Afghan pullout conjures up reverse Domino Theory

May Day, 2021 was supposed to be a great day for peace in America. Under the February 29, 2020 agreement Trump forged with the Afghan Taliban, the U.S. was committed to remove all troops from Afghanistan by May 1, 2021. The agreement required Taliban attacks to the U.S. forces to stop, and they have. Not a single U.S. death has occurred there in the past 14 months. The 2,400 previously killed were not so fortunate.

The agreement also requires the Taliban to cooperate with the U.S. supported Afghan government for power sharing. But that has not occurred and never will. The Taliban control a majority of the land and will never cooperate with a corrupt, incompetent government incapable of surviving without endless U.S. support. In a civil war, the indigenous, insurgent side wins over the foreign puppet government every time, unless the foreign government stays forever. We can drop a hundred thousand bombs on the Taliban and they remain defiant and standing. We can drop a hundred billion dollars on the Afghan government and they can never stand on their own.

Unfortunately, President Biden falsely calls the sensible agreement poorly negotiated and the May 1 deadline to be out, ‘unrealistic’. Instead of accepting the inevitable, he’s pushing for a 6 month extension to November 1. If so, it will likely be extended throughout Biden’s term, to be handed off to his successor.

The Taliban has signaled that any delay will end their truce attacking U.S. invaders, ending 14 months of no U.S. casualties. That delay puts a target on the back of all 3,500 U.S. troops there and is inexcusable.

President Biden has spent his 5 decade career in government supporting U.S. exceptualism and perpetual war around the world. He cemented this worldview by appointing a national security team completely aligned with this vision.

What Biden and the U.S. foreign policy establishment really fear is a reverse Domino Theory. During the Vietnam War era of the 1960’, it was feared that any communist takeover around the world would start a ‘domino effect’ where one country after another would fall to the march of communism. Poppycock.

Now the worry is if the U.S. pulls out of one country we’re defiling with our troops, the others will follow and kick us out too. Iraq told us to leave 15 months ago but we told them ‘No, we aint leaving’. We pulled 5,000 troops from Syria but left 900 to guard Syrian oil wells from being used by their rightful owners, the Syrian government. Leaving Afghanistan shines the spotlight on the senselessness of every U.S. occupation.

The reverse Domino Theory spells doom for the U.S. Military-Industrial Complex. But it spells hope and peace for America and the world.