Mika Brzezinksi on Disastrous Withdrawal from Afghanistan: ‘Why Not Go Back In?’
Mika Brzezinksi opened Morning Joe discussing the disastrous US military withdrawal from Afghanistan and plaintively asked her guest Richard Haass “why not go back in?”
Brzezinski’s question surely reflects what many Morning Joe viewers were likely asking – if the situation is so dire, then why not send in the US military to provide aid and assistance to the dozens of thousands of locals who helped American forces try to establish order and democratic rule in the Asian nation.
But Haass, the President of the Council of Foreign Relations, made clear that returning any significant military footprint is not a good idea.
“Going back in would be military stunningly difficult and costly,” he replied. “And I don’t think at this point it’s politically on or military or strategically on,” he added. “The moment for that has passed,” and I don’t think that’s a realistic option to go back in.”
Over the weekend, the religious extremist Taliban claimed the Afghanistan capital of Kabul, which led to the hastened shutting of the US embassy and shocking images of thousands of people flooding the Kabul airport looking for evacuation from the war-torn nation.
The Taliban are brutal in their treatment of anyone who does not strictly follow Sharia law or has worked with Americans in the past two decades of US occupation. So upwards of 80,000 individuals are reported to be looking to flee with grave concerns for their lives.
There has largely been bipartisan support for withdrawing the military from Afghanistan, an issue that former President Donald Trump touted for the past five years and even negotiated with the Taliban.
However, the images that have emerged from Kabul over the weekend evoke memories of the fall of Saigon and have been nothing but a political disaster for President Joe Biden, who confidently predicted that what actually unfolded over the past few days would not happen.
Watch above via MSNBC.
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