TALIBAN GOVERNMENT: RECOGNIZE THEM NOW, NO FURTHER DELAY NECESSARY.

ICHEOKU says they were able to put a government together within such a reasonable time, barely one week after the United States pulled its troops out of Afghanistan. They were also able to repair and reopen the Kabul international airport within a record time. They have so far conducted themselves in ways not as harshly as their first time around. It is therefore about time the international community show them that they like what they are seeing and encourage them to maintain the right direction. 

We should therefore support their effort as go forth to govern their country by immediately recognizing their newly constituted government and help them get off the ground running. There is no need to adopt any "wait and see" approach or to say that "we are not in a rush to recognize them" because there is nothing else to find out. They are the only authority now in Afghanistan, regardless of the manner they got into power. At worst, we can see them as a government that came to power through a military coup and treat them as any such other country with similar experience by encouraging them to democratize. But to do nothing or defer establishing diplomatic relations with them, especially by reopening the embassy building in Kabul and reactivating other under the radar activities on the ground in Kabul will be hurtful to the overall security interest needs of America. 

The United States of America must not act as a dog in the manger or remain a sore loser because of the manner it was forced out of Afghanistan by protesting the newly formed Taliban government in Kabul. The war is over and every effort and action, going forward, must be geared towards asserting a firm influence over them and working out how best to protect the fragility of Afghanistan and not allow it to degenerate any further or collapse back to a terrorists breeding enclave. The Taliban may not be the government which we want or would have preferred in Afghanistan, but any government which can hold Afghanistan together and prevent it from sliding back into a complete anarchy is still better than no government at all. 

We can assist with the keeping of Afghanistan together by acting now and immediately recognize the Taliban government and work with them and try and influence them from the inside. To the victor, goes the spoil and they won the war; and therefore have earned the  right to constitute a government of their choosing. Nobody tells America the type of government to have or who should participate in it; so why is anyone bothered that the Taliban have chosen a government which they believe is in the best interest of their people, the Afghanis. It does not matter that it is an Islamic government with sharia law flavor and it should not matter either the people they put in charge to run the affairs of their state, what they did in their past lives notwithstanding. 

If those Guantanamo-5 were good enough to participate in the withdrawal negotiations in Doha Qatar, and were also rightfully released by the United States government in a trade for Bowe Bergdahi, then they should be good enough to participate in the government which they secured as a result of the negotiated withdrawal. It is their country, their Taliban, their choice; and now their government. All the West can do now is to find a way to eat their humble pie and work with the hand which fate dealt them, the enemies the Taliban, coming back to power. In fact it is the only option now left and we must cease it timely before we lose out clout to other budding interests including Russia and China. 

So what if the Taliban suppressed a protest recently? America also suppressed the January 6th Capitol riot and many others before and since after. Lets not forget that an unarmed civilian, a woman and a veteran was summarily executed inside the Capitol on that day, yet we are speaking of the Taliban as if they are the only ruthless government on planet earth. If they do not want women participating in their government, it is a cultural thing and we should respect that. Homosexuals participate in our government and so many countries would consider that as an intolerable aberration, yet no country has demanded that we first exclude weirdos from governance before they can deal with us. 

Our culture respects and accepts that and other countries accepts to respect America and its culture, so why cannot us also reciprocate this gesture by allowing other countries to maintain their own cultures as well. If they do not determine for us who should serve in our government, why are we serving them the potion which we will not drink by insisting that they must have women in their government. What if their culture sees such as a taboo, regardless of how mundane it might sound? We should as a matter of course, defer to them on who serves in their government based on what is their acceptable cultural norms. 

But how many women even serve in our friend and ally Saudi Arabia's government? How about Iranian, Pakistani, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan and other Islamic countries which America has cordial relationship with. so why is Afghanistan being singled out for this moral decency lessons of inclusivity? if we can tolerate these other countries and respect their cultural and religious need, why not Afghanistan? These countries consider homosexuals as taboo, yet they do not ask nor demand that we consider them same by excluding them from governance. Why are we forcing our values on them? 

It is their culture and religion and we should be humble enough to respect and accommodate it; as we continue to work them into understanding the alternative, and the advantages and benefits of inclusiveness. So far, they are behaving themselves as they know that the world is watching them very closely and they also want to be accepted as a bona fide government. We should take advantage of this their burning desire to be certified and approach them showing more compassion and then exploit it to get them change certain things is due course. 

At least the devil one knows is always better than the stranger devil; and since these Taliban leaders are people already known to the West, it will be much easier to work with them and eventually get them to do what the West wants and desires with time. They  pledged that Afghanistan's soil will not be used against the security of any other country. This should be good enough to allay fears of Afghanistan once again becoming a breeding ground for terrorism. We should work with them to ensure this never happens again. We might even at some point down the road, even cajoling them into allowing a military base in  Afghanistan for terrorism watch post. 

They have asked foreign diplomats, embassies, consulates and humanitarian organizations to return to Afghanistan and we should take them on this offer by reopening immediately all the embassies and consulates that were shuttered upon the withdrawal of forces. It is better to have assets on the ground, both human and electronics, to help monitor them better from close quarters. If they want a sharia law in their nearly 100% Muslim Afghanistan, so be it; as we have Judeo-Christian based English law in the West and nobody has questioned that. 

They promised a lasting peace, prosperity and development in Afghanistan and asked their people not to abandon their homeland but to stay and to help rebuild their war damaged country back better. This should be encouraged in order to save Afghanistan from ever sliding back to ruinous state. They also stated that they have no problem with anyone or any country and you ask yourself what other assurances do the West need before they can let the Taliban show them the money of their commitment by making due all the deliverables. It is the right toned speech and the West should help them realize them by sticking around closely and not deserting them. We can leverage and influence them to change their behavior but not by isolating them.

The people they announced as members of their interim government are people who the West already have dossiers on. Mullah Hasan Akhund, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Abdul Salam Hanafi, Sirajuddin Haqqani, Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, Amir Khan Muttaqi, Hedayatullah Badri, Abbas Stanikzai, Abdul Haq Wasiq, Norullah Noori, Khairullah Khairkhah, Mullah Mohammad Fazi, Mohammad Nabi Omari and Haibatullah Akhundzada are well known by the West and could be easily reached should the need ever arises. So, lets recognize the Taliban government now; and yes, we should be in a hurry to do so and not wait another 20 years to do it. Nature abhors vacuum and the longer we wait the more opportunity Russia and China will have time to exploit and fill the void which we left.  

MICHAEL K WILLIAMS, OMAR LITTLE OF THE WIRE: DEAD FROM DRUG OVERDOSE.

ICHEOKU says another famous black actor, who rose to fame for his role as Omar Little in the HBO series The Wire, has succumbed to the demon of drugs. Whether these people do not listen or are too stressed and depressed to care, remains the sixty four million dollar question which has not been answered by anyone. It was not too long ago that rapper DMX lost his life to drugs and now Michael Kenneth Williams too have  surrendered his life to the same killer pastime. Both and many others heard Witney Houston's admonition that crack is whack, yet it did not make them to look the other way. 

