Over the years we have gotten to know one another and for me, I have enjoyed getting to know the people, towns, and areas of House District 1. Also, over the years I have talked briefly about my military service and time overseas. Today, I want to point out a foreign policy failure that will have ripples of repercussions for years to come and will influence the way other countries treat the United States.
Even though I am a State Legislator and have really tried to keep my newsletters and discussions focused to the local/State level the failure of the Biden Administration is going to hurt the entire United States, and therefore the State of Iowa. To be honest I am angry about this failure that didn’t need to happen and I would be angry no matter which party or group did it.
I have been vocal about this on Facebook and so I have already gotten a lot of feedback on both sides of the issue from “it wasn’t Biden’s fault, it was Trumps fault” to “we shouldn’t have been there anyway”. The bottom line is that this happened on Biden’s watch and it didn’t need to happen and in answer to those who say we shouldn’t have been there, how quickly we forget that those who attacked our country were trained and harbored in Afghanistan.
I understand those who wanted to pull out of Afghanistan because it is a tough place to be but what is different about being in Afghanistan after American blood was spilt to win a victory in that country and Germany, where we stayed for 70 years. You see, I believe that we can either pay attention to history or we can suffer the consequences of not pay attention to history and after WWI American left Europe only to be embroiled in another World War 20 or 30 years later. After that second war we learned the lesson and stayed put in Europe. In fact, having permanent bases there until just recently.
I predicted that when we left Afghanistan it would fall back into the same patterns because those in charge 20 years ago are still around. Afghanistan is a tribal country with strong tribal leaders (mostly Taliban) and weak ones. We had very few troops in Afghanistan but as soon as President Biden announced the withdrawal the Taliban made their move and started taking over the country. They didn’t even wait for us to be gone and so it looked as if we fled the country like we did from Vietnam.
I believe if we had stayed there, even with the few troops we had the Taliban would not have been emboldened to move on the government. So, you must ask why this failure of the Biden Administration is going to affect the United States foreign policy for years and make Americans less safe in the world. The clear winners in this failure are the Chinese and Iran, and to a lesser degree Pakistan. Those countries are clear rivals of the United States and this test of failed leadership has given their countries clear direction.
I hold a Master’s Degree in Political Science with an emphasis in National Defense and in my studies I learned that all decisions have repercussions and the decision to leave Afghanistan the way it happened was a clear sign of weakness. It would not surprise me to see a strengthening of Iran’s influence across the Middle East and an invasion of Taiwan by China. One that is less easy to see is Russia moving to take more of a controlling stance in Europe.
What is done is done and even though we have left the blood of thousands of troops on the ground in Afghanistan we have to move on. I worry about the impact of the Biden Administrations decisions on my brothers and sisters in arms might react. I worry about those who lost close friends, who were injured, who did and saw things that would shock most, and who suffered to win the war in Afghanistan now to see it lost like it didn’t even matter to the government they served. Remember, these people fought for us to keep us safe and look after them because they are probably angry and upset about this foreign policy decision of the Biden Administration just as I am.
If you are one of these people and you feel helpless and hopeless because of this get help. You can call the Veterans Help Line at 800-273-8255 or talk to anyone. You don’t need to go through this on your own.
