As self-acknowledging “suckers and losers,” all active and former military members supporting Trump are betraying the million men and women who made the “ultimate sacrifice.” It is disconcerting that so many of them are willing to overlook one of many critical flaws in a narcissistic megalomaniac who couldn’t care less about them.
They should also know that Trump is the first American president to overtly surrender to an adversary during a period of conflict. They seem ignorant of the facts that form the basis of the Doha Agreement that Trump had Zal Khalilzad negotiate with the Taliban on his behalf. Betraying our Afghan allies, Trump’s negotiators entered the discussions without including the very people who would have to carry on with the governance of the country.
The agreement signed in Doha, Qatar, was if U.S. forces stopped attacking the Taliban, they would not attack our troops. It also included a departure date by which all U.S. and NATO forces would be out of the country. That was/is in effect, surrender.
The comprehensive title of the documents was “Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan between the Islamic Emirate […]
As the author states: “My detractors have already made claims that “my war” (I was a Special Forces commander during the Vietnam War) was also lost. However, there was a significant difference in that it was not President Richard Nixon, who surrendered to the North Vietnamese, but rather Congressional action that cut the funding. That resulted in the Paris Peace Accords which were designed to bring “Peace with honor.” There is enough guilt and recrimination to go around regarding the American failure in Vietnam. That is another story. Importantly, no president surrendered to the Viet Cong or North Vietnamese Government.”
How sad that the author continues to defend the empire. No, Dr. Alexander, this is not “another story”. This is part of the same story of American Exceptionalism, and the operations of a world wide empire that consistently interferes in the affairs of other countries for its own benefit. It was pressure from the American people that ended both Vietnam and Afghanistan. We became tired of all the lies and misdirection – “we’ll see progress in six more months”, “just a few more resources”. The empire is built upon lies. I am sure that any talk of “surrender” from your background in the military must be bitter; however, the military industrial complex has undermined the democratic process in this country and in many others, causing undue suffering to our troops and many civilians. So my counter question to you, Dr. Alexander, is : what is your proposed solution? More bombing, more invasions, more military escalations? Maybe escalation to nuclear weapons to forstall “surrender”? If so, your logic is the same now as it was back in Vietnam: We had to destroy the village in order to save it. The American people will not enjoy the fruits that others enjoy until we forsake empire. You can have vibrant Democracy or you can have empire. You cannot have both.
All true—a signed agreement (and look at at where that country is now. We have become a country that has a habit of losing wars—-Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Ira1. Is there a message in here somewhere? Terri Quint