9/11, Seventeen Years On

For John, BLUF:  We stay in Afghanistan because no President, or his advisors, trust others to support him in good faith.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Real Lesson of Sept. 11

Here is the sub-headline:

I went to war to avenge my brother’s death.  But the only person I truly wanted to kill died 17 years ago.

From The Old Gray Lady, by Mr Joe Quinn, a United States Army veteran, 10 September 2018.

The OpEd ends:

But the main reason I wanted to stay quiet is because it has embarrassingly taken me 17 years to realize something, and what I realized was this:  Seventeen years ago, staring at that picture of Mohammad Atta, I wanted revenge against the people who killed my brother.  But what I finally realized was that the people who killed my brother died the same day he did.

I refuse to take Atta’s orders, or Bin Laden’s.  I will not “stay quiet.”  End the war.

I tend to agree with Mr Quinn, but it isn't that easy.  Being in Afghanistan (and Iraq and Syria) is our entrée in the event more bad Guys pop up there.  See, for example, the policy position of Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA).

Tim Kaine, a Virginia senator on both the Senate’s armed services and foreign relations committees, believes that the strikes on Syria in April 2017 amounted to an act of war, and because the Constitution says only Congress has the right to declare war, President Donald Trump exceeded his authority.

Let President Trump pull out of Afghanistan and we experience another significant attack planned out of Afghanistan and then listen to the uproar and the charges of stupidity, or worse.  It could lead to another ranchorus debate like that in the 1950s over who lost China.

Thank you to the Service members, and civilians, who answered the call after 9/11.

Regards  —  Cliff