President Biden has begun his promise to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. Even with the threat of the Taliban eager to retake the land, I still support this decision and here is why.
The United States Military has been in Afghanistan for 20 long years. As a soldier who has served two year-long deployments, I can verify the main mission of the U.S. Army was to train the Afghan National Army (ANA). As a chaplain assistant, I saw a lot of what our military did downrange. My first deployment was with an infantry unit, and while my chaplain was meeting with imams throughout the Kandahar province, I saw how our military trained the ANA.
Since 2001 when the conflict began, 2,312 U.S. soldiers have died, and thousands more have suffered from physical and emotional wounds. Some veterans of this war are not being taken care of despite experiencing physical and mental injuries. Families have been torn apart because of soldiers’ PTSD, and for what? For trying to save a country that does not want to be saved? I get that this sounds harsh but enough is enough. How many more lives will be destroyed because of these endless wars?
After 20 prolonged years, the ANA should have learned how to defend against the Taliban, especially when they have more forces. Destroying the Taliban was never a mission; training the ANA and capturing Osama bin Laden was, and we did that. This is why I continue to support President Biden’s decision to withdraw soldiers from Afghanistan. The mission has been accomplished, and the U.S. shouldn’t suffer anymore because a country is unwilling to defend itself.
