''I do not see the Taliban occupying the entire country any time soon. There’s going to be no circumstance where you’re going to see people being lifted off the roof of an embassy.''
Joe Biden
July 2021
Not being lifted off the roof of the embassy...yet...Just people hanging from aircraft wings....a mad airport scramble...think Lam Son 719 in 1971...or Saigon 1975. Utter debacles. I never thought in my lifetime I would see the stumbling giant go through it again. Yet...here we are. Congratulations Joe. You had the chance to be the hero...the one who made a tough decision and end a war that was unwinnable...then you dropped the ball. You had a unique opportunity...a Jerry Ford moment...and what the hell happened? If anyone should have learned something from the past it should be his ancient ass. I'm not talking about his three predecessors that failed to end that nightmare...I'm talking about the sitting president...and his inability to do two...simple...things:
When Joe announced in April 2021 that we would be out of Afghanistan by September 2021, he should have laid it out for the American people. Something like..."we are leaving Afghanistan...because there is no longer a military mission there...and it is not a national interest. It is up to the Afghanistan people to determine their future. And yes...the Taliban are a worthy adversary....and have the potential to take over the country at some point." I'm sure there were advisors that told him this. Granted, a speech like this would have not gone over well. What...we are abandoning a country that we know will be taken over by a bunch of extremist thugs? Basically....yes. That is what we were doing. Either get permission ahead of time of beg or forgiveness later...For a US president however...begging for forgiveness is not a good look.
Apparently the speed at which the Taliban overran the country was a "surprise" to Joe. The Afghan military collapsed "sooner than we thought.". What! Are you kidding me?! We were there 20 years and didn't figure out how crappy the Afghan military was...the lack of will...etc? American left there now are being told to "shelter in place.''? What?! Thats what 1 trillion dollars of US taxpayer money gets these days I suppose. The Taliban did exactly what they said they were going to do. So now we are scrambling to get Americans out...20,000 plus Afghans that supported our expedition...who knows what else. How the hell did this happen? What has the USG been doing for the last 4 months? Again, this is not about Bush II/Obama/Trump...they have their own crosses to bear on this debacle.
More Reality TV Courtesy Of The USG
The Trump clown show was great viewing...but this is the Biden show now. Over the last couple of days this administration has been no slouch either. Befuddled DoD and State Department spokesman...check...a floundering president...check...people trying to hang on to the wings of a C17 taking off...a C17!! Joe's speech today was absolutely terrible..."the buck stops here" he says...then starts to blame Trump...the Afghan military...the Afghan government. You are the president Joe...thats' all you got!? You were not obligated to follow any "deal" made by your predecessor. I'm waiting for the obligatory photo of an American cold cocking an Afghani scrambling for a seat on the last chopper out..or a mother tossing her baby into a helicopter on takeoff. Will this debacle hurt Joe politically? Hell if I know...not sure if the American people give a shit about Afghanistan or not...but this is a pretty bad look. Tune in while you can.