Afghanistan

[BmorePat87]

(08-26-2021, 07:12 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: But there's a huge difference between not making the Taliban adhere to agreements and allowing the rapid disintegration that actually occurred.  You're making some logical inferences, to be sure, but I also think you're ignoring the major differences in temperament between Trump and Biden.  I don't think many, if any, would argue that Trump is far more likely to act in an unexpected fashion, to over respond, or take things personally, than Biden.  I think the Taliban correctly assessed Biden's position and willingness to act and I do not think that Trump would have reacted in the same way, nor would the Taliban if Trump was POTUS.  But, again, we'll never know definitively.  

I do think it's disingenuous to state "x" would have happened if Trump was POTUS, and mind you I'm not saying you're doing that but others in this thread certainly are.  At the end of the day we're really only left with what actually happened and who is actually POTUS, and I don't think it's even a remote stretch to say Biden shit the bed on this one, big time.

I would argue that Trump was far less hawkish than Biden, so he was always less likely to recommit to Afghanistan. I would point to his history of being pretty negative with regards to the war, his actions with ISIS and the Kurds, and his stated desire to be the president who ended the war. The last point in particular drives his desire for a complete cut and run, hence him negotiating with the Taliban to hand Afghanistan over them and leave, and then him going about it without waiting for them to hold up their end. 

As I noted before, Trump showed with the Kurds that he wasn't interested in reengaging in a conflict if a terrorist group rebounded and was killing our allies. There's no reason to believe that the Taliban would see him as a bigger threat than the guy who was VP when drones were raining hellfire on them. 

The only people who ever saw Trump as a tough guy were American conservatives.