Trump wanted out of Afghanistan. Now he wants to bomb it – By Meredith McGraw (Politico) / Sept 9 2021
As corners of the Republican Party take whacks at his record, the former president is convening a shadow national security team to discuss Afghanistan.
Donald Trump spent years arguing that America’s “endless wars” were draining the country of resources and lives. But in the aftermath of President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, that’s changed.
The former president has privately sensed an opening to attack his successor for the chaotic and bloody situation on the ground there. And in a statement last week, he declared that if the Taliban didn’t return mostly defunct American military equipment, “we should either go in with unequivocal Military force and get it, or at least bomb the hell out of it.”
It was a shift for Trump. In other statements, he had boasted that he would have executed a more “dignified” withdrawal from the 20-year war, largely in the context of defending the deal that his administration struck that set the conditions for the U.S. to ultimately leave Afghanistan in May. The call for more military confrontation came, notably, at a time when other Republicans — including some who served in his administration — were airing criticism of that original deal, arguing that it was problematic in its own right and that the party would be well served to track another course.
“I think both administrations bear blame for where we are today,” said Lisa Curtis, a Trump National Security Council official. “The Trump administration for negotiating a very bad deal with the Taliban. The Biden administration for not reevaluating that deal and changing course.”
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