Public Still Supports Withdrawal From Afghanistan

 

The charts above are from the Pew Research Center. They come from a survey they did of 10,348 adults nationwide between August 23rd and 29th. The margin of error for the survey is 1.6 points.

About 54% of Americans say the withdrawal from Afghanistan was the right thing to do, while only 42% disagreed. The disagreement comes mainly from Republicans, where 34% thought it was the right thing and 64% said it was the wrong thing to do.

But one thing that everyone agrees with is that the United States failed to achieve its goals in Afghanistan. That includes 69% of adults, 69% of Democrats, and 70% of Republicans.

President Biden Speaks After The Withdrawal Is Complete

The war in Afghanistan is over, and all American troops have been withdrawn from that nation. Here is what President Biden told the nation after the withdrawal was complete:

Last night in Kabul, the United States ended 20 years of war in Afghanistan — the longest war in American history. 

We completed one of the biggest airlifts in history, with more than 120,000 people evacuated to safety.  That number is more than double what most experts thought were possible.  No nation — no nation has ever done anything like it in all of history.  Only the United States had the capacity and the will and the ability to do it, and we did it today.

The extraordinary success of this mission was due to the incredible skill, bravery, and selfless courage of the United States military and our diplomats and intelligence professionals. 

For weeks, they risked their lives to get American citizens, Afghans who helped us, citizens of our Allies and partners, and others onboard planes and out of the country.  And they did it facing a crush of enormous crowds seeking to leave the country.  And they did it knowing ISIS-K terrorists — sworn enemies of the Taliban — were lurking in the midst of those crowds. 

And still, the men and women of the United States military, our diplomatic corps, and intelligence professionals did their job and did it well, risking their lives not for professional gains but to serve others; not in a mission of war but in a mission of mercy.  Twenty servicemembers were wounded in the service of this mission.  Thirteen heroes gave their lives.

I was just at Dover Air Force Base for the dignified transfer.  We owe them and their families a debt of gratitude we can never repay but we should never, ever, ever forget.

In April, I made the decision to end this war.  As part of that decision, we set the date of August 31st for American troops to withdraw.  The assumption was that more than 300,000 Afghan National Security Forces that we had trained over the past two decades and equipped would be a strong adversary in their civil wars with the Taliban.

That assumption — that the Afghan government would be able to hold on for a period of time beyond military drawdown — turned out not to be accurate.

But I still instructed our national security team to prepare for every eventuality — even that one.  And that’s what we did. 

So, we were ready when the Afghan Security Forces — after two decades of fighting for their country and losing thousands of their own — did not hold on as long as anyone expected. 

We were ready when they and the people of Afghanistan watched their own government collapse and their president flee amid the corruption and malfeasance, handing over the country to their enemy, the Taliban, and significantly increasing the risk to U.S. personnel and our Allies.

As a result, to safely extract American citizens before August 31st — as well as embassy personnel, Allies and partners, and those Afghans who had worked with us and fought alongside of us for 20 years — I had authorized 6,000 troops — American troops — to Kabul to help secure the airport.

As General McKenzie said, this is the way the mission was designed.  It was designed to operate under severe stress and attack.  And that’s what it did.

Since March, we reached out 19 times to Americans in Afghanistan, with multiple warnings and offers to help them leave Afghanistan — all the way back as far as March.  After we started the evacuation 17 days ago, we did initial outreach and analysis and identified around 5,000 Americans who had decided earlier to stay in Afghanistan but now wanted to leave.

Our Operation Allied Rescue [Allies Refuge] ended up getting more than 5,500 Americans out.  We got out thousands of citizens and diplomats from those countries that went into Afghanistan with us to get bin Laden.  We got out locally employed staff of the United States Embassy and their families, totaling roughly 2,500 people.  We got thousands of Afghan translators and interpreters and others, who supported the United States, out as well.

Now we believe that about 100 to 200 Americans remain in Afghanistan with some intention to leave.  Most of those who remain are dual citizens, long-time residents who had earlier decided to stay because of their family roots in Afghanistan.

The bottom line: Ninety [Ninety-eight] percent of Americans in Afghanistan who wanted to leave were able to leave.

