Biden's epic Afghanistan debacle –here's
what it means for the Dems'
progressive agenda
Posted By: Garnet, 8/23/2021 10:50:42 AM
Americans are furious, and rightly so. Our country has been humiliated as never before, with our military humbled by an illiterate and rag-tag army of Taliban fanatics. Our allies are stunned by the incompetence of our chaotic retreat from Afghanistan – dubbed "imbecilic" by former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair - and horrified by the humanitarian disaster now taking place. Meanwhile, our barely conscious President Joe Biden has lied about the disappearance of al Qaeda from Afghanistan, the supportiveness of our allies and about Americans being able to access the Kabul airport. Worse, he is defending the indefensible. How can anybody defend abandoning the strategically critical Bagram Airfield
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President Biden is facing a crisis of confidence in his ability to serve as commander in chief due to the overwhelming negative fallout he is receiving over the botched Afghanistan withdrawal, which left 13 U.S. service members dead and Americans and Afghan allies stranded.
Former defense officials, military leaders and members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have criticized Biden for leaving Americans behind as the last U.S. C-17 plane took off from Kabul Monday night, despite the president's promise weeks ago that "If there are American citizens left, we're going to stay until we get them all out."Foreign policy experts are also warning that the international credibility
Almost exactly 24 hours after the last cargo plane carrying Americans lumbered down the Kabul airport runway, President Biden started walking. He exited the Oval Office, passed through the Cross Hall of the White House, and entered the State Dining Room. He arrived with a full head of steam, and he was there to say that the war in Afghanistan, the longest war in American history, was over.
In remarks that lasted roughly half an hour, Biden took “full responsibility for the decision” to end the war while, at the same time, pushing responsibility onto others for how it ended.He blamed former President Trump for signing an agreement with the Taliban
The withdrawal of the final U.S. troops from Afghanistan on Monday marks the end of the U.S. military's 20-year mission in Afghanistan.
But for President Joe Biden, the end of the "forever war" is more of an inflection point than an actual conclusion. The departure of forces kicks off a new phase of the United States's entanglement in Afghanistan that could also prove perilous - and no less challenging for American leadership than the previous two decades.Biden and his team now have to grapple with deep skepticism over whether the Taliban, which now rules Afghanistan, will keep its promises for a peaceful transition.
Joe Concha has an op-ed over at The Hill this week where he seeks to answer a question that Karen Townsend asks here on a regular basis. Where’s Kamala? You still see the occasional video clip of her fending off reporters or being dispatched on some presumably important business to Central America or Asia, with the occasional, uncomfortable moment where she laughs at serious questions. But aside from that, we just don’t see much of her. Concha makes the argument that none of this is happening by accident.
When the Biden administration’s feckless management of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan produced all too predictable chaos, the legacy media uncharacteristically reported on the debacle with remarkable candor. This was unsettling to a White House inured to obsequious coverage, and various administration officials have expressed frustration concerning the Fourth Estate’s unfavorable approach to the story. Inevitably, certain “journalists” echoed the complaint. New York Magazine’s Eric Levitz, for example, querulously insisted, “America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan has yet to cost our nation a single casualty.” The day after this was published, 13 Americans were murdered by Islamic State terrorists. In a New York Times column published on the day of this attack
Rep. Dan Crenshaw: ‘Joe Biden Is a Coward’
25 replies
For most Americans, Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) was all but anonymous until he appeared on Saturday Night Live to accept the apology of a “comedian” who had mocked his eye patch. Crenshaw wears that patch in place of the eye he lost while serving in Iraq, but he didn’t respond to the SNL cheap shot with anger. His reaction to our president’s latest Afghanistan blunder was a different story. Upon learning of President Biden’s pathetic capitulation to the Taliban’s latest demand that all U.S. troops be withdrawn by August 31 even if some Americans and allies had to be left behind, Crenshaw responded as follows during a Politico Playbook interview:
The laughter was so off-kilter, it made you wonder if Joe Biden had taken leave of his senses during his mini-press conference Sunday.
