Plan for September military withdrawal from Afghanistan is a loss for Afghans and U.S. interests
Washington, D.C. (April 13, 2021) — Reports that President Joseph Biden will withdraw all United States’ military personnel from Afghanistan on September 11, 2021, foreshadow a tragic loss for Afghans and for the U.S.
It strikes us as highly ironic that the abandonment of Afghanistan will take place on the 20th anniversary of the traumatic events of September 11, 2001. That day prompted the U.S. and its allies to go to Afghanistan to defuse the threat of al-Qaeda and its supporters. Now, without the presence of U.S. military in Afghanistan, it is likely the country — under the heightened sway of the Taliban — will once again become a safe haven of al-Qaeda and other groups that threaten the world’s security.
By naming a specific deadline for U.S. withdrawal, the Biden Administration is not heeding the lessons of past failed U.S. policy in Afghanistan. With a deadline in place, the Taliban have no incentive to negotiate with the Afghan government or to reel in the violence it continues to perpetrate against the people of Afghanistan. They only need to wait.
Can the advocates of this new policy live with the knowledge now that it will almost certainly empower the Taliban and allow them to extend their bloody campaign of violence? We must be honest with ourselves that the U.S. departure will likely lead to a civil war that will cost countless precious Afghan lives, shatter families and communities and trigger a massive refugee crisis that the rest of the world is ill-equipped and seemingly unwilling to absorb. We must also be clear that, with the U.S. out of the way, the Taliban will have a better opportunity to unwind the truly transformative social, economic and civil society gains that have advanced Afghans’ lives since 2001.
Our national dialogue about U.S. policy on Afghanistan has fixated unfortunately on troop levels and dates of departure instead of on the conditions necessary to put the country on a stable footing. The U.S. must leave Afghanistan, but our withdrawal should occur only when we can ensure that it can sustain peace and stability. That time has not yet come, and our unfortunate decision will render Afghanistan, the Afghan people, the region and the world dangerous and unstable.
