How harmful Is the disaster in Afghanistan on Joe Biden and his presidency? Will Afghanistan be Vietnam? Will Afghanistan turn into Watergate? Will the disaster in Afghanistan determine the attitudes of the United States and the West towards the world in the coming years?
Questions in line. There are no clear answers. But the one thing we do know is that voters are disloyal spirits, and that only exceptional foreign policy issues determine the successes or defeats of American presidents. However, the numbers speak for themselves. Biden, who since his inauguration in January has the support of more than 50 percent of voters who think he is doing a good job, tested after the Taliban took over Afghanistan that only 41 percent think he is doing well, while up to To 55% think he is doing a bad job.
Characters from YouGov It shows that even before the terrorist attack on Kabul airport, which killed 180 people, 13 of them American soldiers, only 33 percent of Americans believed Biden handled Afghanistan well. Only 16 percent think the evacuation was good, while the proportion among Democrats is 28 percent. The president now gets it on his own. All numbers indicate that Biden has had at least a bad day at work lately. So his “extraordinary success” falls on deaf ears as a distinct trump card.
but a bad day At work in Afghanistan does not need to determine the Biden presidency. Vietnam is a rare example of foreign policy helping define a US election when in 1968 President Lyndon Johnson did not run for office for a second term because of all the erosion from the Southeast Asian battlefields, so we got a war president instead. Richard Nixon in the White House.
Afghanistan anyway A minor American disaster from the Vietnam War was. While about 2,400 American soldiers were killed in Afghanistan, 282,000 American soldiers were killed in Vietnam. Furthermore, that war created an anti-war clash that was very different from what we see today. Before the Taliban moved to Kabul, 70 percent of Americans thought it was right to end the war. Opinion polls now show that national security is only the seventh most important topic to American voters. US elections are usually decided on battlefields other than those far away.
The last two Americans The two presidents – after President George W. Bush who started the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq – tried to destabilize the Middle East. Admittedly, Barack Obama began with an outstretched hand, and his optimistic 2009 Cairo speech, which he called “a new beginning.” But it was with the beginning. And when the Arab Spring that began in 2011 worsened, and civil war broke out in Syria, withdrawal became his project.
was too Donald Trump’s project, not least, confirms the agreement with the Taliban on the US withdrawal from Afghanistan on May 1 this year. This agreement laid one of the foundations for the Taliban’s military success, and for the fact that after that there was no point in the Taliban negotiating with anyone. In any case, they will soon conquer the entire country, even if the collapse of the Afghan government goes faster than anyone could have imagined.
Joe Biden will do that too Try as much as possible to get rid of the Middle East. Foreign involvement in Afghanistan and the Middle East would now be much smaller and less ambitious. For Biden, the matter in Afghanistan has been reduced to a matter of national security, namely the fight against terrorism. China is Biden’s pivot, and the Middle East and Afghanistan will be fires that may have to be put out when they occur. Traditional national interests, not visions of a better world, also characterize the United States’ commitment. China and Russia have always treated the Middle East and Afghanistan on such terms. Bidens USA will approach this perspective.
Ah, that’s what we need
But even if it was Afghanistan A small American disaster compared to what the Vietnam War was, then it is more than catastrophic enough for the rest of the world. Among other things, it is a disaster – not to mention a disaster – in governance. One intriguing event in the bustling resort of Kabul was when Paul Farthing organized a flight to transport 173 homeless dogs and cats from Kabul to London. Many Afghans say that even dogs are more valuable than humans of their kind in the corrupt West. Curious, perhaps, but it’s another frustrating legacy left by the United States and the West in Afghanistan.