Raider Brigade Soldiers with 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division conduct a foot patrol in support of Operation Resolute Support and Operation Freedom's Sentinel in 2018.

Raider Brigade Soldiers with 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division conduct a foot patrol in support of Operation Resolute Support and Operation Freedom's Sentinel in 2018. U.S. Army / Spc. Markus Bowling

Trump Wants to Leave Afghanistan Before Election Day? Hold Him to It

None of the arguments for delaying the inevitable make sense.

President Trump wants to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan before Election Day, the New York Times reported Tuesday, citing five unnamed officials familiar with the internal administration debate. Pentagon officials are complying with the White House demand for a pre-November exit plan, the Times story says, but they’re also drawing up longer timelines in hope of convincing Trump to further delay ending the longest war in American history.

Related: What Will Iran Do As the US Negotiates a Withdrawal from Afghanistan?

Related: Afghanistan To Resume ‘Offensive’ Actions Against Taliban In Blow To Peace Deal

Related: Pull US Troops, not Diplomats and Development Experts, from Afghanistan

Two things can be true of this at once: First, Trump’s election-linked timeline is self-serving and little connected to considerations of security or principle. The president has never brought his actual foreign policy in line with the best of his foreign-policy rhetoric, namely his diatribes against nationbuilding and critique of “endless wars.” That’s because there’s no underlying commitment to realism, restraint, or peace, even if Trump’s vocabulary occasionally suggests otherwise. His understanding is too shallow, his attention span too brief, and his top advisers too hawkish for his administration to deliver the foreign-policy reform he promised.

But second, leaving Afghanistan before Election Day is an excellent idea. A relatively short timeline will help guarantee the orderly approach Pentagon leaders want. The best way to avoid derailment by Trump’s short-notice changeability is to lock onto this opportunity to plan and execute a responsible exit before the president alters his decision yet again. Hold him to this idea. Seize this moment to end a futile, counterproductive, and inhumane intervention that should have ended long ago.

The three primary arguments against leaving Afghanistan now that appear in the Times piece are typical of the genre: little interested in learning the lessons of the past two decades or considering the limits of U.S. military capability.

One claim is that “a quick withdrawal from Afghanistan would effectively doom the peace deal reached this year with the Taliban.” A slower drawdown, the Times’ sources say, could shore up the deal and “give the Taliban an incentive to reduce attacks.” That prediction might prove true, but it equally might not: The three months since the deal was reached have not been markedly more peaceful, as the same sources note in this very report. More important, though, is the fact that the deal itself is not the goal here. It is a means to an end, and that end is complete and permanent U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Prolonging a war in the name of diplomacy designed to conclude it is utterly backwards. Our role in this war must end regardless of the status of the deal with the Taliban.

The second argument is that Afghanistan is not “fixed” yet: “The debate [about withdrawal within the administration] also highlights the mounting difficulty facing the February agreement” with the Taliban, the Times reports. “Political strife, the novel coronavirus, and bloody Taliban attacks have almost derailed what little progress has been made since the deal’s signing.” This objection relies on the deeply mistaken assumption that there is some way further U.S. military intervention can pacify Afghan politics or control the Taliban. It cannot, as the last 19 years have demonstrated. It could not do it with more than 100,000 American boots on the ground, and it cannot do it with fewer than 10,000. A sixth surge, a 19th commander, yet another strategy—none of it will make a difference. U.S. military meddling is not the solution to Afghanistan’s strife. We are not helping.

The third argument for a delayed departure may be the most indefensible: That if Trump can be held off now, he or his successor might be sold on a longer war later. “Some American officials also say the political pressure to remove the troops could be different in a second term,” the Times says. “And if Mr. Trump is defeated, a new president may want to reassess whether a continued American troop presence is necessary.” This is the mirror image of Trump’s impulse to withdraw, a commitment to a failed status quo as obstinate and irrational as his commitment to contrarianism. 

The difference, though, is Trump has managed to hit upon a good idea with this pre-election withdrawal scheme. His political interests in this case align with the country’s interests. It’s not a decision based in coherent grand strategy, but it is welcome nonetheless. Ending the war in Afghanistan is long overdue. If Trump is willing to end it now, let’s take him up on the offer.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.