I remember POTUS43 getting us into war in Afghanistan and Iraq. No evidence of anything. POTUS43 and his minions Rumsfeld and Cheney, backed by cheerleading pundits saying, Don’t worry. There’s all this secret stuff we can’t tell you. Trust us. It’s all going to work out swell. Easy-peasy.
Remember all that?
Seventeen years later we’re getting out. Good. Glad to hear it. Trouble is, the voter isn’t allowed to know how we’re getting out. From today’s New York Times (edited):
“…While it may sound odd that the American military is sharing troop locations with its enemy of 18 years, the goal is to give the Taliban information that would allow it to prevent attacks during the withdrawal. Mr. Pompeo described…
That is part of it, but they appear to be much more.
Because the documents lay out the specific understandings between the United States and the Taliban — including what bases would remain open under Afghan control — the details are critical to judging whether the United States is making good on its promise to leave only if conditions allow, or whether it is just getting out.
The State Department has struggled to explain why the criteria for the terms, standards and thresholds for the American withdrawal could be known to the adversary but not to the American people… the State Department issued a statement on Friday saying that the documents remained classified because “the movement of troops and operations against terrorists are sensitive matters.”
“We do not want, for example, ISIS to know those details,” the statement added, referring to Islamic State fighters in Afghanistan.
To sum up: the Taliban knows more about our policy than Americans do. Bonus: the Taliban is supposed to keep the secret from ISIS.
POTUS43 led us into war with thousands dead and injured and one trillion dollars of debt, all with secrecy and lies. Guess it’s fitting we end it the same way…