President Joe Biden made two promises:
He first promised the American people that any American, or Afghan national who helped the United States, that wanted to be extracted from Afghanistan would be.
The second promise he made was to the Taliban that we would be out of there by August 31.
He kept the second. In other words, he kept his promise to the Taliban, but not to the American people.
While Mr. Biden mumbled cliches like “The buck stops here” and “I take full responsibility” he was fast and clear to pass the so-called buck to former presidents Bush, Obama and, of course, Trump. The reality is that only Mr. Biden and his advisors are to blame for the most poorly planed, ill-thought-out, reckless military move in U.S. military history…one that cost many lives including 13 young members of the military.
If Biden thought that Trump’s previous agreements were so flawed he could have easily departed from them as he did with many other inheritances from the former president. He stopped Trump’s tough position on illegal immigration at our southern border and, as a result, ended up with a much larger mess. He killed pipeline projects such as Keystone. As a result he now has to beg countries that hate us to pump more oil. Where we once had our own supplies we now have a deficit.
If all of this isn’t bad enough, he supplied the Taliban with a list of people we wanted to extract from the country. Unfortunately, many of those people have now been left behind and, as I write this, there are some reports that the door-to-door executions have already begun.
Should we talk about the $80-billion in high-tech military hardware the Taliban now has access too? While we heard reports of some of this hardware being destroyed before we left, the actual numbers create a much scarier scenario: 200 aircraft, 20,000+ grenades with close to 2,000 grenade launchers, 7,000 machine guns, 175,000 pieces of highly classified communications equipment, sophisticated drones, night-vision equipment, 80,000 vehicles, etc. As one report put it, we have now given the Taliban more military equipment than we have given Israel in the last 70-years. The Taliban may now be the best equipped terrorist force around. Afghanistan will now be not only a training haven for terrorists, but a great supplier in the arms market. How many Americans will be killed by our own former weapons?
Our $1-billion highly secured embassy in Kabul will now be a Taliban stronghold, and Bagram Air Base with its ultra-modern infrastructure will now be a great transportation point for terrorists.
But, more than anything, is how this administration has given away American credibility. While the Left likes to falsely condemn Trump for hurting our international standing, the Biden Administration has most of the NATO nations condemning the hasty U.S. exit from Afghanistan. We have heard angry words from allies as close as the U.K. How can these countries stand with us in the future?
Today, August 31, is not the end of Afghanistan, it is a new chapter in the war on terror. We are now seeing terrorist organizations invigorated and better equipped. All so that Biden could have a photo-op on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. It is now being reported that North Korea has restarted its nuclear reactors to turn out weapon-grade plutonium. The Chinese are making new plans to take Taiwan. Expect the Russians to take an exposed NATO country soon. Keep an eye on Iran who will soon be nuclear while Hezbollah will have new equipment to use against Israel.
Yeah, Joe Biden kept his promise….his promise to our enemies. Now he can go back to his nap.
Great essay as always Charles
Your assessment is spot on. I can not believe how the Biden administration (I say administration because Biden isn’t running anything) can harm America they way they have and in such record time. This is beyond frightening.
I wish you were wrong.