And for those remaining Americans, there is no deadline.  We remain committed to get them out if they want to come out.  Secretary of State Blinken is leading the continued diplomatic efforts to ensure a safe passage for any American, Afghan partner, or foreign national who wants to leave Afghanistan.

In fact, just yesterday, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution that sent a clear message about what the international community expects the Taliban to deliver on moving forward, notably freedom of travel, freedom to leave.  And together, we are joined by over 100 countries that are determined to make sure the Taliban upholds those commitments.

It will include ongoing efforts in Afghanistan to reopen the airport, as well as overland routes, allowing for continued departure to those who want to leave and delivery of humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.

The Taliban has made public commitments, broadcast on television and radio across Afghanistan, on safe passage for anyone wanting to leave, including those who worked alongside Americans.  We don’t take them by their word alone but by their actions, and we have leverage to make sure those commitments are met.

Let me be clear: Leaving August the 31st is not due to an arbitrary deadline; it was designed to save American lives.

My predecessor, the former President, signed an agreement with the Taliban to remove U.S. troops by May the 1st, just months after I was inaugurated.  It included no requirement that the Taliban work out a cooperative governing arrangement with the Afghan government, but it did authorize the release of 5,000 prisoners last year, including some of the Taliban’s top war commanders, among those who just took control of Afghanistan.

And by the time I came to office, the Taliban was in its strongest military position since 2001, controlling or contesting nearly half of the country.

The previous administration’s agreement said that if we stuck to the May 1st deadline that they had signed on to leave by, the Taliban wouldn’t attack any American forces, but if we stayed, all bets were off.

So we were left with a simple decision: Either follow through on the commitment made by the last administration and leave Afghanistan, or say we weren’t leaving and commit another tens of thousands more troops going back to war.

That was the choice — the real choice — between leaving or escalating.

I was not going to extend this forever war, and I was not extending a forever exit.  The decision to end the military airlift operations at Kabul airport was based on the unanimous recommendation of my civilian and military advisors — the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and all the service chiefs, and the commanders in the field.

Their recommendation was that the safest way to secure the passage of the remaining Americans and others out of the country was not to continue with 6,000 troops on the ground in harm’s way in Kabul, but rather to get them out through non-military means.

In the 17 days that we operated in Kabul after the Taliban seized power, we engaged in an around-the-clock effort to provide every American the opportunity to leave.  Our State Department was working 24/7 contacting and talking, and in some cases, walking Americans into the airport. 

Again, more than 5,500 Americans were airlifted out.  And for those who remain, we will make arrangements to get them out if they so choose.

As for the Afghans, we and our partners have airlifted 100,000 of them.  No country in history has done more to airlift out the residents of another country than we have done.  We will continue to work to help more people leave the country who are at risk.  And we’re far from done.

For now, I urge all Americans to join me in grateful prayer for our troops and diplomats and intelligence officers who carried out this mission of mercy in Kabul and at tremendous risk with such unparalleled results: an airma- — an airlift that evacuated tens of thousands to a network of volunteers and veterans who helped identifies [identify] those needing evacuation, guide them to the airport, and provided them for their support along the way.

We’re going to continue to need their help.  We need your help.  And I’m looking forward to meeting with you. 

And to everyone who is now offering or who will offer to welcome Afghan allies to their homes around the world, including in America: We thank you.

I take responsibility for the decision.  Now, some say we should have started mass evacuations sooner and “Couldn’t this have be done — have been done in a more orderly manner?”  I respectfully disagree.

Imagine if we had begun evacuations in June or July, bringing in thousands of American troops and evacuating more than 120,000 people in the middle of a civil war.  There still would have been a rush to the airport, a breakdown in confidence and control of the government, and it still would have been a very difficult and dangerous mission.

The bottom line is: There is no evacuatio- — evacuation from the end of a war that you can run without the kinds of complexities, challenges, and threats we faced.  None.

There are those who would say we should have stayed indefinitely for years on end.  They ask, “Why don’t we just keep doing what we were doing?  Why did we have to change anything?” 

The fact is: Everything had changed.  My predecessor had made a deal with the Taliban.  When I came into office, we faced a deadline — May 1.  The Taliban onslaught was coming.

We faced one of two choices: Follow the agreement of the previous administration and extend it to have — or extend to more time for people to get out; or send in thousands of more troops and escalate the war.

