Withdrawal..

 

I watched the fall of Kabul on the CBS Evening News as I did the fall of Saigon in 1975. President Joe Biden, who must have watched it back then too, certainly remembers the American-Vietnam War (1965–1975). But he still botched our withdrawal from Kabul. Just as President Lyndon B. Johnson remembered the French-Vietnam War (1946–1954) that ended in the French defeat at the battle of Dien Bien Phu, reportedly saying: “I don’t want any damn Dien Bien Phu.” But he still led us into a conflict that ended with our withdrawal in 1973, and the fall of Saigon in 1975. 

So we Americans, unlike what some of our detractors might think, know and remember history well, yet we repeat it.

Why? Why does a superpower with huge human, technological, and financial resources – the Vietnam War cost $1 trillion in today’s dollars, the Afghanistan War, $2 trillion – repeat the same mistakes?

Our post-World War II military interventions, disinterest in nation-building, and chaotic withdrawals, are responsible for the suffering of millions.

Sherry Buchanan

Opinion contributor-USA Today.