By John Johnson
America can now add the Afghanistan War, including Korean and Vietnam, as another tragedy and costly defeat. The premise for the first two wars was to stop the spread of communism. The war in Afghanistan resulted from our efforts to capture and punish Osama bin Laden. History revealed Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s ill-fated decision to rely on airstrikes and untrained Afghan militias to attack bin Laden’s hideout and to seal his escape routes failed. This failure caused ripple effects which led to 20 years of senseless struggles in Afghanistan.
It’s unfathomable to believe that a Secretary of Defense would believe that untrained Afghan militia could be trusted to capture and kill probably the most revered leader in the Middle East. Now twenty years later after spending 83 billion to train and equip 300 thousand Afghan soldiers, we trusted them to defend their country whose culture had been significantly altered.
There’s one thing for certain, America is damn good getting involved in wars but knows little about winning one and even far less about extricating itself after countless defeats. To make matters worse, former president Trump made a deal with the Taliban that H.R., Mc Master, Second National Security Advisor, called a surrender agreement.
Former President Trump’s, withdrawal deal with the Taliban gave clear signals that the U.S. and allied forces were finally convinced that they couldn’t win and if they won, they would have to remain indefinitely.
Trump co-opted the Republican Party, assaulted the Lady of Justice/ other women, violated his Oath to the Constitution, surrendered to the Taliban, and lied about the dangers of COVID-19. Fortunately, he was forced to surrender the Presidency because most voters casted their mighty ballots on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, for Joe Biden.
Two dates; November 3, 2020, and January 6, 2021, should be added to the dates of “Infamy” which chronicled some of America’s darkest days. However, historians may find good reasons fueled by public opinions and footage of bodies dropping from beneath airplane wings to add August 16, 2021, Afghanistan Withdrawal, to this list.
At this moment, Americans should pause and submit to an introspective analysis of the unforeseen and obvious consequences of their freedom to vote. For example, voters elected Donald J. Trump as the 45th president, a white supremacist sympathizes. But after four years of Trump, voters elected Joe Biden as the 46th President.
But instead of a peaceful transfer of power, Trump claimed the election was riddled with fraud and that he was the winner of the 2020 presidential election. Subsequently, Trump voters believing his lies exercise their freedoms to protest. Trump as an undeterred embattled defeated president incited an insurrection on January 6, 2021, as a last-ditch effort to overthrow his own government.
Let’s be honest, America’s great experiment at becoming a Democracy begun unraveling long before Trump was elected. In fact, it begun in 1619, with the purchase of a boat load of 20 African slaves. We can’t just stop here! What about the following unraveling episodes: Thomas Jefferson honorable words, “All men are created equal,” but merely hollow; at least twelve presidents were slave owners; four of the fist Supreme Court Justices were slave owners; the bloody Civil War of 1861; the reign of the KKK and Jim-Crowism; etc.
It’s too difficult to exclude Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts’ 21st Century role of facilitating the continued unraveling of America’s Democracy. The gutting of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Section. 5, open the flood gates for Republican law makers to enact voter suppression legislation more restrictive than those during the Jim Crow era. Chief Justice Roberts couldn’t believe Southern Republican legislators shredded their discriminatory voter practices.
Just imagine, America wasted 20 years, approximately 2 trillion dollars, sacrificed the lives of more than 2,000 American soldiers, 75,000 Afghan military and police officers, and another 71,000 Afghan and Pakistani civilians attempting to democratize Afghanistan!
One existential crisis facing America today is, “Why corporate titans won’t join forces with the people’s crusade to stop the unraveling of our fragile Democracy?” It can’t be because they lack the resources or is because they lack the “Will?” Had it not been for this Democracy would they have become mega billionaires?
“Have the birds come home to roost?” President Biden and Fellow Democrats’ Actions Says Not During His Presidency !