Because we are leaving Afghanistan, America's ability to find and kill terrorists will decline to perhaps dangerously low levels.
I do believe I've been droning on about this problem:
The two-decade war in Afghanistan has given U.S. spies a perch for keeping tabs on terrorist groups that might once again use the beleaguered nation to plan attacks against the U.S. homeland. But that will end soon.
The withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan is leaving intelligence agencies scrambling for other ways to monitor and stop terrorists. They’ll have to depend more on technology and their allies in the Afghan government — even as it faces an increasingly uncertain future once U.S. and NATO forces depart.
And on top of the problem of identifying lawful and appropriate targets, the ability to exploit the strikes is reduced without ground forces able to pursue enemies and retrieve intelligence.
If the Afghanistan government collapses, even if the Taliban don't then actually take over, the ability to monitor and stop terrorists will drop to nearly nothing.
But no worries. We can still destroy pharmaceutical plants and some empty tents at will. So we've got that going for us. Which is nice.
