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The Afghanistan Debacle Looks Worse and Worse
The Afghanistan Debacle Looks Worse and Worse | National Review
The more we learn about the administration’s withdrawal, the more it becomes clear that its decisions were driven by political considerations and panic.
www.nationalreview.com
The more we learn about the administration’s Afghanistan withdrawal, the more it becomes clear that its decisions were driven by political considerations and panic.
As the Biden administration’s chaotic and inept withdrawal from Afghanistan was unfolding in August 2021, a suicide bomber murdered 13 American servicemembers, and at least 170 Afghans, at the Abbey Gate outside Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport. It was one of the deadliest attacks on our troops in our 20 years in that nation.
~Snip~
The more we learn about the administration’s Afghanistan withdrawal, the more it becomes clear that its decisions were driven by political considerations and panic. Here, for example, is a snippet from ProPublica’s recent investigation into the Kabul suicide bombing:
Days before the final withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, thousands of desperate Americans and Afghan allies seeking to flee the country were using unguarded routes across open fields and through narrow alleys to reach one of the few gates providing access to the Kabul airfield.
Despite intelligence warning of terrorist attacks, U.S. military commanders encouraged use of the routes. Some U.S. officials even provided maps to evacuees trying to bypass Taliban fighters stationed at a checkpoint outside the airport.
The fact that the murderer of 13 Americans “likely” gained access to troops via a path that U.S. officials were encouraging people to use seems quite noteworthy. As does the fact that we were helping evacuees circumvent the Taliban even as the Biden administration was assuring the public that the Islamic militants were facilitating the extraction of Americans.~Snip~
Biden was wedded to the Taliban’s timeline. Given that he’s shown reliably disastrous foreign-policy instincts over 50 years in public life, this isn’t exactly surprising. It’s also increasingly clear that the administration ignored warnings because it believed leaving Afghanistan, which was quite popular in polls, would be a political slam dunk early in his term.
That was Biden’s prerogative. The president has no obligation to follow the advice of his generals. Undoubtedly, many of them would have advocated a U.S. presence in Afghanistan in perpetuity. As a policy matter, Biden’s botching of the evacuation is a separate issue from whether the United States should have withdrawn. However, once Biden decided to embrace what the Trump administration had begun, the responsibility to protect American lives was his. There are numerous questions yet to be answered on why he failed to do so.
Commentary:
Unfortunately, this disgrace will go the same way as Benghazi debacle that killed four. The Quisling media does not want to investigate Democrats.
When asked in July 2021 if a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan was inevitable, the president scoffed at the notion, arguing that “Afghan troops have 300,000 well-equipped — as well-equipped as any army in the world — and an air force against something like 75,000 Taliban.”
Now with the U.S. military equipment now in the Taliban’s possession, I guess that makes the Taliban as well-equipped as any army in the world."
At least Benedict Arnold saved the Revolution twice: at the battle of Lake Champlain where he lost the battle but delayed the British Invasion for one season and at our victory at Sarasota. where Arnold was wounded in the leg deserves to be buried with full honors at Arlington whereas Biden deserves to be buried in some pit in Afghanistan
Compare the "tough" talk then with what Biden said yesterday and ask yourself if Putin may consider calling Biden's bluff:
"If Russia invades, that means tanks or troops crossing the border of Ukraine, again, then there will be no longer Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it,” Biden said.
My bet is that Putin has been putting on a show on the Ukraine border to build up his stature in the eyes of the world (especially Russia), but he's not willing to actually go into Ukraine. The Biden administration figures this as well and only made that statement for political consumption so they can make the case they scared off Putin. Putin is well aware that Biden is full of it and so that announcement could backfire as Putin will have new incentive to save face.
