By I & I Editorial Board
Biden’s plans, if you can call them that, to get
Americans out of Afghanistan have been an epic disaster. It’s almost
impossible to exaggerate the incompetence and duplicity of Biden and his
administration.
Biden rejected extending the deadline, citing the “increased
risk” of terrorism as a reason for doing so. The fact is, he really had no
choice, after the Taliban rejected the U.S. plea, calling the Aug. 31 deadline
for withdrawal a “red line.” The U.S. president did what the Taliban told
him to do.
That rejection, by the way, came after Biden sent CIA Director William Burns to Kabul for
emergency talks with Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar. Baradar sent Burns
packing with nothing for his efforts, another humiliation.
“If the U.S. or U.K. were to seek additional time to
continue evacuations, the answer is no,” said Taliban official Suhail Shaheen. “Or there would be
consequences.”
Adding insult to injury, Biden told our allies that the
U.S. “won’t be able to get everyone out of Afghanistan,” according to Bloomberg. Meanwhile, twisting the knife, the
Taliban demanded that the U.S. take only Americans, not Afghans, with them.
Late in the day, facing a barrage of criticism from all
quarters, Biden appeared to abruptly change tack, calling for “contingency plans” for lengthening the withdrawal, whatever
that means.
It’s almost impossible to exaggerate the
incompetence and duplicity of the Biden administration, which in a brief
two-week period has managed to alienate and weaken our major allies while
emboldening and empowering our foes, in particular Russia, China, Iran and the
myriad Islamist terrorist groups across the Mideast and South Asia.
And things are about to get even uglier in Afghanistan, if
that’s possible.
The good news is that, as of Monday, the U.S. had already
helped evacuate 37,000 people from Afghanistan, according to a leaked
ambassadorial communication. The bad news: Only 4,000 Americans were among
those evacuated.
The U.S., despite having the biggest airlift capacity on
Earth, has had to rely on private carriers to evacuate the country, at the same
time doing little to get stranded American citizens into the airport, say some.
“The South Africans, the Brits, the Qataris, their ambassadors
have been getting safe passage for people to the airport,” said former
congressman and one-time Navy SEAL Scott Taylor, who is working with others to
privately evacuate people from Kabul.
Taylor, in remarks to the Daily Caller, called the U.S. refusal to aid
private groups such as his “frustrating” and, in even blunter terms, a “massive
f*#k up.”
There remain 15,000 more Americans and at least 50,000
Afghans to be evacuated, according to recent U.S. estimates. But even the Biden
administration admits it doesn’t know how many Americans are even
there.
From initial assurances that all would be rescued to
Biden’s more recent comment that the U.S. “won’t be able to get everyone out,”
it now looks as if a nightmare scenario is unfolding.
It includes possible mass hostage-taking or
imprisonment of Americans as “spies,” with abuse, torture and possibly even
executions for some. We’ve been here before. Remember the 444 days
in Iran from 1979 to 1981, under the Ayatollah Khomeini? The Taliban is even
worse. And it’s terrifying to think what it’ll do to those Afghans who helped
us these past two decades.
In addition to gifting the now-national Taliban army
with billions of dollars in spanking-new U.S. rifles, missile
launchers, aircraft and even uniforms, we have now created the potential
for “Largest Hostage Crisis in American History,” as Commentary online called it.
Begging terrorists for help is a huge mistake
for a superpower. Our willful weakness makes the world a far more unstable and
dangerous place than it already is.
Do the Democrats in Congress care? It doesn’t seem so.
They’ve been moving forward on other things, even as they criticize and
distance themselves from the increasingly isolated, politically damaged and
mentally failing Biden. His public approval in nearly every poll has collapsed, and
Democrats fear the taint of his failure going into 2022.
While the rest of us worry about the utter implosion of
U.S. foreign policy, the loss of our prestige and power around the world, and
the tragedy of the Afghan people and Americans trapped in Kabul, Democrats in
Congress have had their eyes on the real prize.
With little fanfare, they just announced a $3.5 trillion spending bill that if
passed into law will put Americans further in hock for decades to come, raise
taxes, kill thousands of small businesses, add to already soaring inflation and
give government unprecedented control over all aspects of American life.
“Never let a good crisis go to waste,” as the Democrats
like to say.
Whether they now try to remove political liability Biden
via the 25th Amendment, making Kamala Harris president, or wait and take their
chances in the 2022 midterms, remains to be seen.
But Biden’s total lack of competence can no
longer be doubted. He’s failed to push back against the
murderous Taliban, set up the possible re-establishment of both al-Qaida and
ISIS in Afghan territory, and in effect asked for a mass hostage crisis. Such
ineptitude isn’t mere bureaucratic failure; it’s deadly.
https://issuesinsights.com/2021/08/25/americans-await-evacuation-as-biden-takes-a-knee-to-taliban/
