News tends to travel fast, especially now that summer has come to an end and school is starting once again. One of the topics that has been occupying the headlines as much as students’ mouths is Afghanistan and whether or not the BidenHarris foundation handled it as best they could. While it is obvious that the acts the Taliban is committing are atrocities, It is debated whether or not America should have stayed, or if they ever should have interfered at all.

It seems that everyone wants to blame different people so the blame is constantly shifting. Many people forget that while the opinions on whether or not we should fight the Taliban in Iran was a near-unanimous vote with only congresswoman Barbara Lee voting against it. Tanner Sosa, a junior at American Heritage, believes that “while the war in Afghanistan may have been expensive, it would have been worth it if we were able to let the women have freedom after we left. However, what Biden did by letting the Taliban overtake it in days, I am not sure it was worth the effort for only 18 years of freedom”. Other students believe that the more detrimental thing is changes that affect them personally, as opposed to moral obligations. Ben Goddard, a junior, said that “The more important issue is the gas prices”.

While gas prices can go down and Afghanistan was a hotspot for terrorism and the same groups that are in control now were in ruling the area before America got involved, possibly the consequence that will be a problem for a while is the mistrust of America. Ezra Miller, a Senior at Lone Peak,  explains that “America left the people that they backed up for years, some of their strongest allies, to be killed by the Taliban. The Leader of the Afghan soldiers fled the country, and interpreters that worked with America were assassinated. This will cause other countries to trust China or other competitors as opposed to America, which could even lead to  America’s fall from the most powerful country”. 

While it may have had some good intentions behind it, the Afghan evacuation seems to have been done poorly and seen in a negative light with possibly detrimental long-term side effects. We can only hope that countries will not judge us by one president’s action and that America and its military might can continue to protect, and be trusted to protect, itself and the world.