Displaying items by tag: Afghanistan

A failure of duty caused by lack of planning, coordination, and communication left hundreds of Americans and tens of thousands of allies in Afghanistan after a botched withdrawal from the country in August 2021, a new Senate report says.

When Joe Biden took office as the 46th president of the United States, those of us who desired a more peaceful foreign policy had reasons for both hope and doubt.

WASHINGTON — Republicans in Congress, including those representing North Carolina, are seeking detailed answers from the Biden administration over the United States’ catastrophic exit from Afghanistan.

Twenty years after the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. government is finally —well, probably, kinda sorta — ending its lost war with Afghanistan, drawing down its presence in Iraq, and reducing the heat of its "global war on terror" from a rolling boil to hot-tub temperature.

The late U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, a N.C. Republican, ended his speeches on the House floor about the pitfalls of Afghanistan by asking God’s blessing and protection for our service members. After 20 years in the war-torn country, U.S involvement in Afghanistan ends just as Jones predicted. Yet, one wonders if even he could have foreseen such a botched and embarrassing withdrawal.

Well, it’s over. Joe Biden announced the end of the Afghanistan adventure yesterday. It will quickly start fading from Americans’ memories. As one person said on Twitter, Americans barely paid attention when we were there. They will certainly not pay attention when we are gone. 

Family members and lawmakers, in Washington, D.C., and Raleigh, representing N.C. residents are mourning the deaths of a Marine and soldier who died in a terrorist attack while helping Americans and others evacuate from Afghanistan. Thirteen service members, including a Fort Bragg soldier and Camp Lejuene Marine, died while supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, the Department of Defense announced Saturday, Aug. 28.

RALEIGH — The N.C. House voted unanimously Wednesday, Aug. 25, to pass a resolution urging Congress and the Biden administration to take additional steps to ensure all U.S. troops, American citizens, and Afghan allies are evacuated from Afghanistan before withdrawing a U.S. presence there.

This weekend, the U.S. experienced another “Saigon moment,” this time in Afghanistan. After a 20-year war that drained trillions from Americans’ pockets, the capital of Afghanistan fell without a fight. The corrupt Potemkin regime that the U.S. had been propping up for two decades and the Afghan military that we had spent billions training just melted away.

The chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan is a brutal reminder of the lack of leadership in America now. Much of the blame falls on President Biden. Yet, given the U.S. failed at an orderly retreat after its 20-year endeavor —not to mention over $1 trillion in spending on Afghanistan — a perfect symbol for an even broader leadership collapse emerged.