To those asking for a third decade of war in Afghanistan, I ask: What is the vital national interest?  In my view, we only have one: to make sure Afghanistan can never be used again to launch an attack on our homeland.

Remember why we went to Afghanistan in the first place?  Because we were attacked by Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda on September 11th, 2001, and they were based in Afghanistan.

We delivered justice to bin Laden on May 2nd, 2011 — over a decade ago.  Al Qaeda was decimated.

I respectfully suggest you ask yourself this question: If we had been attacked on September 11, 2001, from Yemen instead of Afghanistan, would we have ever gone to war in Afghanistan — even though the Taliban controlled Afghanistan in 2001?  I believe the honest answer is “no.”  That’s because we had no vital national interest in Afghanistan other than to prevent an attack on America’s homeland and their fr- — our friends.  And that’s true today.

We succeeded in what we set out to do in Afghanistan over a decade ago.  Then we stayed for another decade.  It was time to end this war. 

This is a new world.  The terror threat has metastasized across the world, well beyond Afghanistan.  We face threats from al-Shabaab in Somalia; al Qaeda affiliates in Syria and the Arabian Peninsula; and ISIS attempting to create a caliphate in Syria and Iraq, and establishing affiliates across Africa and Asia. 

The fundamental obligation of a President, in my opinion, is to defend and protect America — not against threats of 2001, but against the threats of 2021 and tomorrow. 

That is the guiding principle behind my decisions about Afghanistan.  I simply do not believe that the safety and security of America is enhanced by continuing to deploy thousands of American troops and spending billions of dollars a year in Afghanistan. 

But I also know that the threat from terrorism continues in its pernicious and evil nature.  But it’s changed, expanded to other countries.  Our strategy has to change too.

We will maintain the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan and other countries.  We just don’t need to fight a ground war to do it.  We have what’s called over-the-horizon capabilities, which means we can strike terrorists and targets without American boots on the ground — or very few, if needed.

We’ve shown that capacity just in the last week.  We struck ISIS-K remotely, days after they murdered 13 of our servicemembers and dozens of innocent Afghans. 

And to ISIS-K: We are not done with you yet. 

As Commander-in-Chief, I firmly believe the best path to guard our safety and our security lies in a tough, unforgiving, targeted, precise strategy that goes after terror where it is today, not where it was two decades ago.  That’s what’s in our national interest. 

And here’s a critical thing to understand: The world is changing.  We’re engaged in a serious competition with China.  We’re dealing with the challenges on multiple fronts with Russia.  We’re confronted with cyberattacks and nuclear proliferation. 

We have to shore up America’s competitive[ness] to meet these new challenges in the competition for the 21st century.  And we can do both: fight terrorism and take on new threats that are here now and will continue to be here in the future. 

And there’s nothing China or Russia would rather have, would want more in this competition than the United States to be bogged down another decade in Afghanistan.

As we turn the page on the foreign policy that has guided our nat- — our nation the last two decades, we’ve got to learn from our mistakes.

To me, there are two that are paramount.  First, we must set missions with clear, achievable goals — not ones we’ll never reach.  And second, we must stay clearly focused on the fundamental national security interest of the United States of America.

This decision about Afghanistan is not just about Afghanistan.  It’s about ending an era of major military operations to remake other countries. 

We saw a mission of counterterrorism in Afghanistan — getting the terrorists and stopping attacks — morph into a counterinsurgency, nation building — trying to create a democratic, cohesive, and unified Afghanistan -– something that has never been done over the many centuries of Afghans’ [Afghanistan’s] history. 

Moving on from that mindset and those kind of large-scale troop deployments will make us stronger and more effective and safer at home. 

And for anyone who gets the wrong idea, let me say it clearly.  To those who wish America harm, to those that engage in terrorism against us and our allies, know this: The United States will never rest.  We will not forgive.  We will not forget.  We will hunt you down to the ends of the Earth, and we will — you will pay the ultimate price.

And let me be clear: We will continue to support the Afghan people through diplomacy, international influence, and humanitarian aid.  We’ll continue to push for regional diplomacy and engagement to prevent violence and instability.  We’ll continue to speak out for basic rights of the Afghan people, especially women and girls, as we speak out for women and girls all around the globe.  And I’ve been clear that human rights will be the center of our foreign policy. 

