‘The Lesson Can’t Be Isolation,’ Says Policy Expert On Afghanistan

The Council on Foreign Relations' Richard Haass weighs in on the Taliban's capturing of two major Afghan cities Friday and what it means for the region and for the United States.

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'The Lesson Can't Be Isolation,' Says Policy Expert On Afghanistan

52 comments

  1. What we set in motion here? Yeah. But leaving didn’t set it in motion… going in 20 years ago set this in motion

    1. these neoliberal takes on afghanistan are pathetic and hillarious, shameful msnbc and cnn almost just as bad as faux news, wake up usa, you are the evil empire, the whole word hates you, stop trying to act like the good guy, it is BS

  2. We should have left Afghanistan years ago, my only regret is for women who will be forced to quit their jobs, or leave school. It’s a real tragedy that the Taliban wants to return the country to the middle ages.

    1. It’s been 20 years with no solution, there is no solution. Seems media just wants to keep the flow of troops and tax payer money to the pockets another 20 years. Just look, constantly Afg in the news this past week, do they really care for the people there? No, it’s all about their scam to keep the money flowing. Just imagine what it costs to keep one troop there? Who’s getting paid for those invoices? I don’t need to ask who’s paying the invoices, the troops and we are.

    2. @John G Wrong, the solution was to stay another 10-20 years, you just couldn’t cut it, so you’re giving up just like Biden and the rest of our weak leaders. It takes time to nation build, and that takes real commitment. The cost of one troop over there is nothing because now that troop will be deployed to Qatar or Bahrain or somewhere else in the middle east in order to preserve American power in the region. The only difference is that they will be sitting on their hands and doing nothing instead of fighting for freedom and democracy for 34 million Afghans. And then we’ll probably be back in Afghanistan within the next couple decades in order to fight terrorism, and we’ll be starting from zero all over again.

    3. @Tidbit because setting up a massive herion industry with zero peace or security for the average afghani was such a solid plan…

    4. @Yawning Pheonix Wow! You really are confused, Bubba. It’s Afghanistan’s problem, not ours…Duhhh.

    1. @Anthony Craig Maybe we should Little Rock style integrate all 2 million Palestinians and every sub saharan who walks up into their schools too? Eye for and eye so to speak?

    2. @Anthony Craig lol or you just watch a media monopoly and think it’s factual news and liberal. When really it’s a multi billion dollar media conglermerate that buys it’s competition and censors it’s political opponents. That’s called facism….

    3. Your whole party’s platform is a declaration of war against the United States. It’s gonna be reciprocated snakes.

    1. Well, that’s the law of unintended consequences. Although, the US should be the one to take ALL the refugees since they caused the problem in the first place.

    1. Sadly, Afghanistan was just another opportunity for Arms manufacturers to make a shedload of money. The Taliban could never be contained by American troops. This reminds me of American troops leaving Vietnam, without achieving anything positive.

    2. You ppl are completely ignorant. Afghanistan was our friend an ally. The United States worked with them during the Russian invasion by supporting them militarily It’s not nation building it is an opportunity to keep a stronghold in the area for many many reasons. Lithium is one of those reasons.

  3. We gave them 20 years, these people are helpless and do not deserve freedom. You don’t get freedom handed to you on a silver platter, it means nothing to these people. And do not forget, they asked us to leave.

    1. Exactly. It’s sad. But it’s how it is. We can’t overcome their belief systems. So let them enjoy heaven sooner than later. Lol. Gods not real. That’s what so sad about it all.

    2. @Modest Daddy Why did the Wahhabi jihadists launch their fatwa? Because it is a religious war and god is real, that is the scary part that god isn’t supposed to be real and death is supposed to be final but it isn’t so. The devil’s greatest trick is convincing the world he doesn’t exist, the Wahhabi jihadists have utilized that playbook in their fatwa to make nonbelievers out of the West. You parroting that propaganda does not make it so.

  4. We were there for twenty years! I was there for 3 years myself, how much time is required? You can’t help someone if they don’t want help. The simple fact is, we (NATO) wanted a stable Afghanistan, more than all the different tribes in Afghanistan wanted it.

    1. J G you are confused, taliban = Vietcong fighting to free country from usa terrorism
      Ana = South Vietnam, corrupt usa puppet

    2. The Islamic fanatics think in centuries. They hold very old grudges. The US should have either gone in to destroy AlQaida and then leave, or be prepared to stay for at least a century.

    3. @Mike N They have an attention span that swings this way one minute, then in an altogether different one than next. Look at Turkey and the Ottomans, where are the Ottomans today? Case closed.

  5. So forcing democracy on others fails again ? Who is shocked ?? Wheels of motion were set 20 years ago not pulling out let’s get it right ..

    1. these neoliberal takes on afghanistan are pathetic and hillarious, shameful msnbc and cnn almost just as bad as faux news, wake up usa, you are the evil empire, the whole word hates you, stop trying to act like the good guy, it is BS

  6. It is not up to us to impose our Western values throughout the world.The people in these countries must stand up and revolt themseleves,then we can collabarate with limited tactical and material support.

    1. these neoliberal takes on afghanistan are pathetic and hillarious, shameful msnbc and cnn almost just as bad as faux news, wake up usa, you are the evil empire, the whole word hates you, stop trying to act like the good guy, it is BS

    2. That’s not what Nazi-Republicans were shouting when starting us out on missions to “spread freedom and democracy.” Why do u hate America?

    3. This is what majority of Americans want, but not what the politicians and corporate elite want, still bombing, sanctioning, bullying, coups, bipartisan problem, neoliberal democrats and neo con republicans

  7. “The lesson can’t be [total] isolation” but America moving somewhat more in that direction would have kept us out of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Vietnam. Trillions of dollars would have been saved and most importantly, a lot of young American men and women with a bright future ahead of them would still be here.

    1. Actually Vietnam happened ages ago and isn’t really relevant, also it didn’t cost trillions. Afghanistan was important to prevent another 9/11 from happening on American soil. Afghanistan also didn’t cost trillions, nor were there that many casualties. The fact is the cost in dollars and in lives lost was well worth it for what we were getting; it’s just too bad that our weak politicians are spineless cowards and have given up in defeat rather than seeing it through. We barely even gave any effort at all, and now we are abandoning the people to a fate worse than death. We should have done the responsible thing and stayed in for another 10-20 years, and this time we should have paid attention and made sure that progress happened on time and on schedule. Then we could have left the country as a thriving democracy with a free market economy, and the peoples rights and freedoms would have been well protected. We would have also gained a new ally in the region that would have helped us to protect America. Now the evil people are celebrating and all things good have left Afghanistan. 34 million people are getting screwed.

  8. I sure wish I could afford a brand new truck like those guys in the Taliban.
    Unfortunately I’m on social security and it hasn’t kept up with inflation since we started spending $2 trillion in Afghanistan. 😪

  9. “The world won’t organize itself in ways that are good for us” Richard Haas.
    Oops! He let it slip out.

  10. *We can’t defend our own citizens, so why should we seek to protect others more than we defend ourselves?*

  11. Thus happens when one corrupt regime installs another corrupt regime. A government that literally relies on foreign occupation.

  12. “Tribal loyalties and no trust in national government”
    So basically a role model for future America minus high-speed internet?

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