Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is feelin’ good:
If you read the story, it turns out that by “delivered” Pompeo means only that we kicked al-Qaeda out of Afghanistan, something we did back in 2002. So this is perhaps not as impressive as he thinks it is.
Still, this is a case where Donald Trump might be doing something that only he could do. It’s been obvious for a long time that there’s no good reason for us to remain in Afghanistan, but it’s also been obvious that if we leave the Taliban is likely to take over. No US president is willing to accept that, so we’ve hung around for years accomplishing nothing of any consequence.
The obvious solution has always been to declare victory and go home, but neither Bush nor Obama quite had the chutzpah to do that. Trump does. Not only that, but if the Taliban does eventually take over he’ll loudly blame it on Obama and decline any responsibility. This will lead to hundreds of chin-stroking explainers and think pieces (“Did Obama Lose Afghanistan?” “Is the Taliban Really That Bad?” “Why Afghanistan Was Never Winnable,” etc.) and unanimous support from conservatives. Trump will get away with it in a way that no other president could.
Which is fine. It would be nice if Trump’s moronic bluster finally accomplished something useful.