But the way to do that is not through endless military deployments, but through diplomacy, economic tools, and rallying the rest of the world for support.

My fellow Americans, the war in Afghanistan is now over.  I’m the fourth President who has faced the issue of whether and when to end this war.  When I was running for President, I made a commitment to the American people that I would end this war.  And today, I’ve honored that commitment.  It was time to be honest with the American people again.  We no longer had a clear purpose in an open-ended mission in Afghanistan. 

After 20 years of war in Afghanistan, I refused to send another generation of America’s sons and daughters to fight a war that should have ended long ago. 

After more than $2 trillion spent in Afghanistan — a cost that researchers at Brown University estimated would be over $300 million a day for 20 years in Afghanistan — for two decades — yes, the American people should hear this: $300 million a day for two decades.

If you take the number of $1 trillion, as many say, that’s still $150 million a day for two decades.  And what have we lost as a consequence in terms of opportunities?  I refused to continue in a war that was no longer in the service of the vital national interest of our people. 

And most of all, after 800,000 Americans serving in Afghanistan — I’ve traveled that whole country — brave and honorable service; after 20,744 American servicemen and women injured, and the loss of 2,461 American personnel, including 13 lives lost just this week, I refused to open another decade of warfare in Afghanistan. 

We’ve been a nation too long at war.  If you’re 20 years old today, you have never known an America at peace. 

So, when I hear that we could’ve, should’ve continued the so-called low-grade effort in Afghanistan, at low risk to our service members, at low cost, I don’t think enough people understand how much we have asked of the 1 percent of this country who put that uniform on, who are willing to put their lives on the line in defense of our nation. 

Maybe it’s because my deceased son, Beau, served in Iraq for a full year, before that.  Well, maybe it’s because of what I’ve seen over the years as senator, vice president, and president traveling these countries.

A lot of our veterans and their families have gone through hell — deployment after deployment, months and years away from their families; missed birthdays, anniversaries; empty chairs at holidays; financial struggles; divorces; loss of limbs; traumatic brain injury; posttraumatic stress. 

We see it in the struggles many have when they come home.  We see it in the strain on their families and caregivers.  We see it in the strain of their families when they’re not there.  We see it in the grief borne by their survivors.  The cost of war they will carry with them their whole lives.

Most tragically, we see it in the shocking and stunning statistic that should give pause to anyone who thinks war can ever be low-grade, low-risk, or low-cost: 18 veterans, on average, who die by suicide every single day in America — not in a far-off place, but right here in America. 

There’s nothing low-grade or low-risk or low-cost about any war.  It’s time to end the war in Afghanistan. 

As we close 20 years of war and strife and pain and sacrifice, it’s time to look to the future, not the past — to a future that’s safer, to a future that’s more secure, to a future that honors those who served and all those who gave what President Lincoln called their “last full measure of devotion.”

I give you my word: With all of my heart, I believe this is the right decision, a wise decision, and the best decision for America.

President Biden Stood Up To His Critics And Ended The War

 

It has been obvious for over a decade that the war in Afghanistan was not winnable, and the corrupt government we installed there could not survive once we left.

But three presidents ignored that fact and continued the war -- even increasing the number of troops we had in that country.

President Biden is different. He understood the realities of the situation, and he had the political courage to withdraw our troops and end the war -- and he did it in spite of substantial criticism from powerful interests.

We owe President Biden a debt of gratitude!

The following is much of an op-ed at MSNBC.com by Mehdi Hasan:

I never expected Biden to be anything other than belligerent once he was seated inside the White House Situation Room.

Yet as of Tuesday evening, Biden has done something that three previous presidents either wouldn’t or couldn’t: ended the longest war in American history. The last U.S. troops left Afghanistan on schedule and ahead of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

But Biden has also done something that no other president has managed to do in living memory: He has stood up to the generals.

In 2017, Donald Trump’s first year in office, the new Republican president’s instinct was to wind down the war in Afghanistan, but his national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, pressured him to send more troops. McMaster reportedly presented Trump “with a black-and-white snapshot from 1972 of Afghan women in miniskirts walking through Kabul, to show him that Western norms had existed there before and could return.”

