Last Month in Afghanistan - The Month that Could Have Been

This post is not about the last 20 years in Afghanistan and all the wrong policies that have been implemented.   Nor is it about the fact that the Taliban wanted to surrender after several months of American bombing in 2001, but the Bush administration said that the U.S. does not negotiate surrender.  That is, the Taliban would have to surrender; no terms.  Nor is it about Trump's terrible decision to negotiate our withdrawal with the Taliban.

This is about what could/should have happened in the last month or two leading up to the departure of U.S. troops.  Everyone, including The New York Times, says that regardless what Biden would have done, the pullout would have been a mess.   I respectfully disagree. 

While our forces did not have the advantage in the wilds of Afghanistan - it never has the advantage in a guerrilla war - it still had the advantage in the plains around Kabul.   What the President should have done, before the collapse of Kabul security, was announce that he has ordered the military to redeploy in order to:

1. secure the airport,
2. secure the road to the airport
3. secure Kabul until all Americans and Afghans [situated in Kabul] who helped our effort and wanted to leave were evacuated. 

Only then, would U.S forces withdraw and leave.  

This last phase should not have been left to the Afghan security forces.   Yes, American intelligence thought they would hold on for a few months, but that wasn't a chance they should have taken

This would have been a conditioned withdrawal, rather than time-certain, which Biden has rejected.   But it would have been a pullout in which the U.S. would have been in control and it would have been orderly.   No repeat of Saigon. 

Instead, it appears to the world as if the Taliban is in control, which they are, and the greatest military force in the world is running around like a chicken with its head cut off, depending on the Taliban to protect them from ISIS.   Not pretty. 

Trump and the Vaccine Conundrum

Where is Trump when you need him?  Did I really say that?

Unfortunately, yes.  There is only one person who could convince most of the rest of the country to get vaccinated – Trump.  If he came out with a strong PSA, stressing his role in getting the vaccines developed and approved ASAP to stop the virus from crippling our country, and urging his supporters to do their patriotic duty and get vaccinated, that probably would make a major difference. 

Between his personalizing the issue and making it an act of patriotism, his supporters would probably march lock-step to the vaccination clinics. 

This is really our only hope.  There is no chance that the federal government, or most state governments, will follow the example of New York City and San Francisco and impose vaccination passport mandates.  That and a renewed mask mandate would have sufficed to get the virus under control again.  But that's not going to happen. 

So someone must appeal to Trump.  This is no time for politics or self-righteousness.  Right now, we need Trump.   

President Biden can't make that appeal because Trump doesn't recognize him.  And it can't be one of his allies.  It must be someone from the other side who comes to him asking for his help. And who better to make the appeal probably than Dr. Fauci?  Someone Trump respects despite past disagreements.

We Must Stop the Virus NOW

Most of the country – both governments and people – has diddled over the course of the last 17 months while the virus has taken its toll, surged again, taken its toll, and surged again.  With the availability of effective vaccines last January (I hate to say it, but thanks to Trump's urgency), we all breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that if the vast majority of people get vaccinated, the virus would be stopped, even if not eliminated. 

But there was a major problem with this scenario:  almost half the people did not want to get vaccinated for one reason or another.   Whether the reason was political, misinformation, or fear, the result is the same.   And despite the best efforts of government and NGOs to turn this around, nothing to date has been effective. 

The only solution, short of declaring a national health emergency and forcing everyone to get vaccinated, is to separate the vaccinated from the unvaccinated to the extent possible.   Requiring a vaccine passport to enter any indoor establishment that is not essential, including airplanes.   For essential indoor venues, like grocery stores, it means mandating masks for everyone..

Airplanes must be included because if you look at the New York Times hot spot map, what is clearly happening in the coastal south is that unvaccinated tourists are bringing the virus to resort areas and from there it is spreading.    To control unvaccinated people driving to resort areas, hotels must be told to require proof of vaccination (that was done in New England earlier in the pandemic).

This must be done nationally, not left to the states.  And it must be done now.   States like Texas and Florida are actually prohibiting both vaccine mandates and mask mandates by local governments.   There  can be no hesitation.   We know what hesitation brings.  Actually, we have already hesitated again and the horse is out of the barn, but the virus can still be corralled. 

If people continue to choose not to get vaccinated, then they cannot be allowed to infect others.  This is not about their freedom not to get vaccinated to protect themselves; it's about their not having the freedom to infect others.    They must pay the price for their socially irresponsible behavior by being segregated. 

The Present Holding Pattern

I haven't written a post in a month.   The reason is that there is really nothing new to post about.   

1.   Republicans are being true to their conversion to Trumpism, whether at the national or state level (although it is more rabid at the state  level).   In Congress, they are either just interested in blocking Biden's agenda, regardless of the interests of their constituents, whose interests they are supposed to represent.   Or they continue to further the falsehood that Biden won the election fraudulently and the January 6 storming of the capitol had nothing to do with Trump and the people in the riot were just patriots. 

I would love to see a video that juxtaposed Speaker McCarthy's statements on January 6 and immediately thereafter, and his statements now.   You can't even call it a shift.   It's a total reversal from truth to lies.  The man and his party have no shame, no ethics.

2.   The virus is doing its thing, and the millions of unvaccinated people in the US are enabling it to have another surge with the Delta variant which is causing, in areas with low vaccination rates, numbers of cases to rival the worst part of the pandemic.   And when these unvaccinated people get infected and travel to areas with high vaccination rates and partake in crowded indoor activities (restaurants, bars, dance clubs), even those vaccinated (who aren't wearing masks anymore) get infected. 

There is no indication that anything much will change on this front.   Many people who choose not to be vaccinated are adamant.   Some are undecided still, and so perhaps they will get the shots, but the majority are in the first group. 

Bottom line, while we were never going to be free of the virus, it looks like our return to normal in most areas of the country is a thing of the past.   Even the vaccinated will have to wear a mask indoors, certainly in a reasonably crowded venue.   

Some places, like Broadway theaters, are requiring people to be fully vaccinated and wear masks in order to attend.  Some employers are requiring works to be vaccinated,  All indoor venues, except those that are essential, should have this requirement.   This includes airlines.   And if they aren't essential, all visitors must be required to wear a mask. 

3.   No news on the climate change front.   We continue to experience increased numbers of and severity of natural disasters, whether it's heat, rain, flooding, drought, wildfires, etc.   As with the virus, too many people take no responsibility for their actions and efforts by the government will have minimal impact, and too late.   We are it seems past the tipping point and the only question is how bad will it get.   That's the only thing we/government can impact now. 

So we as a country and as a government are in a stalemated, holding, pattern.   It is in all regards a sad state of affairs.   Whatever euphoria and hope there was after Trump lost the election are long since gone.   For the foreseeable future,  posts will come when matters warrant or there is some important observation to make.