18 May 2024

How Is Afghanistan Doing Post-U.S. Withdrawal? Well...

Spencer Brown

It will come as little surprise to anyone who followed the Biden administration's policy toward Afghanistan which culminated in the botched withdrawal of U.S. forces at the end of August 2021 that handing the country over to the Taliban has not resulted in some vibrant liberalized democracy. Instead, also unsurprisingly, Afghanistan has turned into a hotbed of terrorist activity.

After calling the Taliban "businesslike and professional" during the withdrawal, the Biden administration has seemingly been surprised to learn that the new government has not expanded rights for women and girls, religious minorities, or other groups — all while allowing terrorists to set up new training and operations centers within Afghanistan.

When he announced the withdrawal on April 14, 2021, President Biden promised Americans that the U.S. would "not take our eye off the terrorist threat" after the last soldier left Afghanistan. "We'll reorganize our counterterrorism capabilities and the substantial assets in the region to prevent reemergence of terrorists," he pledged.

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