With his death, the tally of famous black people who failed to heed the warning and gave their lives to crack or whatever other drug of choice which whacked them, have now risen. But why are these people taking these drugs anyway, aware that they might overdose on them? Probably the same reason we all do the things that we do just because we cannot help ourselves from doing them. Addiction is it and it starts with one try, but why? Was it because the pressure that came with their fame made their life simply unlivable without staying high always to mask and muffle it? Did their fame make their life become so boring that they cannot just go on living a normal life they were used to without some help from drugs? 

Do these famous people feel isolated, scared and cornered without anyone to trust anymore that they feel lonely and finds some companionship with drugs? What is it exactly as too many  people are being lost daily to hard drugs in America without an answer to why they choose to get high and many of the drugs are no longer as pure as they used to be. The drugs are constantly being adulterated with other substances such as fentanyl that they end up not being what the addict meant to introduce into their body as they end up poisoning themselves, which is causing all these "accidental" overdosing. The greed of suppliers and lust for triple gains as well as the demand from addicts for Empire State building high, caused these boosting of supplies. 

All these people succumbing to drug overdose were not and could not have been just that suicidal to knowingly introduce into their bodies substance that would end their life just like that. But they end up dying anyway because their heart was shocked by a traumatic experience induced by these drugs  and they just pack up. So, it is not totally the dealers and suppliers fault that these drugs are now increasingly being adulterated because the market forces control what is available. Some addicts have used so much drugs and for such a long time that it no longer gives them the high which they crave for. The search for the next level high and the dealers desire not to lose the customer makes them to upgrade by juicing up the drugs.

It is very tragic that many people are constantly now dying as a result of these boosted drugs. These occurrences should be something of great concern to America people, particularly the loved ones and other people around these famous people in the entertainment industry. They should be on their guard and more proactive in spotting a cry for help from such people in need before it becomes too late. A matter made worse because these famous people usually surround themselves with "aiders and abetters" who simply nod to whatever they say and desire, without giving a care in the world about whether it is in their best interest. Their only concern usually is to ensure that their cash cow keeps on producing dairy products and once their bills are taken care of, that is good enough. 

Now they have killed another black famous entertainer and you ask yourself, when will it end. It is sad losing Michael Kenneth Williams especially so close to the death of DMX, both from killer drugs which they overdosed on. Unfortunately, the society does not appear to care enough about these people dying, to want to do something serious about the drug scourge ravaging American society. Michael Kenneth Williams is now dead, another victim of drugs overdose and who shall it be tomorrow? For who the bell tolls next and when will something be done about wrestling drugs out of the American society. It is another indication that the war on drugs has either failed or is not being earnestly prosecuted, just like the Afghanistan war.

Omar Little was one of ICHEOKU's favorite black actor who ICHEOKU personal acknowledged as the real scarface, not Al Pacino; because of his very prominent facial scarring running from his head right through down to his neck. As he explained in an interview, he got the scarring from a bar fight when he was 25 years old and his attackers used a sharp blade and carve him up. With his death, you wonder if any of those black entertainers who are still shooting some liquids into their veins or popping pills or snorting powdery substances right into their nostrils will stop for a moment and think again about what they are doing and its attendant risks, including sudden death. 

But the death of DMX did not stop Omar Little from also now taking his own life from drug overdose, accidental or not; and his death will also not prevent the next druggie from overdosing in the future. Drugs have become a grave epidemic or rather pandemic in America but it seems that the society has accepted to live with it, leading to the increasing number of people dying from overdosing. It has somewhat become a weapon of mass destruction in America, worse than gun violence and even worse than terrorism, the number of Americans being killed yearly by drug overdose considered. Is there no solution or have the society given up, tired from years of war on drug that has not yielded the desired result.

It is sad that another famous black person has now bitten the dust of drug overdose; and for one such famous person killed, hundreds of other less known persons equally succumb to their own drug addiction daily in America. Every year the number of drug killed casualties keep on rising and then add the junkies filling up American city streets. It is pitiful that the number of Americans being wasted by drugs is this many and it cuts across the length and breath of America, all races, classes, admitted it is the black drug scourge that is the subject of this focus. But will anything now change because of the death of Michael Kenneth Williams? ICHEOKU says will not bet on it and so should you. Anyway, may his soul now rest. Michael Kenneth Williams was 54 years old. Adieu Omar Little. 

AFGHANISTAN: A MICROMANAGED MILITARY FOUGHT A MISMANAGED WAR AND LOST.

ICHEOKU says if after twenty years of blood and treasure the situation in Afghanistan was in such a mission-critical that a $700 million embassy building could not safely be occupied and operates, but has to be closed and abandoned and eventually will fall into ruins, what then have America been doing all the years of sojourning in Afghanistan. It shows that the Taliban was righteously disappointed and indignant that America stayed in their country, uninvited, for that long without any real achievement. They could not even secure their own embassy building and you wonder what else did they secure; and why American people are not rising up in protest on the streets and demanding that the frolic of the last twenty years be investigated and accounted for. 

American taxpayers deserve some answers and they should be asking to know what the two trillion dollars purchased and on what it was expended. How was the money disbursed and who got what, Afghanistan officials or their American counterparts? Over two thousand American lives and over twenty thousand injured Americans cannot just be swept under the rug and pretend as if nothing happened, especially when the amount of money spent to incur such a gargantuan loss is factored in. They had the superiority in manpower, weapons, equipments,  airplanes, logistics and all manners of other hi-tech gadgets and vision capabilities, yet they lost the war to a band of Taliban fighters. What happened? 

ICHEOKU says has come to the conclusion that too much civilian interference with war prosecution cost America the war in Afghanistan, period. The civilian wing of the Washington DC elite and political establishment purposely gummed the war effort in Afghanistan and misdirected its prosecution. Too much civilian involvement and near total control of the military is eroding the fighting abilities of the United States military as they not only start these wars but also micromanage its prosecution. This is causing the many not too stellar results of missions and in turn causing too many dissatisfaction in the military as the fighting men and women know that they can do it but not with their hands tied behind their backs. 

It is increasingly bleeding the morals of the men and women in uniform and also eroding the confidence in America by many international bodies and other countries which heavily relies on America to show the way. This evaporating confidence in America must be arrested quickly before it is too late, forcing these various interests to seek shelter of protection elsewhere, most likely China. It is acceptable that the military should be under the control of civilian leadership, but it should be to the extent of issuing a command but not how that command is carried out. It is what the military trains and lives to do every day, how to carry out the command. But to order them into war and still dictate how to fight the war is too intrusive and very demoralizing. It makes them look idiotic and that they don't know how to do their job.

How could an infantry with boots on the ground in a theater of war be required to first crosscheck with Washington DC or Florida or Virginia before moving on a cornered target? How could a fighter pilot over an enemy be required to ensure that no civilian, women and children will be killed by a dropped bomb? How can a band of brothers carrying out a raid of an enemy'e dwelling be required to make sure that only the "correct" enemies were killed and when unavoidable collateral damage results, is courtmartialed and sometimes imprisoned or fired? it is not as if they are not operating under a highly charged environment already, but their civilian minders prefer to add to their psychological payloads. 

