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Looking back at the half lots Mideast wars in which we have engaged since that first 9/11, where are we better off now than we were then? Al-Qaida, ISIS, Boko Haram and their versions have developed a presence in Arab, Asian and African nations far beyond Afghanistan. Looking forward, where do we Americans go from here?
When the hijacked planes hit the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that initially 9/11, the Taliban were in control of Afghanistan and supplying sanctuary for al-Qaida.
Today, the Taliban are in control of Afghanistan and providing sanctuary to al-Qaida. What then did our longest war accomplish?
The Afghan army and federal government we stood up and sustained for years has actually collapsed. The U.S. military has actually withdrawn. U.S. people and countless Afghans who combated alongside us have been left behind.
The victorious Taliban of today are far more powerful than were the Taliban of 2001 who ran away at the approach of the Northern Alliance. Al-Qaida is now present in a lot more nations than it was when we first launched the Global War on Horror.
Nor is the America of 2021 the hubristic sure of oneself nation of George W. Bush and the neocons who were going to transform the Middle East into something like our Middle West and advance from there “with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.”
Our nation is a changed place from 2001. Gone are the unity, confidence and resolution. And how have all our interventions gone?
Call the roll.
Afghanistan is a lost cause, declining once again into the darkness.
Have something to state about this column?Visit Gab– The social media that champs complimentary speech– Comment without Censorship!Or go to Pat’s FaceBook page and post your comments … There are reports the Chinese might be interested in developing a residence at Bagram Air Force Base. Saddam Hussein is long gone. But the Iraq we invaded to strip of weapons of mass damage it did not have is now controlled by Iranian-backed Shiite militia. Only at the sufferance of the Baghdad program are 2,500 “non-combat”U.S. soldiers permitted to hang on. Syria, where we stepped in to support anti-Assad rebels– and retain 900 U.S. soldiers– is a human rights hellhole. Bashar Hafez al-Assad is triumphant in his civil war thanks to Russian, Iranian and Hezbollah intervention on his behalf.
The million Syrian refugees who got away west throughout that civil war have assisted to turn Lebanon into an unsuccessful state.
In Libya, where Barack Obama’s air attacks helped bring down the program of Col. Moammar Gadhafi, Russians, Turks and Egyptians fight for control. The Americans are no place to be found. In spite of our assistance for Saudi air campaign that turned Yemen into a 2nd humanitarian catastrophe, Houthi rebels still manage the north of the country and the capital, Sanaa. Recalling at the half dozen Mideast wars in which we have engaged since that very first 9/11, where are we better
off now than we were then? Al-Qaida, ISIS, Boko Haram and their variants have developed a presence in Arab, Asian and African countries far beyond Afghanistan. Looking forward, where do we Americans go from here? How do we sustain all the commitments that have bled and drained us for twenty years, when our foes and opponents appear to be growing stronger, while our own claim to being the world’s last superpower is progressively based on challenge? Like Donald Trump prior to him, Joe Biden appears to be giving up on nation building, pulling our troops out of the Middle East,
staying out of its future wars, and dealing with the difficulties of Russia and China? However the length of time can we safeguard a Europe that refuses to protect itself from a Russia that is more powerful and more assertive than it was 20 years back, when Vladimir Putin prospered the feckless Boris Yeltsin. In the Arctic, Baltic, Belarus, Ukraine and the Black Sea, Putin is more assertive and Russia less intimidated than it was in 2001. Enjoy the most recent Videos on Our Buchanan-Trump
YouTube Playlist! Just one in 3 NATO nations meets the commitment to spend 2 %of GDP on defense, as Europeans today determine immigration as the major hazard to the continent. Among the malingerers is the Germany of
Angela Merkel, retiring chancellor who authorized the Nord Stream II pipeline that will quickly double Germany’s reliance on Russia for natural gas.
The length of time can the U.S. sustain its new policy of containment of Xi Jinping’s China? How long can we contain China’s growth in the South and East China Sea at
the cost of the Philippines, Japan and Taiwan? In the year 2000, China’s economy was smaller than Italy’s. Today, it is a peer-competitor of the United States, with 4 times our population. Beijing produces more than we do, has a growth rate that has actually surpassed ours for years, and runs an annual trillion-dollar trade surplus with us in produced items.
And the China of 2021 is more aggressive and confrontational than was the China of Y2K. For how long can we keep 30,000 troops in South Korea and remain responsible for hindering Kim Jong Un’s North Korea from assaulting the South? In relative terms, America is not so dominant a power as it was twenty years back, while her enemies appear stronger and more unified.
Our most powerful competitor, Xi Jinping’s China, seems belligerent and bellicose compared to the China we brought into the World Trade Organization. Recalling, and looking ahead,
the pattern line is bad. Do You Appreciate Reading Our Emails and Website? Let us understand how we are doing– Send us a Thank You Via Paypal! Image Source: PixaBay … Keep in mind: We are an Amazon Partner. Your purchases on Amazon.com through any of our links
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