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Because surely he spent no time reading the papers.
1. The Soviets installed a puppet regime in Afghanistan in 1979 or so.
2. Afghan mujahideen rise up.
3. US Government supports Afghans for a decade, to the tune of 3 billion dollar (give or take). No question that this created many strange bedfellows, but this was the catalyst for the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Keep in mind that the Soviets and Afghans fought the good fight for a decade. The losses were devastating on both sides, and Afghanistan was pretty much plunged back into the 18th century. But they won and the Soviets turned tail.
4. Slight problem, however. The US had no end-game. What a surprise. We had no idea what to do with Afghanistan once our guys won. The first thing we did, in 1990, was to cut off all military aid to Pakistan, alienating that country. Next, we backed away from full participation in any post-Soviet administration in Afghanistan. Let's remember for a moment that this was another republican administration, that of GHW Bush. The problems in Afghanistan were difficult then, and we kid ourselves if we think anything has changed. There may be something resembling a freely elected government, but the opium growers are booming, and the government (and the US) is as unable now as it was then to do a damn thing about.
5. In any case, as a result of the US bailing out on Afghanistan in 1991/1992, the Taliban rose to prominence, and we had lost any leverage we had with the Pakistanis once we cut off their military aid. So our Afghan buddies were no longer acting buddy-like. Our Pakistani allies were once again cut loose.
6. And the rest, as they say, is history.
7. I would argue that you can place the blame squarely on the right. It was under Reagan's and GHW Bush's watch that we first supported and then abandoned the Afghans. Granted, Clinton could have returned to the arena but didn't. That said, the US, under a Democratic president, continued monitoring the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan throughout the 1990s, even if we weren't as invested as we should have been, and it was officials of that administration who tried to paint a picture of the threat for *'s incoming administration in 2000. They were uninterested. We paid the price in 2001, and, tragically, even more Americans are paying the price in 2005.
8. So, you all decide. Does this make Rep. Saxton a moron?
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