Recall the incident that happened with Osama bin Laden who was cornered in the mountains of Tora Bora around December 2001. But instead of the summarily swooping in on him and capture or take him out, their rule of engagement required them to first seek clearance and get approval from the civilians in Washington DC before acting on the intelligence. When they did, they were ordered to step down and not proceed to deal with Osama bin Laden, allowing him to escape kill or capture so soon after 9/11 and you wonder why? The war would have ended right then in Tora Bora, but the Deep State Military Industrial Complex wanted to make money, hence the forever war began, resulting in the 20 years jamboree in Afghanistan. 

Now, America will also go down in history as another country which was defeated in Afghanistan, the other major two being the British Empire and the Union of Socialists Soviet Republic, largely now known as Russia. It was the same story line, they could not defeat Afghanistan and were forced into a humiliating withdrawal with their tails tucked in between their legs. But if only there was not a too constraining rules of engagement which hamstrung American fighting men and women, their own story of expedition in Afghanistan would have turned out differently. But their hands were tied by too many regulations; some, made up as they fought, which made it impossible for them to operate and no war could have been won under such circumstances.

The only way American military can start winning wars again is to let them do what they train and live for, fight like their lives depends on it. The First and Second Gulf wars were such wars where Generals Charles Albert Horner and Norman Schwarzkopf were allowed the liberties of being commanding generals and they delivered. Therefore going forward, the military should be allowed to do what they do best or don't send them into battle, especially for some of these needless egotistic wars such as to avenge one's father's image. Also many of these wars can be avoided if the draft is reintroduced in the military. With everyone having a full stake in the wars, including those war profiteering mongrels, wars will be seriously thought through before they are started. 

If they know that their own kits and kins could be sent into battle fronts, they will have a thorough circumspection to undergo before pulling the trigger of war declaration. But as long it is other peoples children and relatives that will be put in harms way and possibly brought back in body bags and America flag draped caskets, they will continue to be very cavalier in the manner they start wars, including in very distant lands with no particular national security interest or implication to America. They have upgraded wars as money minting endeavors for them, sort of business venture and they will only continue to salivate at any opportunity to make more money at the expense of American taxpayers. 

Imagine the impact all the resources wasted in Afghanistan would have had were it invested in America? It would have transformed America into the Dubai of the Western world, with a fully rebuilt, replaced and completely modernized infrastructure; possibly free tuition, free healthcare and possibly solve the homeless problem too. But no, the fat cats of DSMIC want the money in boatloads and only by American taxpayers spending them on expensive weapons and military hardwares will they make out like bandits through war profiteering. 

Thankfully, Joe Biden stayed his ground and brought the Afghanistan gallivanting to an end. The Deep State military industrial complex is not happy, they are seething and growling, and before too soon, another war might be started somewhere just to pacify them. Whether it will lead to a war with China, which will be a mother-load for weapons sales, nobody knows but it will definitely be a very costly adventure both in human and financial resources. It will also be the mother of all wars which America has ever engaged in as the forces will be nearly evenly matched, ferocity for ferocity. It will not be a case of an overmatched opponent struggling to put up some fight, but two strong powers going at each other and throwing everything into it to come out on tops, the proverbial two elephants. 

But the world will never allow such war between America and China to happen because it will literary destroy the world, economically. The two sides are the world's greatest powers, militarily and economically; and their engaging in a destructive war will not only stagnate their respective countries, but also strangle a world that is heavily dependent on them for their own survival. The grass will not allow itself to suffer such pain and agony and will therefore not allow the two elephants to fight. But the Deep State Military Industrial Complex is addicted to wars and they must have their fix, starting another war very soon. ICHEOKU says strongly believes that war between America and China is uploading.  #ReintroduceDraft.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: NOT GIVING AMERICAN PEOPLE THE ROOM TO MISS HIM.

ICHEOKU says if only he can appreciate the need to remove himself from the firing range and totally and completely isolate himself from the line of fire and not give the media a reason to see him at the business end of their rifle. That way they will be forced to concentrate only on the target at the White House without being distracted by their Trump's derangement syndrome, which usually kicks into overdrive each time President Donald John Trump comes into focus. Yes, for all intent and purpose, Joe Biden should be the only target on the crosshairs of the viewfinder, strapped alone at the firing range of political destruction right now in America. But President Donald John Trump cannot retrain himself and is constantly trusting himself into view and making it difficult for the media to concentrate their aim. 

If only he could discipline himself enough and take a leave of absence, away from the center of attention, he will give those his usual traducers time to really find another target of attack concentrate their attention. They will be forced to engage the man at the White House, whose stewardship so far needs some reviewing. But unfortunately, his love for camera, light and action has become almost an addiction and he cannot help himself but continuously insert himself into the fray. Now the woke media is trying as hard as possible to make him the bogey man of everything that has gone wrong so far in the Joe Biden's administration. He forced them to redirect attention at him and with it, Joe Biden is not being fully exposed to the heat of all that are going awry in the country. 

President Donald John Trump is oversupplying himself to the media and at a time when he should be very scarce, in order to force them examine Joe Biden's record more closely to see if they are meeting his election campaign promises. He is the one now in the White House and since the buck stops on his desk, the media and politics pundits will have no other choice in the matte but to explain to American people why things are going awry with an "adult" now in the White House. If President Trump can just move away, even temporarily, may be American people will then become fully aware of who is in fact responsible for all that are going adrift in their life and America in general, the present occupant of the White House, his name is Joe Biden. 

There is the Afghanistan withdrawal hiccups; the resilient coronavirus disease which is still scalding Americans; the weak economy with very slow recovery; the weak jobs numbers; the natural disasters of hurricane Ida and wildfires in California; and of course the exacerbating gun violence as well as opioids deaths. All these are problems needing solutions, which Joe Biden promised Americans he will wipe away once in the White House. But nine months later, he seems lost in finding solutions as promised. American people should be edge now, demanding answers and seeking to know from the Joe Biden why his administration has not delivered as promised. Because the media is not concentrating focus on these problems solely on him, it makes it appear as if things are still firmly under his control.

ICHEOKU says strongly believes that the problems would get the attention they deserve when Joe Biden is hounded by American people with the help of the media and demanding answers for why things are not smooth sailing since he came into office. A smarter President Donald John Trump should therefore not stand in the way of focusing attention on Joe Biden and should have since yielded the spotlight and disappeared. Joe Biden could then be pinned down to explain why so many things are not currently working out as he promised and American people had anticipated. But as long as President Donald John Trump keeps on placing himself in the center-front, that long will the media and pundits be tempted to make him the subject of discussion. 

Who gains from this but Joe Biden who is, coasting under the radar, without being held to account for the shortcomings and unfulfilled expectations of his administration, nine months after. The Afghanistan debacle would have been a great opportunity to compare notes between what President Donald John Trump would have done if similarly situated, with what Joe Biden did.  Many people are leaning on the side which said that Trump would have not allowed the Taliban to so easily rout Afghanistan. Some other people also blame Trump for entering the agreement with the Taliban which they claim bounded Joe Biden's hands, but they fail to also include that Joe Biden could have canceled the agreement as he did other things with Trump's signature on them. 