It worked. Trump, who before entering the White House had called the war a “total disaster” and said the U.S. “should leave Afghanistan immediately,” agreed to escalate troop levels.

In 2009, Barack Obama’s first year in office, the new Democratic president debated with his advisers whether to “surge” troops into Afghanistan. On one side, Obama had a bevy of military leaders — Adm. Mike McMullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Army Gen. David Petraeus, the head of Central Command; and Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan — urging him to escalate.

On the other side, Obama had Vice President Biden, who, according to Obama’s memoir, viewed the conflict as a “dangerous quagmire.” On one occasion during the discussions about a surge, Obamarecalls, Biden grabbed him by the arm and said, “Maybe I’ve been around this town for too long, but one thing I know is when these generals are trying to box in a new president.” He leaned into Obama’s face and whispered, “Don’t let them jam you.”

Less than three months later, Obama signed off on sending 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.

Fast-forward to 2021, Joe Biden’s first year in office. The new Democratic president could have easily ditched the February 2020 agreement the Trump administration signed with the Taliban in Qatar to withdraw all U.S. forces from Afghanistan this year. He could have listened to his top military advisers, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, a retired general, and Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, both of whom reportedly urged him to keep a small force of 2,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

But Biden didn’t let them “jam” him. In April, he ignored the entreaties of his top generals and announced that all U.S. troops would be leaving Afghanistan ahead of Sept. 11, 2021. Since the Aug. 15 fall of the Afghan capital to the Taliban and the chaos in and around the Kabul airport, a chorus of hawkish generals, journalists, pundits, comedians, Afghans, Republicans and even Democrats has lambasted Biden for his handling of the pullout and for sticking to his Aug. 31 pullout date. His approval rating has taken a hit, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., wants to impeach him.

Yet Biden didn’t budge. Lest we forget, it’s shamefully easy for presidents to start wars and much, much harder to end them. Biden’s decision to withdraw now is not, as his critics say, “an indelible stain on his presidency” or a “cowardly betrayal” or a sign of “weakness.” It is perhaps the boldest foreign policy move by a president in my lifetime. . . .

It is worth pointing out that more than 100,000 people were evacuated from Afghanistan since the middle of August, including the vast majority of U.S. citizens who had wanted to leave the country. That milestone came in the wake of claims that Biden was abandoning our Afghan allies and suggestions that evacuating even 50,000 people would be impossible. . . .

President Joe Biden didn’t lose this war. It was lost in October 2001, when President George W. Bush refused to accept the Taliban’s offer to hand over Osama bin Laden to a neutral third country, and in December 2001, when then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld refused to accept Taliban surrender terms.

It was lost as U.S. politicians, diplomats and generals, as the Afghanistan Papers revealed, “failed to tell the truth about the war in Afghanistan ... making rosy pronouncements they knew to be false and hiding unmistakable evidence the war had become unwinnable.”. . .

America’s longest war is over. . .To borrow a line from the president himself, it’s a “BFD.”

Attack Didn't Change Public Opinion About Withdrawal

 

Poll after poll has shown that a significant majority of Americans believed it was right for the United States to withdraw all its troops from Afghanistan. Then came the attacks in Kabul that killed 13 U.S. troops (and over a hundred Afghans wanting to leave). Did the attack change the public's opinion about withdrawal?

No! Registered voters (47% to 38%), Democrats (69% to 16%), and Independents (47% to 33%) still agree the withdrawal of our troops is the right thing to do. Only Republicans (17% to 72%) disagree.

I suspect the Republicans disagree just because a Democratic president is the one actually overseeing the withdrawal. They didn't seem to mind when Trump negotiated the withdrawal with the Taliban (or when he released over 5,000 Taliban prisoners).

The chart above is from the YouGov Poll -- done on August 26th of a national sample of 1,200 registered voters, and has a 3.8 point margin of error.

Public Supports Withdrawal But Thinks It Has Gone Badly

The charts above are from the CBS News / YouGov Poll -- done between August 18th and 20th of a national sample of 2,142 U.S. adults, with a 2.3 point margin of error.

Public Support For Afghanistan Withdrawal Drops Sharply

 

The chart above is from the Politico / Morning Consult Poll -- done between August 13th and 16th of a national sample of 1,999 registered voters, with a 2 point margin of error.

