Vox and FiveThirtyEight examine Afghanistan, 'America's longest war'

With the United States ending its military intervention in Afghanistan yesterday, it's time to examine the subject seriously after laughing so I didn't cry in Colbert and Meyers take closer looks at the Taliban taking over Afghanistan. I begin with Vox explaining How the US created a disaster in Afghanistan.

What was the purpose of America's longest war?
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On August 15, 2021, the Taliban took over Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul. The Afghan president fled the country. Almost all of Afghanistan is now under Taliban control. It marks the end of an era: America’s longest war is now over, and it lost. And it happened fast, stunning the world and leaving many in the country racing to find an exit.

But even among those surprised by the way the end played out, many knew the war was destined to end badly. According to some experts, the seeds of disaster were planted back at the war’s very beginning.

Ever since the American war in Afghanistan began in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the US government has struggled with answering exactly why the military was there. In the very beginning the goal was relatively clear: to capture the perpetrator of the attacks, Osama bin Laden. But almost immediately, the goals became murkier, and more complicated.

In this video, investigative reporter Azmat Khan and former US ambassador to Afghanistan Michael McKinley explain what the US military was actually doing in Afghanistan, what it got wrong, and why America’s long intervention there is considered a failure.

Welcome to mission creep. As I wrote ten years ago, we should have gone in, got the job done, then got out while declaring victory. It would probably have been better than what actually happened.

That's the past. What about the present and future? FiveThirtyEight examines that in The War In Afghanistan Is Officially Ending. Now What?

In this installment of the FiveThirtyEight Politics Podcast, Robert Crews, a professor of history at Stanford University, joins to reflect on the history of the Taliban and talk about the current political landscape in Afghanistan. The podcast crew also discusses how Americans are responding to the Biden administration’s handling of the end of the Afghanistan War.

Dr. Crews told a series of depressing truths about Afghanistan, including that the counter-terrorism mission ultimately failed with the situation made worse by the addition of ISIS, AKA the Sith Jihad, during the past decade and that oppression of women and ethnic minorities will return. Sigh. At least the American people generally support ending our military involvement and leaving the country, even if they're not pleased about the execution. Still, it's enough to make me return to comedy the next time I examine the subject. Stay tuned.