By Benjamin Friedman
The Taliban’s conquest of Afghanistan is a disaster for many Afghans, but for Americans, it is mostly just upsetting: a cause of shame, sympathy and even trauma, but not insecurity. Afghanistan’s disaster is largely our fault, but there are good reasons to trust it will not follow us home. President Joe Biden was right when he defended ending the war Tuesday because the United States has no “vital interest” there, and to push back on critics who warn of impending catastrophe now that the last U.S. troops have been pulled out.
U.S. commentators lament the Taliban’s victory for three main national security reasons. One, leaving Afghanistan, especially in the way the troubled evacuation effort was handled, is supposedly such a blow to U.S. credibility that the alliances it supports will quake and adversaries will advance. Two, Russia or China will fill the “vacuum” left by U.S. forces, gaining influence as Central Asian states seek new protectors and wealth as the new Taliban government looks to make development deals. Three, the Taliban will again offer haven to Al Qaeda terrorists bent on attacking the U.S. or enable the Islamic State Khorasan group, or ISIS-K, terrorists — responsible for this week’s Kabul airport bombing — despite being at war with them.
This piece was originally published in NBC News on August 31, 2021. Read more HERE.