It shows that the current mess in Afghanistan (caused by the faster than expected Taliban takeover) has caused a significant drop in public support for the withdrawal of troops from that country. 

In April, the support for withdrawal was 69%. That has now dropped to 49% -- a huge 20 point drop.

For Democrats the drop was 15 points. For Independents the drop was 25 points. And for Republicans the drop was 21 points.

I disagree with those who have changed their minds. Keeping our troops there longer would not have accomplished anything. It would have just delayed it, and cost more lives -- with the outcome remaining the same.

Public Supports Withdrawal Of Troops From Afghanistan

The chart above reflects the results of the new Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between July 10th and 13th of a national sample of 1,500 adults (including 1,292 registered voters). The margin of error for both adults and registered voters is 3 points.

It shows that an overwhelming majority of Americans support President Biden's decision to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan. 

The chart below, from the same survey, shows that a plurality of Americans also think it was a mistake to send troops to fight in Afghanistan. 

Nobody expected the war to last 20 years with no resolution.

Huge Public Support For Afghanistan Troop Withdrawal

 

The chart above reflects the result of the CBS News / YouGov Poll -- done between April 21st and 24th of a national sample of 2,527 adults, with a 2.3 point margin of error.

President Biden To Withdraw Troops From Afghanistan

 

There is one thing that must be said about President Biden -- he's not afraid to take bold action!. He demonstrated that with his COVID aid package, with his all-out vaccination program, and again with his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan. Now he has announced that he is withdrawing all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by September.

Since his intentions were known, many in the media and in Congress have come out opposes the withdrawal. They are wrong -- the president is right! I support President Biden's decision to withdraw the troops. Here is why:

We should never have been conducting war in that country for nearly the last 20 years. President Bush started the war to get Osama bin-Laden. Afghanistan had offered to turn bin-Laden over to the International Court, but that wasn't good enough for Bush.

After it proved difficult to find bin-Laden, Bush changed the purpose of the war. It was then an effort to establish a western-style democracy in Afghanistan. That was ridiculous! You can't impose a democracy on another country at the point of a gun. The people of a country get the government they want. If they do not want a western-style democracy, or are not ready for it, it will fail.

President Obama completed Bush's original plan by sending Seal Team 6 to get bin-Laden in Pakistan, resulting in his death. Sadly though, Obama then continued the war -- supposedly to protect the fragile and corrupt democracy in Afghanistan and "fight terrorism".

The truth is that since the death of bin-Laden, nothing has really been accomplished in Afghanistan. The Taliban still exists and the war continues at a low level. But there is no assurance of any kind that things there will get better if we stay another year, or five years, or twenty years. The war has gone on longer than any war the U.S. has ever engaged in, and there is absolutely no prospect of "winning" it (whatever that means).

Opponents say if we leave the Taliban will take over again. I think that will probably happen. But it is not our task to impose a government on another nation. The people of Afghanistan must decide that for themselves. If they don't want the Taliban, or tire of them in the future, they will kick them out of power -- and they'll do it without anyone's help!

As Boris Yeltsin once said -- You can build a throne out of bayonets, but you can't sit on it for long. We must allow the Afghans to determine their own future -- and they can't do that until we are gone. 

President Biden is doing the right thing!

Graham Awakes To Reality And Drops Out Of GOP Race

(This caricature of Lindsey Graham is by DonkeyHotey.)

A few months ago, there were 17 Republicans who thought they should be the GOP nominee for president in 2016. That number is now down to 13. Rick Perry, Scott Walker, and Bobby Jindal had already dropped out -- and on Monday, Lindsey Graham joined them. He has suspended his campaign after months of failing to get more than 1% support from his fellow right-wing Republicans.

Graham had based his presidential hopes almost exclusively on calling for a wider war in Iraq and Syria, spearheaded by a huge influx of American ground troops. Evidently he learned nothing from George W. Bush's ill-fated invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. But his campaign never caught fire. I don't know whether it was because even the Republican base doesn't want another huge war with American ground troops, or whether they just don't want Graham as president.

Graham's campaign never got off the ground, and every poll noted his support was between 0% and 1% support. He complained about being relegated to the "kiddie table" in the GOP debates, but really was lucky to even be allowed there. He couldn't even get the Republicans in his own state to support him -- a sure prescription for a disastrous campaign.

