"'A test for Biden.'"
Adam Weinstein on Afghanistan: A webcast.
20 APRIL—It was a pleasure the other day to welcome Adam Weinstein to The Scrum’s pages by way of a webcast. Weinstein is a research fellow at the Quincy Institute, the most intellectually innovative think tank now active in Washington, and Q.I. had just published his “Beyond May 1: The future of U.S. engagement in Afghanistan.” It is, for my money, the best case yet made for getting out of this “forever war,” even as what the Biden administration will do with the others remains in question.
Weinstein is an ex-Marine with a tour in Afghanistan on his record—experience that deepened considerably his insights. We spoke via Zoom, he from his office in New York, I from my perch in rural Connecticut. Transparency: I was among the editors of Weinstein’s essay.
—P. L.
Damn it, Patrick. I told you that I wanted to pull back from the news because I couldn't stand the machinations of Winkin, Blykin, and Nod who are risking WWIII and driving the US down a rabbit hole. But your interviews are always good so I listened to this one. Major mistake.
Mr. Weinstein is articulate and earnest but, sadly, clueless. Why is it that Americans think that nothing went on before we became involved in things? Has anybody heard of history? Its not actually a dry, boring story of dates. Everybody thinks that violence is going to break out when the US pulls out (and yes, we will. If anybody, special forces, mercenaries, etc are left the Taliban will kill them). But the violence won't be for any of the reasons that have been posited.
First of all, the Taliban are Pashtun AFGHANS, you fools. You can't just make them go away (anymore than you can make Texans just go away). They will be a part of any future Afghan government (whatever that might be. The Afghan government was very different than the one we imposed on them and any future Afghan government will not look like the one we imposed on them.) Everybody acts like the Taliban are an external force, like the Germans in France. NOT SO.
Let's remember some history. Actually, I'm going to go back further than I intended. If you read the front end of William L Shirer's "The Nightmare Years", you can learn a lot about today's Afghanistan. It covers the 30s and 40s. In the 30's Shirer was covering Gandhi for the Chicago Tribune but he got the chance to break through the British blockade with the new Afghan king and it provides an amazing description of Afghanistan. When I read it in the 90's, I said, Oh, my God! It hasn't changed any. That's the way it was in Afghanistan when I was in Iran in the mid-late 70's. Now it was that king who was deposed in the summer of '78 by communist leaning Afghans. (My future ex-wife, the TFO was a stew on the last Iran Air Flight that got out of Kabul before they shut the airport.)
Was the USG going to let a commiepinkofag government come to power anywhere? Surely you jest. Just in time for our favorite Russophobe - Zwbignew Brezezinski (A Pole, natch - modern Poles still hate the Russians). His idea was to give the Russians their very own Vietnam quagmire. The Russians skipped out on it and bequeathed it to us and we weren't smart enough to skip out.
But when 9/11 happened, we just bulldozed our way into Afghanistan. The Taliban who had nothing to do with 9/11 controlled about 80% of Afghanistan and were in a ding dong civil war with other crazy militants. But we just plowed into their civil war, which was going on without any help from us. If you think that the causes of that civil war have gone away, I have a bridge to sell you.
Thank you !! Even if we formally leave (which I doubt) -- it will be to send army elsewhere (Syria?).
The contractors and mercenaries -- several times more people now than soldiers -- will stay....