Joe Biden, according to recent news reports, once said “F – that” when speaking to diplomat Richard Holbrooke in 2010. Biden was arguing the United States should leave Afghanistan whatever the humanitarian costs. The conversation is detailed in George Packer’s book “Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century.” Biden was unmoved by the plight of people Democrats say they care the most about. “We did it in Vietnam,” Biden told Holbrooke. “Nixon and Kissinger got away with it.” And that is precisely what Joe Biden has done.
Sometime back, Biden’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken scoffed at the idea Afghanistan would fall “from a Monday to a Friday” yet that is exactly what has happened. Anyone who has seen the desperation of Afghanis chasing after planes, building human chains to cling to something, anything, is heartrending. Biden returned from Camp David to give his speech on the subject and not one iota of contrition was evident in Biden’s demeanor and while he did say “the buck stops with me”, he said very little about the clearly failed exit strategy. In fact, Biden did point an accusing finger at the Afghans, whom he said were not willing to fight. Although the oldest president in American history, after nearly half a century in public life as an United States senator and vice president, Biden was supposed to have some concept of how to conduct this country’s foreign affairs. Yet the inept withdrawal has become a worldwide spectacle and leaves much to be desired for a nation that is the most powerful on earth. Biden’s mastery of foreign policy is such glaring incompetence it leaves the United States naked before its enemies and a laughingstock. The sacrifice made by the American people in terms of blood and treasure has been smeared away with the stroke of a pen. Biden admitted, as have most of the officials of his administration, that the collapse of Afghanistan to the onslaught of the Taliban caught them by surprise. Quite obviously. The utter failure by the Biden administration calls into question not only the judgment and competence of Joe Biden, but his Secretary of State as well. A week ago Monday, Joe Biden said “human rights must be at the center of our foreign policy” yet he has shown no particular remorse as this is written, abandoning generations of women and girls to the Taliban and Sharia law. The Left in this country routine disdain Christians, yet are loathe to say anything about how radical Muslims treat people they say they care about. Do you suppose the Taliban will tolerate a Me Too movement in Afghanistan? These are the same folks who treat women as chattel and throw gay people from the tops of buildings. Joe Biden has shown about the same degree of interest in human rights in Afghanistan as he has China, which is none at all.
The late Senator John McCain issued a warning about Antony Blinken that has proven to be all too true. When Obama nominated Blinken to serve as an Assistant Secretary of State, Senator McCain opposed Blinken’s nomination. McCain, as Democrats who have lionized McCain will recall, was not an extreme partisan, especially in military matters. Senator McCain disputed Blinken’s claim the war in Afghanistan would be over by 2014. “Because if they stick to that timetable,” McCain said, “I’m telling my colleagues that we will see a replay of Iraq all over again.” McCain told the other senators, “In this case, this individual (Blinken) has actually been dangerous to America and to the young men and women who are fighting and serving it.” John McCain was right.
Joe Biden has long believed the war in Afghanistan was unwinnable and he may well be right. It is also certainly true Donald Trump intended to leave Afghanistan as well but let’s be very clear, this is one failure that cannot honestly be laid at the feet of Trump. As president, Trump bombed the Taliban hard enough to bring them to the negotiating table. Nor did Trump propose to withdraw before certain conditions were met. Biden merely up and left. Joe Biden and his administration are solely to blame for this travesty. Even fellow Democrats appear to be shocked and appalled by the lack of planning as the Taliban gobbles up more territory each day. Reportedly, there are going to be many thousands of Americans and foreign nationals from Britain, Germany, etc. who aren’t going to be able to get through Taliban check points to the Kabul airport. The choice will likely be to send more troops to extract them as it seems impossible to believe any civilized country would countenance leaving behind its citizens to the merciless nature of the Muslim extremists.
The British government has wasted no time in sending troops to secure a path to the Kabul airport for its fleeing citizens. As this is written, our own government seems to have no plan whatsoever to help extract Americans trapped behind Taliban checkpoints.
The embarrassing withdrawal has allowed the Taliban to seize billions of dollars in advanced American weaponry, all courtesy of the Biden administration. The Taliban now has more American Blackhawk helicopters and drones than we’ve sold to Australia.
At least three American jets have been flown out of the country by the Taliban, perhaps to sell to the Chinese or Russians, along with their advanced technologies. Or perhaps they will be used to fly into another American skyscraper.
For you progressives out there, the radical Muslims may rival the Chinese communists as being the least woke people on the planet. The Taliban has already ruthlessly stamped out one protest that was peaceful right up until the moment they fired into the protesters. Other Taliban soldiers beat protesters with batons to disperse them. There was at least one reported fatality, if not two, while others were wounded. The Taliban doesn’t allow mostly peaceful protesters to riot and burn.
There are Afghanis who supported America’s presence in Afghanistan and they are likely to suffer the most dire of consequences. There have been reports of beheadings coming from the country as any vestige of democracy is in retreat before the march of radical Muslim extremism and the establishment of a terrorist state.
It will probably be a mighty long time before any foreign nationals offer the United States cooperation and friendship in the future. Leaving one’s friends behind is not only craven and cowardly, but disgusting and dishonorable. Blood stains are awfully hard to clean, especially those of innocent people.
