Home » [Famous Column]Why did the US Department of Defense agree to withdraw troops from Afghanistan? | Trump | Trump

[Famous Column]Why did the US Department of Defense agree to withdraw troops from Afghanistan? | Trump | Trump

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[Epoch Times September 08, 2021](Epoch Times columnist Stephen Bryen, compiled by Qu Zhizhuo) During the Trump administration, the Pentagon strongly opposed President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and Syria plan. After Biden took office, the Pentagon did not oppose President Biden’s early withdrawal of troops. On the contrary, the Pentagon is obviously very confident in arranging the withdrawal of American personnel and some Afghans on American missions.

Why did the Pentagon change direction? Although the Secretary of Defense has been replaced (twice since the intervention in the Trump era) and the new Secretary of Defense is Biden’s person, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the same person. Any minister of defense, even a former general, needs to consult with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other commanders, especially the Central Command (CENTCO), because the Central Command is responsible for both Afghanistan and the Middle East.

Assuming that they negotiated, the Pentagon’s top officials seemed satisfied with the Biden administration’s credible plan to leave Afghanistan.

Obviously, withdrawing troops from conflict areas is of great strategic significance to the U.S. military posture abroad, as well as the relationship between the U.S. and its allies and global friends.

Indeed, 20 years later, US efforts in Afghanistan have stalled. The few US troops still in the country mainly provide training services, as well as organize support for contractors and provide intelligence to the Afghan army. The most important service, close air support, is the only support that can tie the Afghan government forces to the Taliban, because after all, the Taliban are insurgents, not hostile field forces.

Washington does agree that the Afghan government is extremely corrupt and there is no hope of improvement. This makes it difficult for Washington to continue to inject billions of dollars into a government that has been embezzling millions of dollars in aid funds.

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In the 18 months before the terrorist incident in Kabul, the United States had not suffered any military casualties. The fighting was mainly carried out by Afghan forces, and the United States played a supporting role, including close air support.

Therefore, the main reason for the withdrawal is that the US government recognizes that the country will make little progress in the future.

It is unclear whether Washington believes that the Afghan army can win without the help of the United States and allies. The Pentagon has officially stated that it expects a good performance from the Afghan army-as President Biden mentioned in his last phone call with Afghan President Ghani.

In a sense, it does not matter whether the Afghan army can survive, and it has never survived since January 2019. At that time, the “core elements” of the agreement reached with the Taliban had been worked out. The two sides agreed that the United States will leave Afghanistan in exchange for the Taliban not supporting terrorists such as Al Qaeda and ISIS.

However, a “transaction” requires both parties to execute the agreement. We don’t have any information about the implementation of the agreement. They were completed by the Biden administration, and they remain confidential.

It seems that the implementation of this agreement must have at least three components.

First, the United States will leave all bases in Afghanistan to prepare for the final evacuation of American personnel from Kabul.

Second, the United States will be allowed to take away American personnel, including American citizens, and a small number of Afghans who work directly for Americans.

There seems to be no agreement to protect Afghan government officials or Afghan military leaders. To put it bluntly, they were abandoned.

Third, in exchange, the Taliban will do their best to ensure the safety of the U.S. withdrawal.

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The United States will not be able to obtain the consent of its allies, especially the United Kingdom, and must also allow the Taliban to agree that this agreement also applies to the United States‘ allies.

There are many reasons for this transaction to go wrong, the most important of which is the rapid collapse of the Afghan government forces and the swift action of the Taliban to take over Kabul. Due to the ensuing chaos, the security situation deteriorated rapidly.

If the Taliban really wanted the United States to leave quietly, they could have postponed the occupation of Kabul until the United States completely withdrew. This is the first clear sign that the new US partner, the Taliban, will not make efforts to accommodate the United States and its allies.

Although the White House, the National Security Council, the State Department, the Pentagon and the Central Command have been pretending that the United States will save all Americans and Afghan translators and high-level people working in the United States, people doubt whether this can be done under chaotic conditions.

In fact, the Taliban’s assurances are likely to be sufficient to persuade the Ministry of Defense to agree to withdraw troops.

The leaders of the Pentagon did not hesitate to abandon their Afghan allies. The Central Command quickly adopted a new tone, talking about their Taliban counterparts, praising the Taliban for their help, and calling the Taliban “partners.”

It is very foolish for the Ministry of National Defense and other members of the Biden government to have complete trust in the Taliban. At this very moment, al-Qaeda elements are being released from Afghan prisons or re-entering Afghanistan. The “core principles” agreed upon in 2019 have become a dead letter.

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A proper agreement should require the Taliban to stand still until the U.S. withdrawal is complete. It should also clearly include all our customers and their families who want to leave. Obviously, this was not the case, and it was a bad deal from the beginning.

The Pentagon agrees to the Biden agreement, except that they feel that it is at least peaceful and peaceful for Americans; part of the reason is that the geopolitical environment is changing very rapidly, and the United States has shifted the focus from “small wars” to “approximate reciprocity.” Or “peer conflict”, that is, the threat from Russia, and most importantly, from the rising power of the CCP. It is not what the Department of Defense wants to do now to crush the US military in an unwinnable conflict.

Therefore, the Pentagon chose real politics and decided to leave. Now, it faces overwhelming accusations, accusing it of abandoning many friends, allies, and American citizens, accusing it of inadequate action plans, accusing the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Central Communications Commission of failing to challenge the Biden government agreement because it looks at it from all angles. , There are serious flaws.

About the Author:

Dr. Stephen Bryen is considered a thought leader in technology security policy and was twice awarded the Distinguished Public Service Medal (the Distinguished Public Service Medal), the highest civilian honor of the Ministry of Defense. His most recent book is “Technology Security and National Power: Winners and Losers” (Technology Security and National Power: Winners and Losers).

The original “Why Did the Pentagon Agree to the Withdrawal From Afghanistan?” was published in The Epoch Times

This article only represents the author’s own views and does not necessarily reflect the position of The Epoch Times.

Editor in charge: Gao Jing #

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