Weekly Comments: Can Afghanistan Get Any Worse? Is There Hope?

#1075 Aug. 22, 2021

Columbus: Afghanistan was a disaster last week. President Biden said today, “A lot could still go wrong.”

Last week I incorrectly said that President Biden did not warn the Taliban against harming Americans. Actually, he did. He even said we would forcefully retaliate. But the Taliban have ignored him. We have seen plenty of reports of Americans being beaten up, in fear of their lives, and denied access to the airport. So far, no retaliation for those horrible actions. Is this any way to manage an evacuation? Who would vacate all of our Air Force bases and trust the Taliban to allow American civilians to fly out later?

The information from Washington continues to be questionable. Consider a couple of claims: “All our NATO allies support our plan,” and “The Taliban will allow women to work and girls to attend school.” The State Department admitted they suffered a cyber-attack. Well, it appears from some official pronouncements by Secretary of State Blinken that the Taliban not only attacked, but have taken control of his computer. And maybe President Biden’s teleprompter, too.

Biden reported today that more than 28,000 have been evacuated from Kabul, including 11,000 Americans. But several thousand Americans remain and are desperate to escape. Also, about 50,000 Afghans who worked with us remain and face death if we leave them. He did not say what would happen to the Taliban if they harmed anyone trying to get to the airport. The President did not demand that the Taliban leave the Bagram Air Base so we can return and speed up the evacuations. He made no comment about sending in any troops, including Army Rangers and Navy Seals, to secure escape routes and protect Americans and Afghan friends from the Taliban and ISIS. Why not take these logical actions?

The Taliban took control of our modern military equipment worth Billions of dollars. Here’s a question: Did you know that new John Deere farm tractors have computer controls that allow the tractor to be shut off from Deere headquarters? If a tractor is stolen, for example, it can be disabled. Do our million-dollar helicopters, drones and Humvees have similar controls?

Speaking of agriculture, in a few weeks I hope to share positive insights about farming in Afghanistan. Last week I received information from a friend who worked in a high position with our government in Afghanistan. Here’s one fact you probably don’t know: the Afghanistan economy used to be 80 percent agriculture. Farmers grew food crops and livestock that supported Afghans and they exported products to Europe. With good government, Afghan farmers could return to prominence.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

“One of the evils of democracy is you have to put up with the man [or woman] you elect whether you want him or not.” DT #1953, Nov.  7, 1932