Letter to the editor – August 30, 2021

Dear editor,

It has occurred to me that violence happening during the withdrawal of U.S. service personnel from Afghanistan is as trying for the Taliban as it has for the U.S., other than perhaps the deaths of Afghan citizens who supported and aided of our time in-country.

The Taliban is eager for the U.S. to leave the country and certainly wouldn’t want to retard that exodus. Meanwhile, for the U.S. military to remain any longer would be a misstep. After 20 years of trying to train and adequately equip Afghanistan forces, the events of the past few weeks (days) have proved that noble effort’s failure. Afghan forces melted away the minute our support waned, and doing anymore would be a foolish waste of our resources and put an unnecessary burden, perhaps a deadly one, on men and women in our military.

Unfortunate it is that we haven’t accomplished more, but at some point — now seems appropriate — we have to let go.

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