Stephan Jensen Profile picture
-Country director 🇺🇦 Ukraine @InstituteGC -Former 🇳🇴 army and @EY_Parthenon 🇬🇧 -Upcoming book: History of the War in Afghanistan, 78-21 -All views my own.

Sep 26, 2023, 8 tweets

One of the most tragic aspects of the West's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan is how "well-meaning" Western progressives thought our disengagement would be the solution to all of Afghanistan's problems.

Instead, it handed Afghanistan to the Taliban.

1/8

By peddling narcissistic arguments that all of Afghanistan's problems had to do with Western involvement, the "anti-war" lobby gave credence to the most ethically and strategically irresponsible policy possible:

Legitimizing the Taliban and betraying our allies.

2/8

Now, the very same "anti-war" narcissists are making the very same arguments about Ukraine:

"If only we stop supporting the people defending their country and legitimate the claims of the terrorist aggressors everything will be fine."

It's as mad as it sounds.

3/8

The crazy reality is that the Western "anti-war" folks are the most loyal allies terrorists like the Taliban and tyrants like Putin could ask for.

Whatever our enemies' demands are, their chorus is: "Give in!"

4/8

Because Western "anti-war" progressives are so narcissistic they can't imagine anyone other than the West as the cause of anything, they end up supporting tyrants, authoritarians, and terrorists everywhere world - just because they aren't "us".

5/8

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But here's the kicker:

The result of giving in to "anti-war" appeasers is not less war - but more.

Betraying our allies and handing Afghanistan to the Taliban emboldened Putin and made him confident it was the right time to invade Ukraine...

6/8

...just like handing Hiter Czechoslovakia in 1938 emboldened him to invade Poland in 1939. Why would he stop, when no one seemed willing to make him?

The exact same applies to revisionist tyrants today.

7/8

Giving in to tyrants and terrorists only proves to them that violence, force, and threats work.

If we want to prevent more war, we must deter our enemies rather than encourage them.

That takes determination and sacrifice, not wishful thinking.

8/8

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