Politics with Nolan: Carnage in Kabul

By Nolan Cleary, Editor-in-Chief

After 20 years, America has finally withdrawn from Afghanistan, in turn bringing America’s longest fought war to a close. America entered the war shortly after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. 

Shortly after being sworn into office, President Joe Biden announced he would finally be withdrawing fully from the country, a decision long in the making. However, Biden’s decision was quickly met with horrific consequences. 

As Biden evacuated Americans from the region, the Taliban began to take over parts of Afghanistan, even retaking the country’s capital, Kabul. 

Now, thousands of Americans remain trapped in the country. 13 U.S. service members were killed by suicide bombers at the Kabul airport. The oldest of the 13 was just 31 years old, while the youngest were infants when the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred. 

One of the fallen service members was expecting a baby girl with his wife. He was just 20. In addition to the horrific killings of American service members, many Afghan service members who aided Americans during the war remain unable to leave their country, many of their lives now at stake for helping the U.S. fight the Taliban. 

Democracy in areas previously occupied by Americans has now evaporated, and women’s rights in the region may be in the balance. Now, many are debating whether the U.S. was morally correct in our decision to pull out of the region. 

Prior to the withdrawal, a sizable majority of Americans supported our decision to withdraw from the region, with even a majority of Republicans polled in early 2021 saying they approved of President Biden’s plan to exit the area. Since then however, that number has significantly declined. 

Some believe the decision to leave the country was an abandonment, and that we had an obligation to remain in Afghanistan for as long as necessary. Others argue our involvement in the 20 year long war only led to more American troops losing their lives, and that the time to exit the region had been long overdue. 

Sam Qasem, a student in Individual Studies said he believes America shouldn’t have left Afghanistan. “Yes, they’ve been there for a long time, but I don’t see any reason to risk harm towards American troops,” Qasem said. 

Qasem was critical of the U.S. government’s handling of the withdrawal. Taina Torres, a student in a liberal arts major said she has mixed feelings on whether we should have stayed or left Afghanistan. 

“I understand how someone could say ‘They have to leave’, but at the same time, they have a duty. You signed up for it, but I don’t know. I’m 50/50,” Torres said. 

Tai Reale, a student in a computer science major said he still firmly supports the withdrawal. “I’m glad they’re out. I’m glad we evacuated troops and everyone is safe over here, and hopefully they can live a better life,” Reale said. 

Reale said so far, he approves of the U.S. government’s handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal. “No person should live in fear,” Reale said.