08-26-2021, 07:24 PM
(08-26-2021, 07:17 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote: 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.
If you're talking about redeploying ground troops, I absolutely agree. I'm talking about his bombing the ever loving shit out of them, which I think would have been a dead certainty. As for your last sentence, the assassination of Soleimani doesn't exactly jive with that position.