Americans are trapped behind enemy lines in Afghanistan. Our troops at Kabul airport are faced with an uncontrollable surge of people so desperate to escape, they are dying in the crush. America has suffered its worst self-inflicted humiliation and the free world is less safe — all because of his dumb decisions.
And he laughs? A cold, inappropriate laugh, muscle memory deployed as a political weapon by a man operating on empty.
Vice President Kamala Harris at last spoke publicly on what is happening in Afghanistan as Americans and Afghans try to exit the country due to the Taliban’s swift takeover, but she refused to weigh in on the U.S. government’s decision-making that led to the current situation.
During an appearance alongside Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, both leaders were asked about the U.S. withdrawal and evacuation process, with Harris being asked what she thinks went wrong."So, I understand and appreciate why you asked the question. And I think there's going to be plenty of time to analyze what has happened and what has taken place in the context of the withdrawal
Americans are furious, and rightly so. Our country has been humiliated as never before, with our military humbled by an illiterate and rag-tag army of Taliban fanatics. Our allies are stunned by the incompetence of our chaotic retreat from Afghanistan – dubbed "imbecilic" by former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair - and horrified by the humanitarian disaster now taking place.
Meanwhile, our barely conscious President Joe Biden has lied about the disappearance of al Qaeda from Afghanistan, the supportiveness of our allies and about Americans being able to access the Kabul airport. Worse, he is defending the indefensible. How can anybody defend abandoning the strategically critical Bagram Airfield
Afghanistan withdrawal: Biden continues
bunker strategy after widely panned
ABC interview 23 replies
bunker strategy after widely panned
ABC interview 23 replies
In what appears to be a continuation of his campaign bunker strategy, and following his widely panned interview with ABC News on the stunning fall of Afghanistan, President Biden's schedule Thursday contained no planned public remarks or press briefings.
The president took all public remarks, press briefings and press conferences off his schedule as he and his administration deal with the blowback from their botched troop withdrawal that saw Kabul fall into the hands of the Taliban.
Biden’s now-clear press schedule also comes after his much-criticized ABC News interview on Wednesday night, when the president claimed there was no better way to get out of Afghanistan.
On July 8, President Joe Biden assured the American people that it was “highly unlikely” the Taliban would take control of Afghanistan. That is exactly what happened five weeks later. And the catastrophic scenes in Kabul this week beg the obvious questions: How did the Biden administration get this so wrong? Why is the president now facing his own Saigon moment?The Taliban were technically outnumbered and outgunned by Afghan government forces. Biden and his administration frequently have emphasized that the U.S. has spent $83 billion training Afghan security forces that on paper, at least,
Biden’s Cognitive Decline Is Dangerous
36 replies
In October of 2020, former White House physician Ronny Jackson raised a question that was on the minds of many voters: “I watch Joe Biden on the campaign trail and I am concerned that he does not have the cognitive ability to serve as our commander in chief and head of state.” Jackson, who had served under Presidents Obama and Trump, stressed that he was speaking as a “concerned citizen” rather than a physician. Inevitably, the media collectively descended on Jackson like so many flying monkeys, but he raised the issue again during Biden’s absence from the public eye last weekend as Afghanistan was being overrun by the Taliban.
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Appearing Tuesday on CNN’s The Lead, The Bulwark editor-at-large and Never Trump pundit Bill Kristol said people in his social circle who voted for President Joe Biden in 2020 will likely not support him again in the wake of the fatally botched withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.
JAKE TAPPER: You’ve been fairly supportive of President Biden, but not of the execution of this withdrawal. I think you also support a residual counter-terrorism force left in the country, right?
BILL KRISTOL: I would have, yes.
How many times has Joe Biden ranted at us about why he is right on Afghanistan? I’ve lost track, but I think this at least the fifth “official” rant.
But this one was the worst yet and you could feel it. He was just so angry. He’s not angry at the Taliban. He’s not angry at his own failures or those of his people. He’s angry at the people left behind. And, he’s angry at you. He’s angry at you for not simply accepting what an “extraordinary success” this all was.
