Taliban fighters wave from the back of a pickup truck, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Khwaja Tawfiq Sediqi)

America's Longest War Has Ended
8/30/2021

On Monday, August 30th, 2021, the last American plane withdrew from the Hamid Karzai International Airport, marking an end to the longest war in the history of the United States. During withdrawal, the State Department remained on high alert following the deadly bombing in Kabul that killed over 180 people, including 13 US servicemembers. It’s estimated that hundreds of Americans remain in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

In a press briefing, Gen. McKenzie stated: “There’s a lot of heartbreak associated with this departure. We did not get everybody out that we wanted to get out.” General McKenzie also made clear that there are no intentions of future military or diplomatic presence in Afghanistan.

Biden has received bipartisan criticism and a drop in approval rating for his handling of the Vietnam-style withdrawal. The bloody withdrawal has left Afghanistan in a state of chaos, rampant with terrorism and under Taliban control, as it was before the war began. The consensus is that Biden’s withdrawal was a trainwreck, but was there a valid reason for leaving Afghanistan at all?

The reason for departure is an emotion-fueled preconception of nation-building. The standard argument against the war is the cost it brings to the taxpayer. The US has spent over $2T on the war since 2001. On average, that’s over $6,000 per person over the 20-year period. By 2018, the US expenditure sank to just $45B annually, which would cost just over $130 per US citizen. The cost for an American presence in Afghanistan makes up roughly 0.75% of the federal budget. The responsibility of the government is to protect the Constitution against all threats foreign and domestic. Sovereignty can only be maintained when the government fulfills their obligation to protect our country and defend our citizens and principles. Preventing the manifestation of violent terror organizations that will stop at nothing to kill Americans is well worth 0.75% of the federal budget.

America’s presence was also criticized for putting US troops in harm’s way. During the height of the war, under the Obama Administration, the US had over 100,000 troops deployed. In the entirety of the war, America lost thousands. However, in recent years the US has had a shallow casualty rate, and up until the disastrous withdrawal, the US lost zero troops since February 8th, 2020. Now that the Taliban has free rein in Afghanistan, they will insulate groups like Al Qaeda (responsible for the September 11th attacks) leading up to the 20th anniversary of 9/11. America is vulnerable.

President Biden has sacrificed all of the humanitarian progress made, abandoned the strategic region to our adversaries, and stifled the war on terror that thousands of Americans have spilled blood for over the last twenty years.