But I'm not sure that anyone's really had the opportunity to work out anything out: it seems most people either fit into the camp of the morally certain (i.e. those who consistently back US intervention or consistently oppose it) or else seem to hold inconsistent and irreconcilable views that seem to depend at least partially on how much they like the current administration. As an example, many serious, well-meaning people (including those who had previously called out the Iraq War for the irresponsible and ghastly act that it was) backed Obama's Libya intervention, which now looks like a disaster in hindsight. Were they wrong? If so, why, and how do we make sure that none of us makes such a mistake again?pietillidie wrote:We've had years to work this out since Afghanistan, and people are still getting distracted by the partisan nonsense. Apparently, rather than learning from experience and developing more robust ideas and principles, people's brains simply reset between disasters.
Similarly, who can provide a coherent argument on whether the US should have gotten involved in Syria to the extent that it did? Many to this day think that Obama should have done more to stop the civil war in 2014, whereas others think that they shouldn't have gotten involved at all. I have no idea who is right or wrong on that front, and I'm not sure I've come across anyone who does have a good answer to that.
So, if you're positing an obvious and consistent approach to take to withdrawals as opposed to deployments of US troops, it doesn't seem clear to me why that should be such an easier discussion. What is it, exactly, that we should have learned from Afghanistan, apart from the folly of getting involved in the first place? But that may just be reflective of my limited understanding or intellectual capacity. Do you have a clear view on these things? (And if it's that the US should stay the course when they intervened irresponsibly, does that mean that they should still be in Iraq today? If not, why?)
PS: I'm not saying it's not clear that Trump went about this the wrong way; ideally, he would have telegraphed his decision well in advance, given plenty of time for a handover of responsibilities, etc. But the trickier question is whether it was the right decision handled badly or just a wrong decision all round. And I feel like questions like that are fairly important.
