Afghanistan Tragedy: This Average American’s Point of View

I have no military experience, no political expertise, and though I’ve read many articles and opinions, my research is still quite limited.

I won’t pretend to understand half of what’s going on right now in Afghanistan or the White House, for that matter.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t have ultimately withdrawn from Afghanistan. I’m glad to see our troops come home to their loved ones! But the haphazard manner in which this withdrawal was done is horrifying.

My perspective is certainly limited and I am very aware. I just generally write about things that sit heavily on my heart. I’m simply sharing how it all looks from my average, everyday, American perspective. I don’t mind if this sparks some healthy conversations from others more informed. That could only be helpful!

I’m just curious if anyone else feels helpless as they watch:

1. The Chaos

It breaks my heart to see people so desperate to leave a country that they are crowding around and literally climbing onto airplanes, hoping that by some chance they’ll be able to flee what they know is coming. Very real people with very real fears are fighting for escape. Crowds of people in the cities and airports, shouting, pushing, panicking… trying so hard to get away.

2. The Suffering

Unless you’ve spent time in such a culture, we as average Americans have no idea what’s coming for those left behind in Afghanistan. Granted, suffering would have come for many Afghans even if we had pulled out in an orderly and well organized fashion. But it makes it no less unjustified and no easier to see. Watching videos of translators who aided American troops being beaten in the streets is sobering. As our allies they deserve our protection. I simply can’t wrap my mind around what it is to be in fear for my life because of being an American ally, or a woman, or a Christian, or for any other unfortunate reason.

3. The Entitlement

And yet, as we watch this unfold, there are some in our country who still cry out about how oppressed they are here in America. Does anyone find it curious that the panicking and fearful people of Afghanistan tried to hold onto the wings of U.S. Planes, some even falling to their deaths in the attempt, hoping against hope that they could somehow escape their coming oppression? A 17 year old young man lost his life falling from the airplane he was so desperately clinging to as a literal lifeline. Why would these people want to come to our oppressive, racist, hateful, bigoted, female hating country? Strange, isn’t it?

I’m not saying America is perfect by a long stretch. This is a sinful world and America is messed up right along with it. But is there the slightest chance that those who have suffered true oppression might see and appreciate the beauty and freedoms of America that the liberal agenda and it’s followers are currently stomping in the dirt?

Oh, and conservatives… we don’t get off Scott free either. We are more spoiled than we can possibly imagine and we fuss and argue and grumble over problems that many in this world would deem as no problem at all compared to their daily sufferings. Some of our battles are worth fighting… and some come more from inconvenience and our own entitled attitudes and that energy and talking space could be used for better things. I’ve had to remind myself of this as I watch these events unfold.

4. The Lack of Empathy

To watch President Biden and the men and women who speak for him, react with a seemingly cold lack of empathy… it’s unsettling. When asked by a reporter about the country’s doubt concerning his competence because of how he’s handled this situation… our president laughed. When approached by journalists with questions on the Afghanistan crisis… our vice president also laughed. The chaos and suffering that their poor decisions have caused are no laughing matter. There is a discomforting disconnect here that isn’t sitting well with most Americans, no matter their political stance. Because most people empathize. Most people hate to see suffering. Most people hate to see injustice. Most… but obviously, not all. And it’s a disturbing thing to see.

5. The Arrogance

As this withdrawal falls to pieces, President Biden insists he’s done nothing wrong. As the country and the world scoff and cry out for justice… Biden and his cabinet fold their hands, admit to no wrong, (unless they are able to point the fault back to our previous president), and carry on as if the lives of thousands are not riding on the decisions they’ve just made. There is no humility regarding the office they hold (I know, all my liberal readers are thinking back on Trumps own lack of humility… and you’re right… but in all his faults, Donald Trump deserves credit for caring to keep Americans alive and generally maintaining healthy foreign relations throughout his presidency… The arrogance of the Biden Administration is destroying America from the ground up.)

As a side note: a huge part of me believes that Biden is only the occasional mouth piece for those truly making these decisions and may honestly be pretty clueless as to what’s going on as he spends most of his time hidden away. But the arrogant facade almost makes that fact even harder to take.

6. The Political Agenda

So much of this decision didn’t come down to strategic planning with the best interests of all involved in mind. No, it came down to politics. Previous presidents have attempted to end the war in Afghanistan but they all refused to do it with such foolish haste as our sitting president. Biden has promised from the start to turn things upside down and so he has done… to the detriment of many. He promised to come in and change things and he has done so with a reckless abandon that is causing only harm to this nation.

And now liberals who honestly meant well in voting for Joe Biden, believing he would somehow bring the hope, justice and change they so desired, are seeing the results of that decision. Joe Biden is slightly softer spoken than Donald Trump (ummmm… sometimes) but, unlike his predecessor, he acts as though there is a deep seated hatred in his heart for all America has ever stood for. And he and his administration are allowing the kind of pain and suffering the Liberals are so well known for standing against.

Even liberal journalists are reporting the fear that is building in the hearts of Afghan women as the Taliban takes over. The education, careers and independent lives they’ve built are in grave danger, now perhaps unable to even leave their homes without a male to accompany them (because, unlike the angry feminists here in America, Afghan women understand true oppression.). And Joe Biden and his Vice President (the first female, and of color at that, who was supposed to be a beacon of light for every woman in the world), stand back and they laugh or they offer insignificant and careless replies. As women, children, religious groups and other minorities in Afghanistan suffer (should I mention how the “LGBTQ community would fair under Muslim oppression?). And yet Biden/Harris… they were supposed to save the world… weren’t they?

But This I Call To Mind…

To be honest, I should do more research on how to help practically in the midst of this tragedy. But as I watch this awful scene unfold before me, the only true hope I have is in the One who made every man, woman, and child in this story. He knows when a sparrow falls from the sky and he knows the lives and fate of every person who will be touched by this tragedy.

I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things. (Isaiah 45:7)

No person is outside his hand:

In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. (Job 12:10)

No wicked plan or agenda will withstand his will:

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. (Proverbs 19:21)

The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will. (Proverbs 21:1)

And for every man, woman, and child, no matter than background, race, gender, age or nationality, who calls on the name of the Lord… they need not fear:

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (2 Timothy 1:7)

We certainly do not understand all the ways of God. I won’t say I don’t struggle with that fact. But it is surely better to know a loving and sovereign God who thinks and acts differently from us… who sees the bigger picture that we cannot and has orchestrated every moment… than to look around at these tragedies and believe that chaos itself rules the world with no hope beyond it.

Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. (Psalm 115:3)

And so…

We are not without hope. I say this to me. I say it to you, friend. We must pray. And pray hard.

Pray for the people of Afghanistan. Pray for our soldiers still there evacuating. Pray for their translators. Pray for the hardened hearts of the Taliban and of our leadership here in America. Pray for every American watching this unfold with a heart of confusion and frustration. Pray for protection. Pray for changed hearts. Pray for peace in the midst of chaos. Pray for light in the darkness and faith that overcomes doubt. Pray for victories that will bring God glory and see wickedness trampled.

God hears the prayers of his people.

Prayer and faith in a sovereign God are our greatest weapons in what may feel like a losing battle.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Roman’s 8:37)

I’m mourning our times… but I’m hoping in a brighter day and a good and sovereign God.