As the count and subsequent lawsuits of this week’s US election continue, Afghan officials are awaiting the results, but say that either outcome isn’t likely to result in serious policy changes, as both Trump and Biden are seen as keen to end the war.
There wasn’t intense foreign policy debate before the election. In Afghanistan, Trump emphasized that he wanted the troops out, and has said they’d be home by Christmas. Biden hasn’t commented much recently, but was said to have opposed the Afghan escalation years ago.
Not that there is no distinction. Trump has said he wants out but hasn’t left, and Biden has at times said he intends to stay, despite his past positions.
Though Biden had been seen to want to reverse a lot of Trump’s decisions, the Afghan War is not very popular, and few outside the military brass have any vested interest in dragging it into another decade.
On top of that, the US already signed a peace deal with the Taliban, and disavowing it this late in the game would look very, very bad. The Afghan government and Taliban are negotiating on the basis of this deal, and it’s safe to say it’ll survive.
“There wasn’t intense foreign policy debate before the election.”
Was there ANY?