"Afghanistan takes from the US and gives nothing in return"

"Afghanistan takes from the US and gives nothing in return"

by digby

If you want to see someone with zero understanding of how the world works look no further than the leader of the free world:

Of course we should have captured Osama Bin Laden long before we did. I pointed him out in my book just BEFORE the attack on the World Trade Center. President Clinton famously missed his shot. We paid Pakistan Billions of Dollars & they never told us he was living there. Fools!..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2018

....We no longer pay Pakistan the $Billions because they would take our money and do nothing for us, Bin Laden being a prime example, Afghanistan being another. They were just one of many countries that take from the United States without giving anything in return. That’s ENDING!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2018

The simpleton can only see the world in one way: Other countries aren't paying enough protection money to the US coffers and their trade policies are all unfair, no matter what they are.

That's all he knows. He even admits he's believed those things for decades.

It's fine with me if the US military leaves Afghanistan and re-thinks its relationship with Pakistan (for entirely different reasons.) But there will be consequences, none of which Trump is capable of dealing with because of his simplistic view of the world and his top adviser, John Bolton, will use as an excuse to start another war.