President Donald John Trump was saved from salvos of condemnations which would have come his way had Afghanistan ended as it did with him still in the White House. Imagine what they would have done to him had it been under his watch that Taliban breezed into Kabul without any hinderance or resistance. Even the woke generals would have "rebelled" against him for being such a "mumbling" and pathetic" commander in chief and foreign policy novitiate who did not know what was in the best interest of America. The media would have also chewed and spat him out like a bad curd; and paid hacks who are parading themselves as pundits and experts would have brought the roof down on him with their useless analysis explaining why Trump was not fit to remain in the White House. 

For added effect, they would have used all manners of words to describe him such as fumbling and inexperienced; maniacal and egotistic; dead brain; hare brained; a buffoon who knew nothing about foreign policy etc. They would have blamed him for everything and being the sole reason the outcome turned out as it did. Both political parties, democrats and republicans, would have joined hands in demanding that he resigned from office and would have summarily impeached and removed him from office  if he hesitated or resisted. Now, even some republicans are defending Joe Biden's foibles, needless to add that no democrat has so far ever ventured outside their party directive to raise a voice against all the shortfalls bedeviling the administration. 

May be if Trump wasn't in the way, the situation could have been different, but he is not yielding nor ceding the space to test the theory. American people still see him very much around and nearly everywhere, such that some people probably thinks that he is still in the White House and calling all the shots. The media is not helping matters either as they are using him as scapegoat to cover for Joe Biden's problems; and thus saving Joe Biden from the full weight of anger by an increasingly disappointed and despondent American people. But for Trump interjecting himself in the situation, all the current darts would have been shooting straight right at the White House with none ever being directed at Mar-largo. The media would have had no choice but to keep it one hundred on Joe Biden, but with Trump giving Joe Biden some lease on life with his availability, Joe Biden is largely left unscathed.

A more political adroit and astute Trump should have known that he is helping Joe Biden by serving himself up to the media at this time. He is their goose that keeps on giving as they have insatiable appetite for attacking and criticizing him. If ICHEOKU were advising Trump, would suggest that he take a break from the media scene and allow Joe Biden to answer for his stewardship so far, by forcing the media to finally solely focus on Joe Biden and dig into his records. President Trump is one lucky fella and probably the luckiest politician alive in America right now for not being in the White House at this present time. He should therefore do himself a favor by making a b-line out of the media circus and stay away; and watch Joe Biden take all the heat. But his addiction to light, camera and action would not permit it.  

UNDERESTIMATING THE TALIBAN COSTLY: WE DIDN'T ALSO EVEN KNOW THEY CAN FLY.

ICHEOKU says the fact that they can get that baby up in the sky and also safely land it back on the ground speaks volumes about the new Taliban 2.0 and their readiness to outperform expectations. Nobody ever thought that they know how to drive armored vehicles, talkless of flying a helicopter; but they have once again proved everyone wrong. It was the same way they survived the 20 years of world powers occupation of Afghanistan and eventually toppled the government in Kabul and are now in power.

What else about the Taliban is the West misreading or "mis-underestimating" or not understanding that will eventually spring a rude surprise on them. The West underestimated the Taliban several times before and they are today still being cocky about them, despite having  routed a government which the West backed and supported militarily. What is wrong with those cranking out policies in the West one may ask. Instead of the tough guy posture and we have the leverage to choke the life out of them attitude being exhibited by the West, the better approach should be to be humble in defeat and explore ways of accepting the reality that is Taliban now in charge in Afghanistan. But the longer the West waits on the sidelines from recognizing the Taliban, the more it will be difficult to reel them in within an acceptable behavior.

The Taliban have proved severally that they are better than we give them credit for and that underestimating them is to our own detriment; so, why the adamancy on the old approach. They came before and were very ruthless, but that was 20 years ago; why not give them the benefit of the doubt that they might be different this time, no matter how miniscule. They have made a lot of promises too to be of good behavior and so far they are still tallying along those narrow lines, without veering off to their notorious old hardline display of absolutism. It is a window of opportunity which is open to the West and which could be used to contain them and somewhat also control them. It is therefore incumbent on the West not to allow it to close or go to waste. 

We might also be surprised to see how quickly all those aircrafts, vehicles and equipments which departing American military damaged and abandoned in Afghanistan will be repaired by the Taliban. Once they are repaired and added to the thousands of other military fully functional vehicles including armored tanks which were also left for them, they might very quickly turn Afghanistan into a regional military power in South-central Asia. They are nearly finishing the formation of their all inclusive Afghanistan national government and with support from their Pakistan neighbors, their MiddleEast friends and other fellow Muslim countries such as Turkey, the Taliban might once again surprise the West by in fact running an effective government in Kabul. 

The arrogance of the West is in the way and once again making a fool of the West by their not grabbing with two hands the opportunity to embrace the Taliban fully and be in a position to influence their government. Sanctions which normally work against civilized countries will not work with the Taliban because majority of them have never been on an airplane talkless of enjoying vacations in the West. Majority of them too do not have bank accounts talkless of having secret Switzerland coded accounts or in the Cayman, Bahamas, New York or London which the West can cease. Majority of them too do not have their children going to posh schools and universities in the West who could be targeted by any sanctions and lastly, they do not have palate for Western fine wines, cigars and delicacies. 

So, what exactly is the West going to sanction the Taliban with which will force them to change their ways and behavior, assuming they decides to call the bluff of America and its Western allies and reboot their old ways. They have all the weapons, equipments and military vehicles which they will need for their natural pastime, fighting; at least it will last them for the next decade or two; and they got them for free. The West therefore have no serious leverage over the Taliban and it will be in the West's best interest not to turn their back on the Taliban. The best foot forward is to immediately recognize their government, bring them closer and work with them in order to try and moderate them from within. If they can fly a chopper, it means they can do a lot more and the West must not allow itself to be left behind as the Taliban train roars off. 

TEXAS HEARTBEAT LAW: A REASONABLE RESTRAINT ON ABORTIONS GONE WILD.

ICHEOKU says there are so many options available to prevent having an abortion but the will apparently no longer exists to do so. The procedure is so well advanced and easy to perform that some women now find it even harder doing pregnancy preventions than simply making a visit to an abortion clinic. Getting pregnant can be easily prevented by those women who don't want to carry babies to full term with the practice of safe sex and insistence that their partners also do the same. Having an unwanted pregnancy requiring a women to have an abortion is therefore an otherwise avoidable position to be in.

It is even more disturbing when the same abortionists scream loudest that babies are being put in cages and demand that unlimited number of children and their mothers from the southern border should be allowed into America and agitate for 200,000 Afghanis including women and children to be imported in planeloads into America. How about America's own babies or haven't these abortionist lost whatever moral high grounds they had in trying to stop American own babies from being brought into America through birth by their love for foreign and other countries babies? What if those babies were similarly aborted? These are very unreasonable and irrational people who only want the carefree indulgence of unprotect and unrestricted sex but without the responsibility which sometimes accompany such activities. This attitude shot abortion on demand to the stratosphere where it is today in America and Texas decided to so something about it.

