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Thread by @ezraklein on The idea that the US government is too incompetent to execute domestic policy well, but it has extraordinary control over outcomes in countries it invades (threadreaderapp.com)
Thread by @ezraklein: This is worth reading, as it illustrates a peculiar pathology in modern conservatism: The idea that the US government is too incompetent to execute domestic policy well, but it has extraordina...…
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Honestly trying to wrap my head around this concept of Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan amounts to trusting terrorists, while Trump’s deal-making with said terrorists and having a great relationship with said terrorists does not apparently equal trusting terrorists.

I could be very wrong but, if you’re making a deal with someone, or you’re claiming to have a great relationship with someone, trust is implied. It’s even more implied when both deal making and great relationship-having are happening.

Also I’m wondering exactly what the folks accusing Biden of trusting terrorists while conveniently leaving out Trump’s trust of same were expecting to happen when the U.S. left Afghanistan. Did they think the fucking Taliban was going to just stand aside despite the deal and that a non-terrorist government was just going to pop up and magically maintain power?

Don’t get me wrong. I think there absolutely things worth criticizing about Biden’s withdrawal and specifically how it’s been executed. but “He’s trusting the terrorists!” is definitely not one of those things, unless there’s some alternative I don’t know about where the Taliban is kept from assuming power without our maintaining a continuous troop presence and basically making Afghanistan a client state.