America isn't ending the Afghanistan War by withdrawing. America is just making sure the jihadis have a better chance of winning the war.
Retired Army General Petraeus isn't happy with the American decision to pull out of Afghanistan:
I fear that we are going to look back and regret this decision. What could happen now and what seems beginning to be happening is Taliban further taking control of different territory, some crumbling of the Afghan security forces as we are drawing down our presence.
And as he said, how long to the maintenance contractors feel safe enough to remain and keep the Afghan security forces an air force-supported army rather than lots of light infantry little different than the Taliban? I opposed Trump's desire to bug out and I still oppose it now.
The expansion of Taliban power in the past three years, even as U.S. and NATO forces were present in the country, is an ominous sign for the future of Afghanistan.
It's hard to say that the doubling of the number of districts "controlled and contested" by the Taliban, as the article states, means the situation is ominous. Remember, contracting the territory the Afghan security forces defend was a deliberate strategy.
I was worried that this strategy would be a retreat that prompts collapse rather than a means to gather reserves to seize the initiative in the war. The contraction took place. I haven't seen the initiative switch. But then again, a government collapse didn't take place. So perhaps it is ominous. But I don't know. Still, I am worried.
And my worry doesn't require the withdrawal to be completed. As U.S. forces head for the exits in Afghanistan, I worry some of our Afghan allies will violently turn on us (green on blue) to gain favor with the Taliban.
I guess my worries depend on whether our allies think they can keep fighting without our tiny but vital presence. Strategypage offers this basis for hope:
The current Afghan government is much stronger than it was in the 1990s and the current government sides with the majority of Afghans who oppose the Taliban and the drug gangs.
I don't assume the Taliban will overthrow the Afghan government. I worry our departure makes the overthrow more likely. Nothing more. The same as I worried about leaving Iraq in 2011.
