Credit Biden for tough call to get out of Afghanistan

Published 1:30 am Friday, September 10, 2021

We would be a healthier nation if we paused to debate this question: Why do so many of us believe it is more forgivable to start a controversial war than to end one?

President Biden ordered the withdrawal from Afghanistan by Sept. 1, a date the Taliban adjusted their tactics to. Biden predicted it would be messy, and messy it was, but he had to set a date because without a target date, nothing gets done. Polls consistently showed weak support for staying in Afghanistan and more polls condemned our exit. Pundits jumped on the withdrawal as chaotic, callous and indifferent to the fate of Afghans, telling the nation that it will go down in history as Biden’s folly, something Biden knew when he took ownership of the act in saying, “The buck stops here.” Like it or not, that took guts.

Editorials on the topic all missed one valid aspect of that ugly event. Biden’s decision was bedded in his Catholic faith, which even his severest critics recognize is basic to his character and years of public service. It wasn’t sniping critics or political fallout, but his Christian conscience that caused him to put an end to the Afghanistan War.

He courageously took the fallout from years of miscalculation, ignorant assumptions about people unlike us, naïve attempts at nation-building, and reckless application of military might on himself. History will tell whether he sacrificed his legacy in putting an end to twenty years of costly folly.

Given the collateral damage, it’s probably natural that he be attacked for how it played out, but we should also give him his due: He studied the history of the situation, saw what a continued presence in Afghanistan would require, considered advice about what could be accomplished by staying, and courageously did what his predecessors should have done, but failed to do.

Robert Graef

Mill Creek