It is very tragic that over 300,000 babies are aborted each year in America, in a country that is supposedly "God's own country" and you wonder why? Is it that American women have become so reckless with their reproductive cycle and don't care anymore or have developed this carefree attitude of having unprotected sex because there is an abortion clinic down the road or around the corner? Is it possible too that because of cache blanc women "freedom" in America, including the freedom not to be married or divorce on a whiff or simply the outright dislike and hatred of men by their feminist wing that such decision to abort is arrived often too quickly? Is it that there is no longer fear of God in the society and with it moral codes have gone too, that sex is now more cavalierly engaged in resulting in unwanted pregnancies? Even sexually transmitted diseases no longer deter women from having unprotected sex and getting knocked up with unwanted babies which they flush out in abortion clinics.

As the unending battle of society continues for the right of women to or not to have an abortion,  there is a need too for society to take a look at adopting a new approach to the tussle by looking at the root cause of the matter which is having unprotected sex. Although a negligible percentage of the women who seek abortion services are victims of rape, but the large majority of them are women who had informed consensual sex, yet ended up seeking the services. Is it because they had a change of mind on carrying the pregnancy to full term or the unexpected pregnancy will impact their life in ways they did not anticipate nor would accommodate. Why not just say no to sex some people might ask, since the law gives women that additional right to reject any unwanted sexual advances or when they are not feeling up to it. Why is it only when that line of pregnancy is crossed that all these hoopla begins to be raised, forcing one to ask is prevention no longer better than cure.

ICHEOKU says is not an anti abortion police or a regulator of actions or controller of decisions, but only exploring ways the Roe v Wade existing tension between pro-life forces and abortionists can be effectively checkmated so that Americans can once begin to find some areas of agreement on some issues, especially one as this delicate. It was the Supreme Court that brought Roe v Wade into legitimacy and if the same Supreme Court choses to delegitimate Roe v Wade through the Texas heartbeat law which they decided not to touch, so be it. It is not only about women's right not to carry babies to full term, but also there is an included right of the unborn child not to be denied its right of entry into this world. So, a weighted balance of allowing the woman to do with her body as she pleases also includes the right of an unborn baby not to be killed once his or her heart starts beating. But to seek to completely deny one their right is not only selfish and uncaring, but also an attack on their God giving right to life and also their body. 

The Texas law is an equitable legislation which protects both women and babies as both parties are allowed their respective rights while meeting each other safely at the center with reasonable accommodations. The right to life should not be only exclusive for the women who are providing the incubator for the children because the children have no other alternative means of entering society and therefore reserves the right not to be denied their entry into society. Also, the abortionists once incubated in some other woman's ovum and therefore owe a duty to provide their ovum for some other child wishing to enter the world. Having that special ability and capability to provide such services is an honor which should be treasured rather than scorned.  The government should consider paying women for pregnancy hardship allowance and that way incentivize them to bringing life into this world. It will also greatly reduce the urge to get rid of the babies.

It is obvious that majority of women flushing babies out in abortion clinics do so because of financial hardship of raising a child. The government can institute a program for helping these women financially and if the government can afford to spend $300 million per day fighting a needless war in Afghanistan, they can also easily afford helping women with the financial needs involved in having babies. It is all about finding a workable solution as no person should be forced to carry a burden which is too heavy for their back. Since men readily want to have sex and condoms are not always their first preference, may be it is about time men are made to start paying for sex through a universal childcare taxation just in case an unwanted pregnancy results and the child has to be carried to full term. They already pay prostitutes, so why not for every sex?

Is it possible that as Texas goes so will other conservative Republican controlled States in the union, using "acute" restrictions on abortions to completely delegitimate abortions in their respective states. But their intention is in the right place as their aim is to help save the lives of millions of American babies who will be aborted, going forward? It is also in memory of the millions of other babies who were not so lucky and have already since paid the price of unrestricted abortions on demand in America. But are women being unduly tasked on this issue, and what sacrifices exactly are men being asked to make in the effort to end abortions on demand in America. It is true that without men there will be no resulting pregnancy which may be considered unwanted and needing to be aborted. Why is the use of spermicides not being encouraged more often, including its equivalent for men being readily made available so that men will also be actively participating in the prevention of pregnancies.

ICHEOKU says agrees that abortion is ravaging America and even bordering on savagery perpetrated on American babies, the future population of America. So, why is the American society tolerating the killing of their own kind and to such a degree that over 300,000 of them are killed each year. A matter made worse because it is their direct blood line that are killing these babies, American women; sometimes aided and abetted by American men, in the guise of exercising their "reproductive rights". What exactly is "reproductive" in sabotaging reproduction? Their right not to reproduce should end once the producing process has begun with an implanted viable fetus. Tampering with the fetus should therefore be a more readily prosecutable crime of not only the woman, but the man who implanted the fetus, except of course when the woman insists, despite all the pleading from the man, that it is her body and her choice.

There is a need to find a definitive meeting ground on the issue of abortion in America because it is always going to periodically swing with the composition of the Supreme Court Justices. It once  swung to the Roe v Wade presently operating standard and might someday swing back to what it used to be before Roe v Wade. The entire society is suffering the effects and it will take the entire society to also find a solution to it. It is therefore about time the society fixed it because contraceptives have not solved the problem, condoms have not solved the problem, the fear of catching STDs have not solved the problem and the craving for orgasms have not slowed down. So, what then will solve the problem? ICHEOKU says women should be encouraged, pampered and even paid to carry babies to full term; that way, they will not be feeling that they are being forced to do with their body what they don't want to do. Let pay them to do it.

The Texas law is a good and well thought out law which will help create more American babies and avoid the need to import people through the southern border and Afghanistan to populate the land. Any woman in Texas who does not want to carry babies to full term should relocate to New York or California where abortion on demand is still a way of life. But if they choose to remain in Texas, they should be prepared to do the needful by closing their legs (abstinence) or opening them with greater caution by practicing safe sex with condoms or prevention of conception by contraceptives or the Billings method. It is their body, alright; but babies need to incubate. Women should treasure the honor of exclusive privilege of being the only entry point of babies into this world. They should cherish it with great relish and pride themselves in it, instead of taking undue advantage of it by denying babies entry visas into America. #WomenRocks! 

BIDEN'S AFGHANISTAN SPEECH: WELL RECEIVED AND QUITE INSIGHTFUL.

ICHEOKU says it was a well crafted speech and under his frailty, was delivered sufficiently well too. ICHEOKU commends him for his courage in damning the Deep State Military Industrial Complex to bring the Afghanistan charade to an end. So many people had anticipated that some people would have been fired for the hiccups encountered, but he took all the responsibility as the buck stopped on his table. He took the covering fire and so should the matter now rest. Many American people strongly believe that the decision to end the conduit for Afghanistan fraud and corruption was the right decision as it stopped the bleeding enterprise of $300 million every day out of America's treasury.

