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Now Comes The Blame Game

Who lost Afghanistan?

Charlie Sykes
Aug 16, 2021
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Now Comes The Blame Game
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(Illustrated / Photos: GettyImages)

Joe Biden may be able to recover from the Afghanistan fiasco, but it’s going to leave a very dark and deep stain on his presidency.

Even though it is not completely of his own making, the appalling disaster is coming on Biden’s watch, the proximate result of his own decisions, and is a moral, political, and policy FUBAR for the ages.

The optics are horrible. The reality is worse. And the worst is certain to come.

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Make sure you read these pieces in today’s Bulwark:

“America Has a Moral Obligation to Get Our Translators Out of Afghanistan,” by André Mann and Alan Cross:

We promised we would get them out. We promised we would stand by the thousands of Afghan translators and their families as they stood by our troops and American government personnel and contractors for almost 20 years. But, now those promises are in grave danger of being broken.

As the American flag has been lowered at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul after the Taliban swept into the capital city over the weekend in the wake of U.S. troop withdrawal and the fleeing of the country by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, thousands of Afghan translators and their families are running, or hiding, for their lives. The Taliban has declared them to be enemies and traitors. It is a moral imperative that the American government and people fulfill our promises and rescue the 80,000 to 90,000 Afghan translators and family members who are enrolled in the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) application process (around 18,000 interpreters). We have only rescued around 2,000 at this point.


“We Didn’t Think Our American Friends Would Leave Us in the Dead of Night,” by Martin Rahmani:

When President Joe Biden was elected, we were promised a return to “normalcy.” The grown-ups had come back into government and America would wash away the stain of President Donald Trump’s legacy. As the Taliban took Kabul over the weekend, the return to normalcy was President Biden exhibiting the same reckless callousness we had come to expect from Trump.


“Why the Afghan Army Fell to the Taliban: When the U.S. withdrawal was announced, logistical support evaporated.”


“Too Little, Too Late: The Botching of the Afghan Refugee Evacuation” by Ali Noorani


Axios:

Rarely has an American president's predictions been so wrong, so fast, so convincingly as President Biden on Afghanistan….

The big picture: It's a stunning failure for the West, and embarrassment for Biden. And it's a traumatic turn for U.S. veterans who sacrificed in Afghanistan over the past 20 years, the 20,000+ wounded in action, and survivors of the more than 2,300 U.S. military personnel who were killed.


George Packer: This Will Live in Infamy.

There’s plenty of blame to go around for the 20-year debacle in Afghanistan—enough to fill a library of books. Perhaps the effort to rebuild the country was doomed from the start. But our abandonment of the Afghans who helped us, counted on us, staked their lives on us, is a final, gratuitous shame that we could have avoided. The Biden administration failed to heed the warnings on Afghanistan, failed to act with urgency—and its failure has left tens of thousands of Afghans to a terrible fate. This betrayal will live in infamy. The burden of shame falls on President Joe Biden.


Hot Takes — An Overview

The commentary is brutal, but — as usual — runs the gamut from the good, bad, and ugly to the hackish, bigoted, and revisionist. A sampling:

The Maga house-bigot:

The Deplorables:

Twitter avatar for @lavern_spicerLavern Spicer @lavern_spicer
Not ONE refugee from Afghanistan needs to come to our country. Not one. Call Qatar. Call The UAE. Call Saudi Arabia. Call Egypt. The US & Europe took ALL the Syrian refugees. We can’t do anymore. AMERICA FIRST MEANS AMERICA FIRST.

August 15th 2021

958 Retweets3,439 Likes

The FashCon take:

Twitter avatar for @yhazonyYoram Hazony @yhazony
Some Americans can’t seem to grasp the possibility that Muslim nations don’t necessarily *want* to import US-style feminism.

August 15th 2021

38 Retweets309 Likes

The hilarious homophobia:

Twitter avatar for @SarahLongwell25Sarah Longwell @SarahLongwell25
The Taliban is going to murder a lot of LGBT people, but sure this a hilarious tweet. https://t.co/8PiUrhU9TU

Erick Erickson @EWErickson

The American Ambassador to Afghanistan has taken down the American flag and fled. What did he do with the rainbow flag?

