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SW-User
Exactly.

World's tiniest violin for the disappointed military-industrial complex 馃槩

We were going to leave, the Taliban was going to take over, and America would have lost. There was no "winning" this war. That was going to happen whether Trump oversaw this or some other president. If after 20 years we couldn't build up a resistance strong enough to hold off the Taliban for more than a few days, more time there wasn't going to bring any solution.
PrivateHellM
@SW-User it isn't even about the pulling out, or who did it. It's all about how it was done, and this was the stupidest way possible.
SW-User
@PrivateHell I'm not saying everything about this withdrawal was done right. I'm sure there are ways it could've been better. But I think the shock of the Taliban's quick return would've still been there; I think their takeover would created chaos and made it hard to evacuate people either way. They were simply biding their time. They've had the ability to do this for a long time. All they needed was an opportunity. They've likely been making deals with U.S.-backed leaders in various parts of the country for a while now.

If you look at Vietnam, we significantly withdrew troops a few years before Saigon finally fell. The South Vietnamese were able to hold on for a couple years because they were a functional army. The government was nothing, but the army was not like the Afghan army, which was essentially just an illusion.

Anyway, I'm not saying no one has anything to criticize. But I'm confident that a withdrawal would've been chaotic, messy, and would've resulted in a major loss either way.