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Biden was free to do as he wished in Afghanistan. He can't blame Trump's plan when he changed course on so many other international agreements. Furthermore, if

Biden was free to do as he wished in Afghanistan. He can't blame Trump's plan when he changed course on so many other international agreements. Furthermore, if it was really Trump who "drop-kicked" Afghanistan, Putin would not have felt encouraged to invade Ukraine under Biden. But you're mostly right, except for one word: > Biden drop-kicking Afghanistan was probably the largest external factor that encouraged Putin to launch the full-scale invasion against Ukraine.

aguaviva 2y ago
Biden was free to do as he wished in Afghanistan. Actually no, because Trump signed the Doha treaty with the Taliban which (though it wouldn't have been impossible) would have required significant effort to undo. But the drop-kicking wasn't so much in the terms, but in the way the Trump administration openly side-stepped the local Afghan government (leaving them to believe, obviously correctly, that they been effectively hung out to dry, and that wouldn't be able to rely on any promises of support from the US after that). Furthermore, if it was really Trump who "drop-kicked" Afghanistan, Putin would not have felt encouraged to invade Ukraine under Biden. No logic there. From Putin's perspective, what matters is that Afghanistan got squarely drop-kicked. I agree that Biden contributed to the debacle, also. But analyzing the situation strictly in terms of who was sitting in the Oval Office at the times of the respective invasions (and not looking at broader events leading up to them) is way too simplistic, and quickly leads to flawed conclusions.
- leereeves 2y ago
  Twice in the above comment you ignored the fact that any actions by Trump didn't reveal anything about how Biden might later act. Two Presidents can behave very differently, and foreign leaders have to determine how each will act based on their analysis of the current leader, not the past. IOW, whatever conclusions the Afghan gov or Putin drew from Trump's actions, neither of them could reasonably conclude that Biden would act the same way. Putin's conclusions about Biden were surely based on the observation that Biden continued the withdrawal even after the Taliban ignored the terms of the agreement and attacked Afghanistan. The Taliban's actions certainly gave Biden plenty of excuses to ignore the peace agreement. (Presidents don't actually need a reason to change agreements with other nations, as long as they aren't ratified by the Senate, but if Biden wanted some, he had them). tldr: Would anyone expect Trump in 2025 to act like Biden in 2024? No? Then why would anyone (including Putin) expect Biden in 2021 to act like Trump in 2020?

aguaviva 2y ago

Biden was free to do as he wished in Afghanistan. Actually no, because Trump signed the Doha treaty with the Taliban which (though it wouldn't have been impossible) would have required significant effort to undo. But the drop-kicking wasn't so much in the terms, but in the way the Trump administration openly side-stepped the local Afghan government (leaving them to believe, obviously correctly, that they been effectively hung out to dry, and that wouldn't be able to rely on any promises of support from the US after that). Furthermore, if it was really Trump who "drop-kicked" Afghanistan, Putin would not have felt encouraged to invade Ukraine under Biden. No logic there. From Putin's perspective, what matters is that Afghanistan got squarely drop-kicked. I agree that Biden contributed to the debacle, also. But analyzing the situation strictly in terms of who was sitting in the Oval Office at the times of the respective invasions (and not looking at broader events leading up to them) is way too simplistic, and quickly leads to flawed conclusions.

leereeves 2y ago
Twice in the above comment you ignored the fact that any actions by Trump didn't reveal anything about how Biden might later act. Two Presidents can behave very differently, and foreign leaders have to determine how each will act based on their analysis of the current leader, not the past. IOW, whatever conclusions the Afghan gov or Putin drew from Trump's actions, neither of them could reasonably conclude that Biden would act the same way. Putin's conclusions about Biden were surely based on the observation that Biden continued the withdrawal even after the Taliban ignored the terms of the agreement and attacked Afghanistan. The Taliban's actions certainly gave Biden plenty of excuses to ignore the peace agreement. (Presidents don't actually need a reason to change agreements with other nations, as long as they aren't ratified by the Senate, but if Biden wanted some, he had them). tldr: Would anyone expect Trump in 2025 to act like Biden in 2024? No? Then why would anyone (including Putin) expect Biden in 2021 to act like Trump in 2020?