Re: “Déjà vu: History repeats itself with Afghanistan” (Brent Zepke, News-Press, Sept. 12).
Mr. Zepke writes, “During Afghanistan (sic), as the withdrawal of troops became inevitable, President Biden abandoned President Trump’s plan for an orderly withdrawal by May 1. He relied on an empty promise from the forces the U.S. had been fighting for 20 years.”
President Donald Trump’s plan for an orderly withdrawal? Typical (if facts are uncomfortable, make stuff up) right-wing horse paste.
Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, one of Mr. Trump’s former national security advisers, condemned this artful deal with the Taliban as a “surrender agreement” and concluded that the collapse of the Afghan government can be directly traced back to Mr. Trump’s “capitulation” of 2020. It was, in fact, Mr. Trump’s May 1 agreement that relied on a Taliban promise to negotiate with the Afghan government and to prevent the resurgence of al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups in their country.
John Bolton, another national security advisor of the previous administration, ridiculed Mr. Trump’s Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for trying to “rewrite history” regarding his infamous negotiations with the Taliban. Others will simply try to forget this debacle.
It was President Joe Biden who had the courage to end this 20-year war on his watch — something none of his three immediate predecessors were willing or able to do. Mr. Trump made promises (as he did on healthcare and infrastructure), but President Biden accepted responsibility as well as reams of valid criticism and got the job done. No amount of revisionist history will change these indisputable facts.
Mr. Zepke questions the physical and mental health of F.D.R. (before and during World War II), making several awkward and feeble attempts at comparisons to President Biden. Yet, it’s Mr. Trump who needs two hands to hold a glass of water and who clamps down on the podium with a death grip whenever he speaks publicly.
Also, it’s Mr. Trump who said, “If only we had Robert E. Lee to command our troops in Afghanistan, that disaster would have ended in a complete and total victory many years ago.” One unabashed racist and loser praising another. Who could have seen that coming?
Robert Baruch
Yeosu, South Korea
Formerly of Goleta