He keeps screaming about ending the war, a point that no one is even contesting
Hillary Clinton and her former aide Huma Abedin are proving that no number of scandals, failed presidential campaigns, and tell-all books can come between their longtime friendship as they reunited this weekend in the Hamptons to enjoy a leisurely lunch. Clinton, 73, and Abedin, 45, looked like the very best of friends as they joined several companions at Carissa's The Bakery in East Hampton, where they were seen laughing and chatting over coffees and pastries while soaking up the sunshine at an outdoor table.
The former Secretary of State and her longtime aide looked as though they had nary a care in the world
Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday released a statement in reaction to the Texas abortion law that went into effect, asserting it will “dramatically reduce access to reproductive care” for “women of color.” She ultimately joined President Biden and other left-wing politicians in promising to fight for every woman’s ability to abort her child.“Today, a new law takes effect in Texas that directly violates the precedent established in the landmark case of Roe v. Wade. This all-out assault on reproductive health effectively bans abortion for the nearly 7 million Texans of reproductive age,”
President Biden asserted that a new Texas law banning abortions after the detection of a fetal heartbeat “blatantly violates” Roe v. Wade in a written statement on Wednesday.
“The Texas law will significantly impair women’s access to the health care they need, particularly for communities of color and individuals with low incomes,” said Biden.
The president added that “my administration is deeply committed to the constitutional right established in Roe v. Wade nearly five decades ago and will protect and defend that right.”
The law went into effect on Wednesday after the Supreme Court declined to act on an emergency petition to block it. The law’s unusual enforcement mechanism
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told reporters Wednesday that it is “possible” American forces will coordinate with the Taliban on operations against the terrorist group ISIS-K. Milley made the comment—offering no elaboration—during a Pentagon briefing alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in response to a question about what communication between US military officials and Taliban leaders during the evacuation of Afghanistan meant for the relationship between the two and “the possibility of any kind of coordination in counter-terrorism operations against ISIS-K in Afghanistan.” Austin responded first, saying that “we were working with the Taliban on a very narrow set of issues,
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday dismissed the notion that President Biden would be impeached over the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, arguing that a Democratic-controlled Congress would never allow it. The impeachment question came during an event in the Republican leader’s home state of Kentucky. “The president is not going to be removed from office. There’s a Democratic House, a narrowly Democratic Senate. That’s not going to happen,” Mr. McConnell said. “There isn’t going to be an impeachment.” The GOP leader added that the only way to change the direction of the country is at the ballot box. “In this country, the report card you get
White House press secretary Jen Psaki dodged a question about President Biden looking at his watch during a transfer ceremony in honor of the slain 13 U.S. service members killed in a suicide bombing near Kabul airport.On Sunday, Biden and the families of the 13 fallen troops attended the ceremony as the bodies of the service members arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. Biden was caught on camera glancing at his watch after flag-draped caskets were brought off the plane.He was blasted by family members at the event, with Darin Hoover - the father of killed Marine Staff Sgt Taylor Hoover Jr
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told reporters Wednesday that President Joe Biden will not “be removed from office” in wake of the deadly Afghan evacuation that left 13 U.S. military personnel killed, an estimated 200 American citizens stranded, and billions of dollars worth of equipment in the hands of the Taliban. “Well, look the president is not going to be removed from office … I think the way these behaviors get adjusted in this country is at the ballot box,” the Wall Street Journal reported McConnell’s remarks. “There isn’t going to be an impeachment,” the Kentucky Senator who lost his majority in the 2020 election cycle added.
Exclusive: In secret texts, U.S. military
officials lamented leaving Americans
behind in Kabul 30 replies
officials lamented leaving Americans
behind in Kabul 30 replies
"We are f*cking abandoning American citizens," Army colonel wrote in a frantic series of texts that detail how a group of Americans were rejected at airport as rescue flight awaited.
President Biden declared to a puzzled country on Tuesday that the U.S. evacuation from Afghanistan was an "extraordinary success," while his Pentagon portrayed a prosaic, workaday process to repatriate Americans still stranded in the war-torn country.