Biden, as president, is not to blame for the situation in Afghanistan.  Biden, as senator and vice president, is to blame.

Biden previously supported the war in Afghanistan and the many other wars in the region that were initiated by the United States.  He supported the continued funding of these wars, and he was never a vocal opponent of them.  Biden had always been a reliable part of the establishment.

Now that troops are being withdrawn from Afghanistan and the Taliban has quickly taken control over most of the country, Biden is getting some criticism from the establishment.  He is certainly getting a lot of criticism from the Republican establishment.  The war hawks are out for him right now.

Unfortunately, even the less hawkish conservatives are tending to go after Biden on this.  Trump and his followers are calling it a disaster, even though it was Trump who initiated the negotiations and drawdown.

I suppose there is an argument to be made that the U.S. should withdraw, but that Biden did not execute it well.  Maybe more people could have been evacuated first.  But even here, it is unclear.

Everyone knew there would be some chaos upon withdrawal.  It is inevitable.  The U.S. government has been occupying Afghanistan for almost 20 years.  It is the country’s longest war, even though it wasn’t technically a declared war by Congress.

Considering what has gone on there, the withdrawal actually could have been a lot worse.  There is still time for things to go really wrong in the days ahead.  Some violence was inevitable, but it is actually quite shocking that there hasn’t been more violence up to this point.

The Taliban doesn’t seem to be seeking revenge on everybody.  There may be a select few.  It seems that the Taliban is just getting people to surrender their firearms and their loyalty to the U.S., and they don’t seem to be harming these people.  They also seem to be allowing passage to the airport in Kabul.  Maybe they are just holding their end of the bargain until U.S. troops are completely gone.

We don’t know what has been done and negotiated behind the scenes.  But considering the almost 20-year war is coming to an abrupt end, it could be a lot worse.  There was no easy way to get out except to just leave.

I know the media is playing up stories about women’s rights and children walking to school.  I have no idea if little girls felt safe walking to school before October 2001.  I have no idea if they felt safe walking to school between October 2001 and now.  I have no idea if they will feel safe walking to school in the coming years.  I have no idea if they are going to school at all.

Maybe a few Afghanis who were loyal to the U.S. government will get to a better place.  They will likely be better off.  But some, at least the top dogs, may lose their life if they don’t get out.  It is hard to say.

There is little question that the U.S. war and occupation of Afghanistan harmed the country far more than it helped.  And it certainly harmed the U.S. with lost lives and trillions of dollars wasted.  I highly doubt that any terror attacks were stopped as a result of the U.S. bombing and occupying Afghanistan.

It is rather ironic that the U.S. spent 20 years there, and now they are leaving while the Taliban gains control of the firearms and equipment left behind.  The Taliban may be better armed now than they were in 2001, thanks to the U.S. taxpayer.

Let’s remember that the Taliban is not the same thing as Al-Qaeda.  After the attacks on September 11, 2001, the U.S. government blamed Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden almost right away.  The U.S. demanded that the Taliban hand over Osama bin Laden, who was in Afghanistan at the time.  The Taliban asked for evidence or some kind of assurance of a fair trial.  No evidence was presented.  Instead, the Bush administration just went to war.

Some people try to justify the war because Osama bin Laden was there.  They say that the Taliban was harboring him.  But the Taliban just wanted evidence before handing him over.  The fact that bin Laden was residing in Afghanistan when the attacks went down is meaningless.  All of the hijackers who committed the terror attacks on 9/11 were in the United States at the time (obviously).  Some of them were staying on legal visas.  Do we say that the U.S. government was harboring terrorists on 9/11?

In Biden’s speech, he referred to Afghanistan as the Graveyard of Empires.  It is really surprising that he used this term. By saying this, he was admitting defeat.  More importantly, he was admitting that the U.S. is an empire.

I have disagreed with just about everything of any significance that Joe Biden has said or done since becoming president.  This is the one thing I think he has gotten right so far.  It looks like he will finally end this tragic war and occupation.

Even a blind squirrel occasionally gets a nut.  People who favor peace should not be criticizing Biden on what is happening in Afghanistan right now.  We should be thankful that this war seems to be coming to an end, and we should encourage Biden to end the rest of the wars and occupations.