Saying Good-bye

 

America is saying good-bye to the longest war that it has ever waged: Afghanistan. 

I admit I have mixed emotions about the end of the war and the way it is ending, but I do believe that the time has come to allow the Afghans to either stand or fall on their own. 

I find the Republican resistance to the withdrawal interesting, since it was the former president who first announced the withdrawal during October 2020:

Trump's Afghanistan withdrawal announcement takes US officials by surprise

President Biden is following through on something his predecessor proposed and should, therefore, have bipartisan support. 

The sad state of politics in America is clear in this episode. The two parties have fallen into camps of progressives and obstructionists and this issue highlights the irrational approach to government both parties exhibit. 

I am looking forward to September 1, 2021 as being the first day in a very long time that America has not been at war. 

I do have to take issue with the notion that Afghanistan is the longest war that the U.S. has fought. Too many people forget the Cold War (1945-1991) which we waged longer. And don't tell me that no one died during the Cold War. There are many civilians and military personnel who died waging the Cold War. 

I long for peace. I hope that the church bells ring as the last American military forces depart Afghanistan and Americans begin the search for our collective post-9/11 Era identity and place in the world--that is the truer struggle. Afghanistan is the last active reminder of the America which began to take shape after 9/11/2001.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD