To be abandoned

War.
Twenty years of death and gore.
Two countries,
bonded in the blood of battle.
America, the upstander,
supporter,
friend,
assisting Afghanistan,
our brother in need,
a relative in desperate circumstances,
RELYING on us
as we once relied on them.
Bringers of hope,
carriers of the message ...

Fight for your freedom,
the reward everyone deserves.
Conquer those who oppress you.
Take back your human rights.

For so long we encouraged the Afghan people –
a relationship of convenience slowly baked
into one of love.

Then ...
in the press of a trigger,
a command resounded.
Like it or not, American troops dropped back,
leaving millions of innocent people
susceptible to the whims of the barbaric Taliban.
Not only did we abandon our Afghan allies
but more than 15,000 Americans' as well.
Executions started nearly days later.

"For America's well being."

"No need for Americans to die fighting a war Afghans themselves fight not."

I restrain myself before responding,
knowing that my opinions
could wind me up
eaten alive by the wolves roaming outside.

He is still my president.
For this reason I will respect him,
however, I will not restrain my reaction.
***
20 years.
Commitment.
Fear.
Bondage.
Danger.
Trust.
Death.
Love.

To take away your hand
from a severely bleeding wound
is to give up the hope on saving a life.

We are Americans!
"Give Up"
shouldn't be in our vocabulary!

I pity the one who made this hard decision.
It's not easy to choose between the well being of one's family
and the safety of another.

Yet I am afraid.
Scared that we are now worse than those
who watch without action.
Instead, we are the unreliable ones
who quit before the job is done.

We have caused rumblings.
Our other allies whisper questions of loyalty.
With our troops back,
we may not currently be exposed
but these sorts of things
usually come back around
to attack 
when the victim
least expects it.