Failed 2004 Democrat presidential candidate Howard Dean believes it’s vital that American troops remain in the Middle Eastern nation of Afghanistan. But unlike retiring Defense Secretary James Mattis, his reasons have nothing to do with America’s “strength as a nation.”
Dean prefers that the military remain in Afghanistan for the sake of the nation’s women.
“By withdrawing our troops from Afghanistan you are condemning millions of women to the Stone Age. No education, no choice about who they marry. They will become property when the Taliban takes over,” he wrote in a reply last week to a tweet from Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna of California.
Following President Donald Trump’s announcement last Wednesday that he intends to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria, Khanna tweeted his support for the move.
“The withdrawal of troops from Syria is a good first step toward ending our foreign policy of interventionism,” he wrote, before adding that Trump should also withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
Look at his tweet and Dean’s reply below:
The withdrawal of troops from Syria is a good first step toward ending our foreign policy of interventionism but we also need to
✅ End U.S. support for Saudi Arabia in Yemen
✅ Withdraw our troops from Afghanistan
✅ Repeal the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) December 20, 2018
By withdrawing our troops from Afghanistan you are condemning millions of women to the Stone Age. No education, no choice about who they marry. They will become property when the Taliban takes over. Is that what you really want Ro? https://t.co/7VR9ZJUz8W
— Howard Dean (@GovHowardDean) December 21, 2018
Social media found Dean’s rhetoric hilarious for a number of reasons, including his child-like fickleness.
A cursory review of the failed presidential candidate turned frequently mocked commentator’s history shows that he first supported the Clinton administration’s efforts in Bosnio and Kosovo, then opposed the Bush administration’s efforts in Iraq and then supported Obama’s troop surge in Afghanistan.
Then all of a sudden in 2011, he turned into a dove, telling then-President Barack Hussein Obama that it was time to remove U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
“I actually supported the president when he sent extra troops to Afghanistan. But I’ve come to believe that’s not a winnable war,” he said to The Daily Beast at the time.
And now seven years later, he’s changed his position again, as noted even by Khana:
What happened to the @GovHowardDean who opposed Iraq? We have been in Afghanistan for 17 years. After the surge, the Taliban controls 70 percent instead of 40 percent. We need a foreign policy of restraint. We could spend the trillions saved on jobs and education at home. https://t.co/WtvDOYuTh1
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) December 21, 2018
Hey Howard. Make up our mind flip flop. Dove or Hawk. Can’t have it both ways. Remember Iowa, yeeehawww
— JimmyD?? (@jimsim2018) December 21, 2018
Flip-Flop
— Barred (@Barred10) December 21, 2018
When The media truly has that much control of our politics to make people flip over. Like Howard Dean and others who rose to fame being anti war is what’s scary. pic.twitter.com/hfQJuTJYo7
— X299 IBT Deplorable? (@x_deplorable) December 21, 2018
Flashback Howard Dean 2011 on Afghanistan
“I’ve come to believe that Afghanistan is not a winnable war.” pic.twitter.com/0KBt5PI9y2
— Hardhat ⭐⭐⭐ (@Hardhat_Patriot) December 23, 2018
So you want nation-building now? Quite the about-face.
— Photo Mode Fan Acct (@mikedtcu) December 21, 2018
Dean tried to rebut Khana’s point by writing, “So what do you do about the Afghan women. Not our problem?”
Social media noted that this concern for women seems myopic. Why isn’t he worried about women in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim nations? They too suffer from abuse and oppression.
Look:
So stay there indefinitely? What about women in Saudi Arabia? You are showing your true colours and we all know your donors tell you what to say and think and the endless wars have made your owners a lot of money
— Dick Cheney Jr (@Bigcoffinhunt) December 21, 2018
So, they will be living like women in Iran? You know Iran, that country that Obama sent pallets of cash to in the middle of the night.
— Eman (@SheeranEamon) December 23, 2018
What are you doing about the women in Saudi Arabia?
— CruelWorld66 (@CWorld66) December 23, 2018
What about the women in the KSA, an ally (sadly) of the USA? When does their plight end?
— Paul Sebastian (@PaulJSebastian) December 22, 2018
What about the women and little girls living here in the USA under the islamic laws. You dont seem to worry about them. It might be a good decision to care about those women and girls living in the USA instead of worrying about women living in Afghanistan.
— cat brody (@superduperwoof) December 22, 2018
Dean doesn’t appear to have any legitimate answers to any of these concerns. It’s perhaps because of this fickleness, apparent hypocrisy and inability to articulate himself that he performed so poorly in the 2004 election and was forced to drop out months before the primary.
That and the fact that he’s very, very, very easy to mock:
Not only are we going to Afghanistan, but we’re going to Iraq, and Syria, and Yemen, and Somalia, and Pakistan, and Libya, and then we’re going to Iran for another coup d’état… YAAAAA! pic.twitter.com/CaBLvSYt7n
— EltonMaxi (e.e.M.iii) (@EltonMaxi) December 21, 2018
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V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.
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