This past weekend the news turned more sour than usual. The horrific destruction wrought by an earthquake in Haiti and the disastrous unfolding of the U.S. withdrawal in Afghanistan have temporarily knocked the lethal surge of Covid-19 off the front page. Take your pick as to what is the worst. The first was an \u201cact of God,\u201d but the other, two for the most part, were preventable.<\/p>\n
The awful photos and stories coming out of Afghanistan about the American withdrawal and takeover by the Taliban are, without a doubt, troubling if not downright embarrassing and potentially disastrous for the United States. And the situation is cruel and demoralizing for the Afghans who after twenty years of U.S. protection were beginning to enter the twentieth century at least. Make no mistake about it, President Biden bears responsibility for how this plays out.<\/p>\n
Television and the print media have joined leading politicians in both parties condemning the swift withdrawal and the failure of the White House and intelligence agencies to understand or predict what has happened. Excuses are being made and blame is being passed around. Unfortunately, all of this is predictable given how obsessed we have become with the 24 hour news cycle and social media. Immediate news begets immediate blame and analysis.<\/p>\n
At this point, I\u2019m with Tom Friedman who wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times<\/em> this morning entitled \u201cBiden Could Still Be Proved Right in Afghanistan.\u201d A Middle East specialist and a multiple Pulitzer Prize winner, Friedman writes that we really need to withhold judgment until the \u201cmorning after the morning after\u201d to see exactly what happens both in Afghanistan and American politics.<\/p>\n As sordid and disheartening as the scenes are from Afghanistan, we must not forget that the bedrock of international relations and diplomacy is realpolitik. Realpolitik is based on practical politics rather than ideals meaning that ethical considerations are frequently disregarded in pursuit of national interest. The Afghans, unfortunately, are the losers here. It remains to be seen if the withdrawal of American power is the best move for our national self-interest. Perhaps one day Americans will abandon their naive belief that they can fix everything.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This past weekend the news turned more sour than usual. The horrific destruction wrought by an earthquake in Haiti and the disastrous unfolding of the U.S. withdrawal in Afghanistan have temporarily knocked the lethal surge of Covid-19 off the front page. Take your pick as to what is the worst. The first was an \u201cact…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-robert-fischer"],"yoast_head":"\n