Viewpoint: Nightmare

The U.S. didn´t need to pull out all its troops; U.S. air power could have been used to support the Afghan army which was expensively trained by the U.S. and its allies. Even this appears to have been a complete failure because the Afghan army were no match for the Taliban despite their expensive U.S. supplied kit and years of training.

President Joe Biden wanted to bring U.S. troops home earlier rather than later. He has done so but Afghanistan fell just two weeks later. Both Afghanistan and Iraq were at the forefront of the U.S. war on terror; Iraq has never recovered and sizeable parts of the country were invaded by Islamic State before they were pushed back by the Iraqi army with American help.

What has happened in Afghanistan speaks for itself; the western powers have retreated when they should have stood tall. Bring the troops home when the job is done, Biden, is my advice to the U.S. President.

I doubt that any country, in a similar position as Afghanistan or Iraq will ever trust the western powers again. I don´t think the world had high hopes when President Biden took power. His decision to bring the troops home, which was initially instigated by President Trump, could have wide-ranging repercussions.