Many things were disclosed in the speech such as that majority of the Americans in Afghanistan are Afghan nationals who have dual citizenship in America; but who are at home with their people and many of them decided to stay and tough it out. There is a report too that some Afghanis even returned to Afghanistan following the Taliban victory, including a former finance minister who moved back from America following contacts with the Taliban and the hope of joining the new government, reappointed to the ministry. As ICHEOKU has repeatedly said, majority of Afghanis support the Taliban because they were tired of the corrupt and inept former President Ashraf Ghani's administration and wanted a change. 

Another point which Joe Biden raised in the speech was the need for America to punt out of Afghanistan and reposition itself better in order not to lose grounds to China and Russia in global competition. It is a very germane reason as the billions of dollars being wasted in Afghanistan, to the tune of $300 million each day, could be put elsewhere to a better use and better yield on return on investment. Infrastructure, schools, healthcare and technological and medical improvements could benefit handsomely from this. But what exactly was the daily amount spent on for the duration the expenses lasted when not even the Kabul embassy building which gulped $700 million to put together was secured. 

It was also relieving to learn that Americans in Afghanistan had multiple warnings and offers to help them leave Afghanistan for several months beginning in March, for a total of 19 times and that majority of those who wanted to leave safely left. That 100,000 Afghanis were also airlifted out of their country, which ICHEOKU says was not helpful to Afghanistan because with them now gone, the country is left with no requisite manpower to continue building back better from where America stopped. It was not a good decision to evacuate this many Afghanis out of their country since abandoning it to the Taliban will only make it worse and less livable with no adequate brainpower left to run and manage it. 

However, ICHEOKU disagrees with Joe Biden for trying to apportion some blame to President Donald John Trump for the agreement he reached with the Taliban on the withdrawal. Joe Biden have canceled everything with Trump's signature and name on it including and could have also easily canceled whatever agreement he reached with the Taliban, but he did not. He made a campaign promise to end the war and he ended the war. The buck stopped on his table. It was under his watch; he is fully and completely responsible for all the shortfalls and also earned all the credits for the successes. Just as he took full responsibility for the mission, so should he also not point any finger at any person for any agreement leading up to the withdrawal.

No meaningful non partisan is questioning the wisdom behind the decision to end the war and withdraw from Afghanistan; but the manner in which the withdrawal was carried out is the only thing under the microscope. It is also agreed that no time would have been better for the mission but it that could have been more ordered through a scheme that would have had only those penciled down for airlift being contacted and taken out of Afghanistan in the dead of the night, if need be. But to surge evacuees in the manner witnessed at the airport is what so many people disagree with as it is not the best possible approach for the exercise. Afghanis rushed to the airport because they got wind of the evacuation, otherwise they would have been sleeping on their beds when those meant to be evacuated were completely emptied out of the country. 

ICHEOKU says agrees with Joe Biden too that going forward, America must always set missions with clear achievable goals, not unattainable ones; and that America must stay clearly mission-focused on the fundamental national security interests which necessitated the mission and once achieved, it is mission over. It couldn't be more clear-eyed than this and Joe Biden should be commended and appreciated for articulating such a definable mission creed with exactitude. He gave his word and he carried it through. It was a right and wise decision; and, in fact it was the best decision for America. 

The Deep State military industrial complex did not like it but so also do they not like America as they have become mercenaries preying on America's wellness and Joe Biden stood up to them and won. Thankfully he did not suffer a "sudden heart attack" before August 31st as those monsters are capable of just anything. It is possible too that their dislike for Kamala Harris saved the day and deterred them from going to that extreme length because they loath her more than they hate Joe Biden for killing their golden goose. 

As America now begin to put the Afghanistan matter behind them, Washington DC should try and work with the Taliban so that they can someday soon ship back all those Afghanis to the country to continue building it back better into a much livable place for all humanity to live, thrive and prosper. 

Every country's problem cannot be solved by evacuating their citizens, otherwise what will happen if the worse should ever happen and Americans need to be evacuated. Where will Americans be shipped or flown to if all the countries in the world become too dependent on America that none is functionally viable anymore. The gospel of building back better should be also be preached to other countries to encourage them to be rebuildingi and repositioning their own countries because their over-reliance on America has made so many of them lazy and dysfunctional. 

Imagine the news the other day that the United Kingdom or what was once the Great Britain that used to be a great naval power now has only one functional warship. Imagine the whole continent of Europe, excluding Russia, with a population of more than 700 million people cannot defend themselves and heavily relies on America under the subterfuge of NATO. Now nearly all the other countries in the world are following in the footsteps of Europe and the United Kingdom in getting lazy, allowing their countries to fall apart because their citizens can always run to America and they rely on America to bail them out as well. 

What is happening in the world regarding America's big brother role is steadily morphing into putting all the world's eggs in one America's basket; and instead of creating competitive nations around the world, they are all collapsing into tiny pieces of the great American mosaic. What happens the day the world wakes up and America is no more or has been reduced to a state where it is barley surviving and cannot shoulder the world's problems anymore? 

It is only an unthinking mind that believes that anything lasts forever; and while we pray and hope that America's odyssey goes on uninterrupted and unimpeded; but what about the ifs and buts? Even if it is not through a man made annihilation such as China and Russia ganging up to take America out; what if a natural disaster completely wipes America off the map or renders its ability to play the big brother role ineffective or even impossible? What becomes the fate of the world whose lungs is America or will their breathing come to a halt of an assured instant death?

There used to be so many thriving and even competitive countries in the world but not anymore, except for China. Nigeria for example once had a national currency which was much highly valued and sort after around the world than the American dollar. It used to be a country whose retards were shipped out to American universities because they were not good enough academically to compete in Nigeria schools and universities. But look at Nigeria today and the abyss into which it has fallen with hundreds of thousands of its best brains sojourning in America. People who could help reposition the country are chilling in America with their home country in such degradation. 

Italy and Spain too had tall historical pasts as well, but not anymore. Greece too and of late the United Kingdom is beginning to lose their edge as well. They all have since lost many of their bright minds to America's brain drain and the people are no longer as patriotically committed to the development and wellness of their country as they once used to be. Ireland is practically emptied out of their hit makers as well and the same story is replete throughout the world as so many governments no longer even bother trying to fix their countries, but encourages their citizens to move to America. 

Instead of investing in their countries and without knowledgeable citizens to confront them, they are mired in corruption and use available resources for their families and cronies, leading to the degrading poverty in their lands. Afghanistan is just another example where America erred seriously by removing Afghanis who could help build back better their country. The effect will be a country worse than the bargained for "safety and freedom" of women. Why not even restrict the evacuation to only women and leave the men to fight for their country. Just as Americans love their country,  other nationalities should be encouraged to also love their own countries and not always thinking that the solution to their problems is a quick exit to America. 

THE ENDLESS WAR IS FINALLY ENDED: A MISSION OF MERCY IS OVER. - JOE BIDEN.

