Is the withdrawal from Afghanistan President Joe Biden’s responsibility or that of all previous administrations? This is a controversial question because the decision to withdraw came after America’s longest foreign war. The result of which was a catastrophic failure, where the Taliban returned back to rule Afghanistan again. That means nothing has been achieved there after 20 years of non-stop war. It looks like nothing happened there.

At the end of August, the last American soldier withdrew from Afghanistan, as per the Biden administration’s plan. The human cost was great: 47,245 Afghan civilians killed, 2,461 American service members killed, 3,846 U.S. contractors killed, and 66,000 Afghan national military and police killed, according to WBUR News.

The American army fought on two battlefields at the same time, in Afghanistan and Iraq. Because of this, the estimated amount of war costs that the United States has debt-financed as of 2020 is $2 trillion. Estimated interest costs by 2050 could be up to $6.5 trillion, according to an article from the Associated Press. War stops but the cost does not. 

The decision of going to war had been taken as a reaction to the wounded American dignity from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack. The date Congress authorized U.S. forces to go after culprits from the Sept. 11,  attacks was Sept. 18, 2001, during George Bush Jr.’s administration. The target was to destroy the Al Qaeda organization and its leader Osama Bin Laden and the allies. 

The Bush administration couldn’t achieve the target. Therefore, the mission was transferred to President Barack Obama’s administration, which ended up killing Bin Laden on May 2, 2011. The Trump administration used the conflict there politically. Then, the Biden administration came and took the controversial decision of withdrawing from Afghanistan. 

So, there are four consequent administrations following up the war. But, the fourth administration made the decision and said “enough” to the war.

Biden aimed to address potential detractors of the withdrawal in a press conference, by asking them a hypothetical question: “How many more generations of America’s daughters and sons would you have me send to fight in Afghanistan’s civil war when Afghan troops will not?”

Biden asked more questions about what Americans are doing there. 

“How many more lives, American lives, is it worth? How many endless rows of headstones in Arlington National Cemetery? I’m clear on my answer,” Biden added, according to an article published on  CNN. In the end, the wise decision had been taken after 20 years of useless war.

As a result, to be fair, the responsibility should be distributed to all previous administrations. But the biggest part of it belongs to the Bush administration because they declared the war as a reaction to absorb the anger of the American people at that time.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the events changed in Afghanistan. The civil war was explosive there, and the Taliban and Al Qaeda seized the power there and ruled Afghanistan. The U.S. administrations did not follow the course of things there and did not take the necessary precautions to face the coming dangers. 

The U.S. government created the beast, and they have to know how to dismantle it from its roots. What happened up to this moment is completely disappointing.

We have to know when making a withdrawing decision, it comes with casualties, where that seems an evil impossible to avoid. That is what happened a few days before the withdrawal, where on Aug, 26, a suicide bomber detonated explosives at a Kabul airport gate where U.S. troops were searching for evacuees rushing to depart the country. 

13 U.S. service members were killed, according to the Associated Press. America has to learn from its mistakes, especially declaring war. This mistake repeatedly happened, in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq. These wars cost thousands of souls and trillions of dollars. Without these costs, we could be in a different era.

The withdrawal decision from Afghanistan put an end to the endless war there, opening the field to study what we are doing there, and what we should do in the future. The withdrawal decision means peace, saving lives, saving money for the taxpayers, improving people’s living conditions and development. We need to reconstruct the infrastructure of the country. Also, we need to reconstruct our brains to take responsibility for the coming generations.

In conclusion, the withdrawal decision is right, and for the benefit of all Americans.