Yeah, most of the Gentle Readers won't get that title (but some will), so bear with me for an explanation. Xenophon was the name of a Greek philosopher, historian, AND military mercenary leader from ancient Athens. His army, referred to as “the Ten Thousand,” were hired by a pretender to the Persian throne named Cyrus the Younger and starting in the year 401BC fought all way across what is now Turkey (incidentally in the process pioneering various now standard logistical moves, feints and flanking movements) until just outside Babylon in what is now Iraq, they fought the army of the incumbent king Artaxerxes II.

Cyrus found that claiming to be king does not protect you in battle, and he was punctured repeatedly. Which left a number of unfinished issues. The first was what happens to the army in a civil war, when its reason for existing is killed? The answer for the Persian component was that they ran in all directions, were chased down, and killed or enslaved. The Greeks of “the Ten Thousand” had a related problem, but they were 1,700 miles or so from a way back home in the middle of an enemy country. And they were under attack by the forces of the king, who was not surprisingly, mickle-p**sed at all of these foreign invaders who were trying to overthrow and kill him.

I know it is a “spoiler,” but they made it. Fighting the whole way, from outside Babylon to the Black Sea, and along the coast to where they could take ship at where Istanbul is today, and go home. How they made it is told in the book by Xenophon called Anabasis, or “The March Up Country.” Ten thousand troops, surrounded, outnumbered and under attack made it. I recommend the book.

Yeah, that has bearing on today.

It has been a strange week, and not a good one for our country. Today as I write it is Friday, Aug. 20, 2021. Things are moving fast, so you have to keep track of the dates to make sense of things.

First, and most importantly, you have to remember that we were pulling out of Afghanistan long before Biden was installed as president.* With the exception of some military contractors and some politicians who do not wish our country well, we had pretty much decided that we had given Afghanistan as much help as we could over the decades. On Feb. 29, 2020, the Taliban and the U.S. signed the Doha Agreement. Short form, the Taliban would prevent Al-Quada from operating in any area it controlled. In return, the U.S. and NATO would pull their troops out over an agreed on schedule. There were also agreed on prisoner releases.

Now, I ask you to note the date this was signed. Feb. 29, 2020. This was under President Donald Trump. Despite the media and the Democrats claiming that it was the previous administration that did not want to pull out of Afghanistan, it was exactly that previous administration that made the agreement to pull out. We withdrew from 13,000 troops there (and that was after an ongoing drawdown all through the Trump administration) down to 2,500. Concurrently NATO reduced their forces too. We stopped at that point because a) the Taliban did not totally cut off contact with al Quada as promised and b) the Afghan government would not release all the prisoners they were supposed to. Things had reached a sticking point, where some things had to be worked out. But it was NOT President Trump who was trying to stay.

In fact, all through the withdrawal process we did, it was the military bureaucracy who claimed it was impossible and at the end flat lied to the President about what could be done. It must be noted that the casualty count in Afghanistan plummeted over the withdrawal period. We have lost (so far) 2,443 Americans in Afghanistan since the beginning in 2001. Most of them were in the first five years. In fact, in the last three months, there have been no U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan, according to the New York Times. And if there were, they would be featured since the NYT celebrates military casualties. The withdrawal started by President Trump was working, saving American lives.

THERE IS NO DISAGREEMENT OVER WHETHER WE SHOULD LEAVE AFGHANISTAN. BUT IT IS THE JOB OF THOSE RUNNING THE WITHDRAWAL TO SEE THAT IT IS DONE COMPETENTLY. THAT IS THE PROBLEM SINCE BIDEN TOOK OVER.

Xenophon fought his way out, with skill and bravery. Americans in Afghanistan will not be allowed to.

UPDATE: August 8-21-21 just before sending this in at 1400 hrs. Despite Biden claiming on the news that Americans can come to Kabul Airport just by showing the Taliban their U.S. passports, news reports are saying Americans are being shot by those same Taliban. The State Department has just directed U.S. citizens NOT to come to Kabul Airport because it is unsafe.