The Batlord

And let's just say Biden reneged on the peace agreement with the Taliban. They're stronger and better equipped than ever and they own the roads. You'd be talking about a renewed invasion that would start racking up American bodies again. Not a good look either.

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jwb

sounds like a false dichotomy

You think the way this withdrawal was executed seems close to the best case scenario of what could have happened? Cause to me it seems much closer to a worst case. Seems completely botched even if the general idea of "withdrawing" was worth pursuing there's no reason to assume that what we are watching right now is actually a well thought out execution of that move. Seems like the intelligence was severely flawed and quite frankly we got caught with our pants down as we are desperately trying to flee the country while still sending reinforcements to try to stop the bleeding as we flee and completely abandon everyone stuck there.

The Batlord

I think there was never going to be a good way to pull out. 20 years and the Afghan President is on a plane with a suitcase full of cash as soon as the announcement is made, "his" generals are warlords who inflate the numbers of their forces to squeeze us for more cash, and their existing soldiers may or may not have bullets and shoes. The country existed on paper at best. There was no way to pull out that didn't end in collapse.

And once the news cycle finds its next chew toy this will be forgotten and a year from now "Biden got us out of Afghanistan but it kinda sucked" will be a poor talking point in the mid-terms.

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jwb

**** , Biden was the one on TV telling us the afghan military stood a chance lol