“Last night in Kabul, the United States ended 20 years of war in Afghanistan, the longest war in American history. We completed one of the biggest airlifts in history with more than 120,000 people evacuated to safety. That number is more than double what most experts thought were possible. No nation, no nation has ever done anything like it in all of history. Only the United States had the capacity and the will and the ability to do it, and we did it today.

The extraordinary success of this mission was due to the incredible skill, bravely and selfless courage of the United States military and our diplomats and our intelligence professionals. For weeks, they risked their lives to get American citizens, Afghans who helped us, citizens of our allies and partners and others on board planes and out of the country. And they did it facing a crush of enormous crowds, seeking to leave the country. And they did it, knowing ISIS-K terrorists, sworn enemies of the Taliban, were lurking in the midst of those crowds.

And still, the women and men in the United States military, our diplomatic corps and intelligence professionals did their job and did it well, risking their lives, not for professional gain, but to serve others. Not in a mission of war, but in a mission of mercy. Twenty service members were wounded in the service of this mission. Thirteen heroes gave their lives. I was just at Dover Air Force Base, for the dignified transfer. We owe them and their families a debt of gratitude we can never repay, but we should never, ever, ever forget.

In April, I made a decision to end this war. As part of that decision, we set the date of August 31 for American troops to withdraw. The assumption was that more than 300,000 Afghan national security forces that we had trained over the past two decades, and equipped, would be a strong adversary in their civil wars with the Taliban. That assumption that the Afghan government would be able to hold on for a period of time beyond military drawdown turned out not to be accurate. But I still instructed our national security team to prepare for every eventuality, even that one. And that’s what we did. So, we were ready.

When the Afghan security forces – after two decades of fighting for their country, and losing thousands of their own – did not hold on as long as anyone expected, we were ready when they, the people of Afghanistan, watched their own government collapse, and the president flee, amid the corruption and malfeasance, handing over the country to their enemy, the Taliban and significantly increasing the risk to US personnel and our allies.

As a result, to safely extract American citizens before August 31, as well as embassy personnel, allies and partners, and those Afghans who had worked with us and had fought alongside of us for 20 years, I had authorised 6,000 troops, American troops to Kabul to help secure the airport.

As General McKenzie said, this is the way the mission was designed: it was designed to operate under severe stress and attack. And that’s what it did.

Since March, we reached out 19 times to Americans in Afghanistan with multiple warnings and offers to help them leave Afghanistan, all the way back as far as March. After we started the evacuation 17 days ago, we did initial outreach and analysis, and identified around 5,000 Americans who had decided earlier to stay in Afghanistan, but now wanted to leave. Our Operation Allied Rescue ended up getting more than 5,500 Americans out.

We got out thousands of citizens and diplomats from those countries that went to Afghanistan with us to get bin Laden. We got out locally employed staff in the United States Embassy and their families, totalling roughly 2,500 people. We got thousands of Afghan translators and interpreters, and others who supported the United States out as well. Now we believe that about 100 to 200 Americans remain in Afghanistan with some intention to leave. Most of those who remain are dual citizens, longtime residents, but earlier decided to stay because of their family roots in Afghanistan.

The bottom line: 90 percent of Americans in Afghanistan who wanted to leave, were able to leave. And for those remaining Americans, there is no deadline. We remain committed to get them out if they want to come out. Secretary of State Blinken is leading to continue diplomatic efforts to ensure a safe passage for any American, Afghan partner or foreign national who wants to leave Afghanistan.

In fact, just yesterday, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution to send a clear message that the international community expects the Taliban to deliver on moving forward – notably, freedom of travel, freedom to leave. Together, we are joined by over 100 countries that are determined to make sure that Taliban uphold those commitments. It will include ongoing efforts in Afghanistan to reopen the airport, as well as overland routes, allowing for continued departure to those who want to leave, and deliver humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.

The Taliban has made public commitments, broadcast on television and radio across Afghanistan on safe passage for anyone wanting to leave, including those who worked alongside Americans. We don’t take them by their word alone, but by their actions. We have leverage to make sure those commitments are met.

Let me be clear, leaving August 31 is not due to an arbitrary deadline. It is designed to save American lives. My predecessor, the former president, signed an agreement with the Taliban to remove US troops by May the first, just months after I was inaugurated. It included no requirement that the Taliban work out a cooperative governing arrangement with the Afghan government. Bit it did authorise the release of 5,000 prisoners last year, including some of the Taliban’s top war commanders, among those who just took control of Afghanistan.

By the time I came to office, the Taliban was in the strongest military position since 2001, controlling or contesting nearly half of the country. The previous administration’s agreement said that if we stuck to the May 1 deadline that they had signed on to leave by, the Taliban wouldn’t attack any American forces. But if we stayed, all bets were off.

So, we were left with a simple decision: either follow through on the commitment made by the last administration and leave Afghanistan, or say we weren’t leaving and commit another tens of thousands more troops. Going back to war: that was the choice, the real choice, between leaving or escalating. I was not going to extend this forever war, and I was not extending a forever exit. The decision to end the military lift operations at Kabul airport was based on unanimous recommendations of my civilian and military advisors, the secretary of state, the secretary of defense, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and all the service chiefs and the commanders in the field.

Their recommendation was that the safest way to secure the passage of the remaining Americans and others out of the country was not to continue with 6,000 troops on the ground in harm’s way in Kabul, rather, to get them out through non-military means. In the 17 days that we operated in Kabul after the Taliban seized power, we engaged in an around-the-clock effort to provide every American the opportunity to leave. Our State Department was working 24/7 contacting and talking, and in some cases, walking, Americans into the airport. Again, more than 5,500 Americans were airlifted out. And for those who remain, we will make arrangements to get them out if they so choose.

As for the Afghans, we and our partners have airlifted 100,000 of them. No country in history has done more to airlift out the residents of another country than we have done. We will continue to work to help more people leave the country who are at risk. We’re far from done. For now, I urge all Americans to join me in grateful prayer for our troops and diplomats and intelligence officers who carried out this mission of mercy in Kabul at a tremendous risk with such unparalleled results – an airlift that evacuated tens of thousands.

To a network of volunteers and veterans who helped identify those needing evacuation, guide them to the airport, and provide them their support along the way: We’re gonna continue to need their help. We need your help and I’m looking forward to meeting with you. And to everyone who is now offering, or who will offer to welcome Afghan allies to their homes around the world, including in America: We thank you.

I take responsibility for the decision. Now some say “We should have started mass evacuation sooner, and couldn’t this have been done in a more orderly manner?” I respectfully disagree. Imagine if we had begun evacuations in June or July, bringing in thousands of American troops and evacuating more than 120,000 people in the middle of a civil war. There still would have been a rush to the airport, a breakdown and confidence in control of the government. And it still would have been a very difficult and dangerous mission.

The bottom line is, there is no evacuation from the end of a war that you can run without the kinds of complexities, challenges, threats we faced, none. For those who would say we should have stayed indefinitely for years on end. They asked “Why don’t we just keep doing what we were doing? Why did we have to change anything?” The fact is, everything had changed. My predecessor had made a deal with the Taliban. When I came into office, we faced a deadline. May one. The Taliban onslaught was coming. We faced one of two choices: Follow the agreement of the previous administration and extend more time for people to get out; or send in thousands more troops and escalate the war.