Here is some of what he said in withdrawing:

Today I am suspending my campaign for president. I want to thank everyone who has taken this journey with me. You have honored me with your support. I believe we’ve run a campaign you can be proud of. We’ve put forward bold and practical solutions to big problems by retiring our debt and fixing our broken immigration system. This has been a problem solvers campaign.

However, the centerpiece of my campaign has been securing our nation. I got into this race to put forward a plan to win a war we cannot afford to lose and to turn back the tide of isolationism that was rising in our party. I believe we made enormous progress in this effort. Four months ago, at the very first debate, I said that any candidate who did not understand that we need more American troops on the ground in Iraq and Syria to defeat ISIL was not ready to be commander-in-chief. At that time, no one step forward to join me. Today, most of my fellow candidates have come to recognize this is what’s needed to secure our homeland.

I’m more confident today that our party will reject the Obama doctrine of leading from behind and will provide the strong leadership America needs to restore our military and take the fight to our enemies and do what it takes to make our country safe and preserve our way of life. This is a generational struggle that demands a strategy and the will to win. I will continue to work every day to ensure that our party and our nation takes on this fight.

I am suspending my campaign but never my commitment to achieving security through strength for the American people. God bless our fighting men and women and God bless America.

The American Public Thinks The Iraq War Was A Mistake - But Still Supports Current Bombing Campaign There

As readers of this blog will know, I never liked the Iraq War. I thought it was a mistake for Bush to invade and occupy Iraq -- and I berated Obama for taking three long years to get us out of that religious civil war. And while most Americans were initially fooled into thinking the invasion was necessary (thanks to the lies of Bush and Cheney), they now understand it was a bad mistake.

Note in the charts above, a majority of Americans (53% to 27%) now believe the invasion was a mistake. And when the demographic results are shown, every single group agrees with that -- except for the Republicans (who seem to be making a habit of holding positions in disagreement with the public's opinion).

And the same thing goes when people are asked whether withdrawing from Iraq was a mistake. A majority of the public says it was NOT a mistake to withdraw, and every demographic group (except, of course, the Republicans) agrees with that.

That makes me quite mystified that all of these groups (except Hispanics and young people) now say that the current bombing campaign in Iraq by the United States is not a mistake. I don't understand. How can the first engagement in Iraq be a mistake, but our re-engagement is not a mistake? Isn't this the same religious civil war? Do we have any friends on either side of this conflict? Isn't this new bombing campaign just going to make even more enemies for this countries (as more civilian casualties are created)?

I think a few years from now the public will understand that this re-engagement in Iraq's religious civil war was as big a mistake as our initial invasion (which started the whole thing). It's just sad that they can't see that right now.

These charts were made from a recent Economist / YouGov Poll -- conducted between August 9th and 11th of a random national sample of 1,000 adults, with a margin of error of about 4 points.

Canada Comes To Its Senses - The U.S. Doesn't

(This image of Canadian troops returning is from the website of the BBC.)

The Afghan occupation is now in its 13th year, and while the United States government seems to want to continue it indefinitely, other countries don't. This week the Canadian government followed the lead of some other nations and withdrew the last of their troops from Afghanistan.

The first Canadian troops went to Afghanistan in December of 2001 -- a special forces unit called Joint Task Force 2. In the years that followed, thousands of Canadian troops served in that country. And 158 Canadian soldiers were killed -- the first four killed by a bomb dropped from an American plane.

The Canadian flag was lowered for the last time on March 12th, and the last 84 soldiers were sent to Cyprus for a few days of rest and recreation. They arrived in Canada on March 18th (see picture above) and were met in Ottawa by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Harper told them, "Welcome home and job well done".

Of course, the job wasn't "done". But after more than a decade of killing and being killed, the Canadians were smart enough to realize that -- and they realized that the United States has no intention of leaving any time soon. So they declared victory and brought their troops home.

That is what the United States should also do. If more than 12 years of war couldn't accomplish their goal (whatever that is), more years of occupation and killing are not going to get anything more done. I think the politicians probably know that, but none of them have the political courage to withdraw all of the troops. They are all afraid of being labeled as being weak on defense (even though that occupation has nothing to do with the defense of this country).

