Blatant Stupidity
There have been many mistakes in our handling of our policies in Afghanistan. There is plenty of blame to go around on both sides of the aisles. When the dust is settled and the buckets of blood spilt in the death throes of Afghanistan, the inevitable finger pointing and haranguing will reach epic levels.
Bush went in,Bush wasn’t aggressive enough, he should have focused on Afghanistan not Iraq, nation building was a mistake, it wasn’t done right, surge one wasn’t followed up, Obama screwed up the whole thing by playing footsies with Iran, punish Pakistan for its complicit aid to terrorists Obama let it fester, Obama screwed up surge two, Trump got out too early we didn’t get out early enough……And on and on. Maybe in 50 years the historians will sort it out
But there is one act of total blatant stupidity that likely sealed the collapse and turned the tide quickly.
I took the Foreign Service exam in 1977, and by far it was one of the hardest exams I ever took. It was divided into two parts: the first involves history, policies, civics. The second is nicknamed ” the forks and spoons” section. It deals with culture, etiquette, and diplomacy. Second emphasized over and over and over” Don’t Screw With Another Country’s Culture”. Doing so creates more and deeper problems than politics.
All the prior Administrations prior to Biden’s tried to follow this rule strictly in Afghanistan.
Biden’s advisors constantly emphasize optics over substance, especially on sexual preference and identify. They made the devastating choice to do so over the aforementioned rule.
Afghanistan has been teetering back and forth on the direction it was to go for years. Taliban or pro-West. This delicate balancing act was complicated by the Western powers withdrawal, especially US forces. In a country of many factions, tribes, subcultures, languages,and alliances, sides were being picked and deals made. This power struggle is traditional in Afghanistan.
Last month, for some unknown, Idiotic, insensitive, and just plain stupid reason, the gay pride, rainbow flag was flown over our embassy. Homosexuality is anathema not only to the vast majority of very conservative Muslims in the country, it is not only a death sentence, it was the wrong signal of what people who wanted to back the West were sponsoring.
Unbelievable. Simply unbelievable. Any Afghan walking in that building now had his death warrant signed. No bargaining, no possible deals.
Any person not objecting instantly became an enemy of not only the Taliban but the conservatives. It probably became much more of a recruiting banner than any other act we’ve ever done. Those sitting on the fence likely went in overwhelming numbers to the Taliban. It certainly didn’t help the lagging morale of shaky troops. You might say that any pro West supporters were likely to get killed, but this isn’t necessarily true. Differences in tribes, regions, etc mean the Taliban have to make deals or keep fighting indefinitely. Making deals is cultural, overlooking slights and feuds part of the traditional deal. This is an exception.
It certainly won’t encourage the Taliban to discuss matters with an Administration they see as weak and inept. They will add perverse and in league with Satan.
You flew it from a building. It’s a flag which carries much weight in this region. It was a declaration.
It loudly proclaimed we don’t care about your traditions. We don’t care about your religion. We don’t care about your culture.
Our sexual orientation is more important than your concerns.
It also declares loudly to many Afghans: we don’t belong here.
Just another stupid, openly imperialist act in centuries worth of stupid acts.
Yet due to the nature of it’s content, death will result. Not that the Taliban needs any extra excuses to murder. It just adds fervor and a reason not to forgive.
Stop the typical, inane blaming of Trump, Mr.Biden. you absolutely own this one. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
– From a friend