Biden only telling half the Afghan withdrawal story

On Wednesday, President Biden announced the U.S. would withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by September 11, just five months off.

That was the Big Story trumpeted by U.S. media to relief of a majority of Americans who want this senseless, wasteful, endless war ended.

But within hours, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ‘hinted’ that the U.S. will likely keep a “counterterrorism” force just across the Afghan border to strike targets deep inside Afghanistan as needed. Austin said, “In terms of our ability to acquire targets and engage them in places where we are not … we have the reach and the ability to in fact do that.”

It gets worse. Biden Press Secretary Jen Psaki refused to deny, when asked, if Biden might keep special operations inside Afghanistan after September 11.

When it comes to America’s perpetual wars in the Middle East and Africa, it’s wise to avoid early celebration of any peaceful initiative till we get, like famed commentator Paul Harvey use to give us, The Rest of the Story.