To those asking for a third decade of war in Afghanistan, I ask: “What is the vital national interest?” In my view, we only have one: To make sure Afghanistan can never be used again to launch an attack on our homeland. Remember why we went to Afghanistan in the first place? Because we were attacked by Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda on September 11, 2001. And they were based in Afghanistan. We delivered justice to bin Laden on May 2, 2011, over a decade ago.

Al-Qaeda was decimated. I respectfully suggest you ask yourself this question: “If we’d been attacked on September 11, 2001 from Yemen instead of Afghanistan, would we have ever gone to war in Afghanistan even though the Taliban controlled Afghanistan in the year 2001?” I believe the honest answer is no. That’s because we have no vital interest in Afghanistan other than to prevent an attack on America’s homeland and our friends. And that’s true today. We succeeded in what we set out to do in Afghanistan over a decade ago. And we stayed for another decade. It was time to end this war.

This is a new world. The terror threat has metastasised across the world well beyond Afghanistan. We face threats from al-Shabab in Somalia, al-Qaeda affiliates in Syria in the Arabian Peninsula, and ISIS attempting to create a caliphate in Syria and Iraq, and establishing affiliates across Africa and Asia. The fundamental obligation of a president, in my opinion, is to defend and protect America, not against threats of 2001, but against the threats of 2021 and tomorrow. That is the guiding principle behind my decisions about Afghanistan.

I simply do not believe that the safety and security of America is enhanced by continuing to deploy thousands of American troops and spending billions of dollars a year in Afghanistan. But I also know that the threat from terrorism continues in its pernicious and evil nature. But it’s changed, expanded to other countries. Our strategy has to change, too. We will maintain the fight against terrorism Afghanistan and other countries. We just don’t need to fight a ground war to do it.

We have what’s called over-the-horizon capabilities, which means we can strike terrorists and targets without American boots on the ground or very few if needed. We’ve shown that capacity just in the last week. We struck ISIS-K remotely, days after they murdered 13 of our service members and dozens innocent Afghans. And to ISIS-K: We are not done with you yet. As commander-in-chief, I firmly believe the best path to guard our safety and our security lies in the tough, unforgiving, targeted precise strategy that goes after terror where it is today, not where it was two decades ago.

That’s what’s in our national interest. And here’s a critical thing to understand: The world is changing. We’re engaged in a serious competition with China. We’re dealing with the challenges on multiple fronts with Russia. We’re confronted with cyberattacks, and nuclear proliferation. We have to shore up America’s competitiveness to meet these new challenges in the competition for the 21st century. We can do both: fight terrorism and take on new threats that are here now, and will continue to be here in the future. And there’s nothing China or Russia would rather have, would want more in this competition than the United States to be bogged down another decade in Afghanistan.

As we turn the page on the foreign policy that has guided our nation the last two decades, we’ve got to learn from our mistakes. To me, there are two that are paramount. First, we must set missions with clear achievable goals, not ones we’ll never reach. And second, we must stay clearly focused on the fundamental national security interests of the United States of America.

This decision about Afghanistan is not just about Afghanistan. It’s about ending an era of major military operations to remake other countries. We saw a mission of counterterrorism in Afghanistan – getting the terrorists and stopping attacks – morph into a counterinsurgency, nation-building, trying to create a democratic, cohesive and united Afghanistan. That’s something that has never been done over many centuries of Afghans’ history. Moving on from that mindset and those kind of large-scale troop deployments will make us stronger and more effective and safer at home.

And for anyone who gets the wrong idea, let me say clearly: to those who wish America harm, to those who engage in terrorism against us or our allies, know this: the United States will never rest. We will not forgive; we will not forget. We will hunt you down to the ends of the Earth and you will pay the ultimate price. Let me be clear. We will continue to support the Afghan people through diplomacy, international influence and humanitarian aid. We’ll continue to push for regional diplomacy engagement to prevent violence and instability. We’ll continue to speak out for the basic rights of Afghan people, especially women and girls, as we speak out for women and girls all around the globe.

I’ve been clear that human rights will be the centre of our foreign policy. But the way to do that is not through endless military deployments, but through diplomacy, economic tools and rallying the rest of the world for support.

My fellow Americans, the war in Afghanistan is now over. I’m the fourth president who has faced the issue of whether and when to end this war. When I was running for president, I made a commitment to the American people that I would end this war. Today, I’ve honoured that commitment. It was time to be honest with the American people again. We no longer had a clear purpose in an open-ended mission in Afghanistan. After 20 years of war in Afghanistan, I refuse to send another generation of America’s sons and daughters to fight a war that should have ended long ago.

After more than $2 trillion spent Afghanistan, the costs the researchers of Brown University estimated to be over $300m a day for 20 years in Afghanistan, for two decades. Yes, the American people should hear this: $300m a day for two decades. You take the number of one trillion, as many say. That’s still $150m a day for two decades. What have we lost as a consequence in terms of opportunities?

I refuse to continue a war that was no longer in the service of the vital national interests of our people. And most of all, after 800,000 Americans served in Afghanistan. I’ve travelled that whole country. Brave and honourable service. After 20,744 American servicemen and women injured – and the loss of 2,461 American personnel, including 13 lives lost just this week – I refused to open another decade of warfare in Afghanistan.

We’ve been a nation too long at war. If you’re 20 years old today, you’ve never known an America at peace. So when I hear that we could have, should have, continued the so-called low-grade effort in Afghanistan at low risk to our service members at low cost, I don’t think enough people understand how much we’ve asked of the one percent of this country who put that uniform on, willing to put their lives on the line in defense of our nation. Maybe it’s because my deceased son Beau served in Iraq for a full year before that. Well, maybe it’s because of what I’ve seen over the years, as senator, vice president, and president traveling these countries.

A lot of our veterans and their families have gone through hell. Deployment after deployment. Months and years away from their families. Missed birthdays, anniversaries, empty chairs at holidays, financial struggles, divorces, loss of limbs, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress. We see it in the struggles many have when they go home. We see it in the strain on their families and caregivers. We see it in the strain on their families when they’re not there. We see it in the grief borne by their survivors, a cost of war they will carry with them their whole lives. Most tragically, we see in the shocking and stunning statistic that should give pause to anyone who thinks war can ever be low grade, low risk or low cost.

Eighteen veterans, on average, die by suicide every single day in America, not in a far place but right here in America. There’s nothing low grade or low risk or low cost about any war. It’s time to end the war in Afghanistan. 

As we close 20 years of war and strife and pain and sacrifice, it’s time to look to the future, not the past. To a future that’s safer, to a future that’s more secure, to a future that honours those who serve and all those who gave what President Lincoln called their last full measure of devotion. I gave my word with all of my heart. I believe this is the right decision, a wise decision and the best decision for America. Thank you. Thank you, and may God bless you all and may God protect our troops." - Joe Biden.