Canada has come to its senses. Now it's time for the United States to do the same. Political cowardice is a poor excuse for costing more American (and Afghan) lives.

Obama Ignores His Own Deadline On Afghanistan

(The image above is from the website of the National Guard.)

President Obama originally told Americans that he would be pulling American troops out of Afghanistan by the end of this year. He didn't really mean that though, and wanted to leave thousands of American troops in that country (as trainers and to fight terrorism) -- possibly as long as another 10 years (the end of 2024). But to do that he needs the Afghan government to sign an agreement asking U.S. troops to stay. That agreement would be necessary to protect American troops from being tried by an Afghan court for any crime they might commit against the Afghan people.

The United States says it will not leave any troops in Afghanistan after December of 2014 without that signed agreement. Near the end of 2013, President Obama warned the Afghan president (who had been refusing to sign the agreement) that the agreement must be signed by the end of 2013 or all troops would be withdrawn -- thinking that deadline would push President Karzai to sign the agreement.

Now we are nearly two months into 2014, and President Obama is still trying to pressure the Afghans into signing the agreement -- ignoring his own deadline. Just a few days ago, President Obama once again issued that same threat in a phone call to President Karzai, and the White House issued the following statement:

"President Obama told President Karzai that because he has demonstrated that it is unlikely that he will sign the BSA (Bilateral Security Agreement), the United States is moving forward with additional contingency planning.

"Specifically, President Obama has asked the Pentagon to ensure that it has adequate plans in place to accomplish an orderly withdrawal by the end of the year should the United States not keep any troops in Afghanistan after 2014.

"Furthermore, the longer we go without a BSA, the more likely it will be that any post-2014 US mission will be smaller in scale and ambition."

It is becoming very obvious that President Obama does not want to honor his promise to the American people, or his threat to the Afghan government. He (and the Pentagon generals) want to continue indefinitely this ridiculous and ineffective occupation of Afghanistan -- a war which is already in its thirteenth year. And it now looks like the refusal of President Karzai to sign the agreement is all that is preventing this endless war from continuing for many more years.

It should be noted that American troops would probably still be in Iraq too, if the Iraqis hadn't refused to sign the same kind of agreement. We can only hope that President Karzai has that same kind of guts, and refuses to sign the agreement. That seems to be the only way to get American troops out of Afghanistan.

Poll after poll has shown that a majority of the American people think the Afghan war was a mistake, and they want all of the troops to be withdrawn. It's just sad that President Obama won't honor his own promise and deadline, and that we must depend on a foreign president to get us out of Afghanistan.

Public No Longer Believes Afghan War Can Be Successful

We are now in the thirteenth year of war in Afghanistan, and the end is still not in sight. While President Obama had originally promised we would have our troops out of Afghanistan by now, after taking office he delayed that until the end of this year. Now he, and the Pentagon generals, want to keep troops in Afghanistan much longer -- perhaps as long as another ten years (until 2024).

We should not have invaded Afghanistan in the first place. The type of government they have is the business of the Afghan people -- not the U.S. government. The original excuse for the war was to get Osama bin Laden, but that has been accomplished and we are still there (and anyway, the Afghan government offered to hand him over for trial at The Hague -- which we refused, since that would not satisfy the bloodlust of our government).

The truth is that after the invasion and occupation, the U.S. changed its goal. Instead of just getting Osama and his buddies, we decided to do a regime change in that country -- having learned nothing from the failures to do that in both Vietnam and Iraq. And while our army is the best at fighting a conventional war, they are not suited for regime change (at least not one that can be sustained). We seem not to have learned that governments cannot be sustained without the support of the people, and that cannot be done with military power.

In short, we have failed to achieve our goals in Afghanistan -- and it is very unlikely that staying longer will change that. And the American people know that, even if our government doesn't. Two new polls are out, and they show what other polls have shown -- that the American people believe we are not winning the Afghan War, and won't win it by staying longer. It is time to withdraw ALL of our troops, and let the Afghan people decide their own fate.

The Pew Research Center survey was done between January 15th and 19th of a random sample of 1,504 nationwide adults, and has a margin of error of 2.9 points.

The Rasmussen Poll was done on February 14th and 15th of a random nationwide sample of 1,000 likely voters, and has a margin of error of 3 points.