August 31, 2021: The Last American Troops Leave Afghanistan

August 31, 2021: President Joe Biden removes the last American combat troops from Afghanistan, 20 years after they were first sent there.

George W. Bush sent the first American troops there in October 2001, in response to the terrorist attacks of the preceding September 11. They managed to corner Osama bin Laden, but Bush never gave the order to finish the job, and bin Laden escaped.

And that left Americans with a quagmire, in which staying in Afghanistan began to seem like a worse and worse idea over the years, but getting out seemed like an even worse one: We couldn't abandon those people to the Taliban we had previously kicked out of power.

Bush wouldn't take the troops out. Barack Obama wouldn't. Donald Trump decided he didn't want to help brown-skinned Muslims, and put in place a timetable for taking the troops out. Biden decided that following that timetable was the least bad idea.

And then the Republicans, in Congress and in the media, ripped Biden for doing what Trump wanted to do, like the damned hypocrites they usually are. As bad as leaving was, staying was worse: The idea was to protect American soldiers from being killed. The Republicans talked "America First," this was America first.

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August 31, 2021 was a Tuesday. Football, basketball and hockey were out of season. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Los Angeles Angels, 6-4 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Anthony Rizzo and Gary Sánchez hit home runs in support of Jameson Taillon, but it wasn't enough.

* The New York Mets beat the Miami Marlins, 3-1 at Citi Field. The game was called after 7 innings due to rain.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals, 12-6 at Nationals Park in Washington.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-5 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-2 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers, 9-3 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-2 at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Minnesota Twins, 3-1 at Target Field in Minneapolis.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals, 7-2 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Colorado Rockies, 4-3 at Globe Life Field in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-0 at Chase Field in Phoenix. Blake Snell went 7 innings, and 2 relievers completed the 3-hit shutout.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-2 at Oracle Park in San Francisco.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Houston Astros, 4-0 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.

* And the Cincinnati Reds were supposed to play the St. Louis Cardinals at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, but got rained out. It was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day -- which turned out to be another historic day, due to Hurricane Ida.