Our mission in Afghanistan should have solely been to pursue Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda leaders and focus on ways to prevent future attacks. Instead, it morphed into a perceived anti-muslim occupation and a nation-building effort. We attempted a hearts-and-minds campaign that never could put any roots in a country that we never understood. The souls of Afghanistan are just too hardened as history attests. President Biden realized this and has acted appropriately, not easily. Waging the war was ugly and costly, ending it would be likewise. Nevertheless, we cannot keep making the same mistakes over and over again. Twenty years was too long. We have great difficulty improving the rights and livelihoods of our own citizens, let alone those of a distant nation. Now that we have left, it behooves future leaders to make earnest efforts to consult with and enlist our allies, nations in the region, and the UN. We need to create a framework to monitor and improve Afghanistan through aid and diplomacy effort to mitigate future threats, pressure Afghan leaders, and preserve social progress made during the intervention. In addition, we need to assess more accurately future threats and attacks before we act rashly to avoid long, blood-and-treasure-draining ventures.