August 15th 2021

166 Retweets1,064 Likes

The memory hole:

Twitter avatar for @travisakersTravis Akers @travisakers
Mike Pompeo met with Taliban Head of the Political Office Mullah Beradar on September 12, 2020. Beradar is now set to become the new President of Afghanistan. President Trump had Beradar released from a Pakistani prison in 2018. Press Release:
af.usembassy.gov/secretary-pomp…
Image

August 15th 2021

10,891 Retweets16,677 Likes

Twitter avatar for @pkcapitolPaul Kane @pkcapitol
Donald J. Trump, April 19, 2021: “I wish Joe Biden wouldn't use September 11 as the date to withdraw our troops from Afghanistan, for two reasons. First, we can and should get out earlier. Nineteen years is enough, in fact, far too much and way too long.”

Mike Pompeo @mikepompeo

The Taliban are butchers. We demanded a set of conditions and made clear the costs we would impose if they failed to deliver. They haven’t. The deterrence we achieved held during our time. This administration has failed. https://t.co/pdG2Mneh5Y

August 16th 2021

631 Retweets1,861 Likes

And the hackish:

Twitter avatar for @hughhewittHugh Hewitt @hughhewitt
The catastrophe is 100% on @JoeBiden. It would not have happened if Trump had been re-elected. The 2500 US/5000 NATO troops and American fighters/bombers would not have allowed it. Many disagreed w/Trump’s plan but it wasn’t a bug out. It’s been seven months. Next up: JCPOA 2.0

Seung Min Kim @seungminkim

“Civilians are already reporting shuttered girls’ schools, poor families forced to cook food for ravenous fighters and young men pressured to join the ranks of the militants.” https://t.co/wtSTmsVO3C

August 14th 2021

288 Retweets780 Likes


NT Breaks Bad on Biden

Nota Bene: Never Trump does not mean giving a pass to Joe Biden.

Twitter avatar for @benjaminwittesBenjamin Wittes @benjaminwittes
The decision to abandon Afghanistan will be a forever stain on the Biden Presidency. I was horrified by it the day it was announced, as I expressed in this podcast. I remain horrified by it today. Don’t @ me with your defenses and excuses. There are none.
“The Longest War is Ending” EditionPresident Biden announces that all U.S. military forces will be out of Afghanistan by Sept. 11. A blackout at an Iranian nuclear facility is widely attributed to Israeli sabotage, complicating negotiations over a new nuclear deal. And we finally know the company that helped the FBI hack a notorious …aca.st

August 15th 2021

106 Retweets632 Likes

Ben Sasse:

Twitter avatar for @McCormackJohnJohn McCormack @McCormackJohn
Statement from @SenSasse: “American troops didn’t lose this war — Donald Trump and Joe Biden deliberately decided to lose.”
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August 15th 2021

522 Retweets1,896 Likes

Liz Cheney:

Twitter avatar for @Liz_CheneyLiz Cheney @Liz_Cheney
The Trump/Biden calamity unfolding in Afghanistan began with the Trump administration negotiating with terrorists and pretending they were partners for peace, and is ending with American surrender as Biden abandons the country to our terrorist enemies. https://t.co/PQ1i5W6zZt

Liz Cheney @Liz_Cheney

The Taliban continues to support, harbor and fight alongside al Qaeda. They are not a partner for peace. Any deal that fails to prevent America’s enemies from establishing safe-havens on Afghan soil is a phony deal that threatens our security and risks another 9/11. https://t.co/Yd7X3Tif7w

August 14th 2021

1,105 Retweets4,397 Likes

Adam Kinzinger was not impressed with the WH photo-op.

Twitter avatar for @AdamKinzingerAdam Kinzinger @AdamKinzinger
The President, on zoom from camp David, alone in a room while millions of Afghans desperate to live, evac of embassy, admitting they didn’t see this coming, while Taliban in presidential palace? Ya not a good look. https://t.co/InomwYXLK9

Jo @JoJoFromJerz

@AdamKinzinger Why? Because it wasn’t staged to look like something it’s not? Where should our President be? Golfing? I appreciate your steadfast adherence to the truth when it comes to the 1/6 attack on the Capitol, but trolling the POTUS all day ain’t it, Congressman. This is petty & small.

August 15th 2021

140 Retweets1,145 Likes

Yes, Trump set this in motion. But…

Twitter avatar for @NumbersMuncherJosh Jordan @NumbersMuncher
Yes, the Afghanistan withdrawal was initiated and agreed to by Trump. But Biden had SIX months to plan for this and could've made changes to the plan if he wanted to. Biden had no problem making changes to other Trump policies, so why not this one? Plenty of blame to go around.

August 15th 2021

138 Retweets887 Likes
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