800s and wearing down Soviet invaders in the 1980s. Empires don't last forever. Nation-building, in the long run, has mostly been determined by the native population, not foreign intruders.
Second, before the tragic attack by al-Qaida on 9/11, the United States was not overly concerned with the violent, medieval oppression of the Taliban, who took control of Afghanistan following a bloody civil war in the 1990s. Unfortunately, in reality, dozens of nations ruled by undemocratic and cruel leaders and groups have existed throughout the world continually since World War II.
According to Freedom House, a nonprofit group which rates levels of freedom of nations in the world, there are currently over 40 nations listed as "Not free." No one has ever suggested the United States could or should invade all these oppressed nations and attempt democratic nation-building, even though to not do so goes against our basic instincts as Americans to promote democracy, freedom, and fairness.
It sounds cold, but our foreign policy should be determined by cost efficiency in lives and money and what is realistically possible to preserve the safety and prosperity of our nation.
Third, when we righteously invaded Afghanistan, our original goal was to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaida to remove them as a source of terroristic attacks--not to reform Afghanistan. We took our eye off the ball when President George W. Bush set us on the path of a futile attempt of nation-building. It is unfortunate that he did not follow the example of his father, President George H.W. Bush, when the U.S. blitzed Iraq's military forces in 1991, and then withdrew with warnings after repulsing Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait.
It seems heartless, but we once we knocked out the Taliban and scattered al-Qaida in Afghanistan, we should have pulled out our invasion forces with the promise that we would return with more devastating military force if terrorism was once again allowed to flourish there. We could have continued to support Afghan democratic forces through military and economic aid, just as we did the Afghan forces fighting the Soviets, which, by the way, included most of the future leaders of the Taliban.
Finally, the question is asked, "Who is to blame for today's turmoil in Kabul?" President Biden is an easy scapegoat, but only a post-debacle, fair, and in-depth review will reveal his role during the seven months of his presidency as these unexpected events unrolled.
No matter how the final history of the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan is written, it is clear a fair assessment will reveal that there is enough blame to go around for many of our civilian and military leaders over the past 20 years since 9/11.
As difficult as it is to accept the collapse of our efforts in Afghanistan, like our involvement in Vietnam, the price we paid was not all in vain. The Vietnam struggle was "one of a thousand cuts" over 50 years which resulted in the collapse and death of Soviet-led tyrannical communism in most of the world.
The brave men and women, both military and civilian, who served in Afghanistan likewise played a vital role in protecting all of us from terrorism for 20 years and gave the Afghan people their greatest chance at freedom in their history. No matter how the political events unfold, our influence in that nation and society will be lasting and have an impact on the Afghan future. That knowledge makes being a witness to the current chaos a little less painful.
In any case, our soldiers, sailors, and airmen/women who have served in Afghanistan deserve "Thank you for your sacrifice and welcome home" from all of us.
David Wilson lives in Fayetteville.