As the current quagmire in Afghanistan progresses, it becomes clearer each day the situation was grossly mishandled. There were claims by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley that no one could have predicted what happened. This was, in turn, questioned as reports emerged of a memo in the State Department predicting exactly what happened. As president, Joe Biden has received much of the criticism for the debacle. However, such criticism is a “low-hanging fruit argument.” The real blame lies with Biden supporters and voters. They were the people that voted him into office.
Biden has been in government for nearly 50 years. He was vice president for eight years. He has a long track record of exactly who he is and what he stands for. Biden’s campaign championed a dramatic shift from former President Donald Trump’s foreign policy. Moreover, Biden’s critics warned that his foreign policies would be detrimental to U.S. security. People that supported and voted for him should have known this is what would have happened.
Even more concerning were public opinion polls boasting of the notion that the United States’s image improved around the world with Biden as president. Yet, after his first significant performance on the international stage, leadership from around the globe is singing a different tune. Parliament in the United Kingdom held Biden in contempt. An anonymous Cabinet minister claimed that the inability of the Biden administration to realize the fragile reality of Afghanistan revealed that the country is “looking inward and is unwilling to do even a modest amount to maintain global order.” Armin Laschet, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s heir apparent, dubbed the Afghanistan situation “the greatest debacle that NATO has seen since its foundation.”
Now, some may claim to have been fooled or misled by Biden. After all, it was Biden who said, “America is back. America is back. Diplomacy is back at the center of our foreign policy.” Yet, these words by Biden turned out to be empty promises and hollow thoughts approximately six months later.
The crux of the issue is Afghanistan should be blamed on the Biden supporter and voter. They actively pushed for a president whose incompetence was on display for nearly half a century. They were so intent on removing Trump from office that they did not care about any of the consequences of their efforts. The only thing that was important to them was to defeat Trump.
Undoubtedly, they will accept zero responsibility given what ultimately transpired. And, as a result, we are left with the current situation that exists today. Biden was championed as being experienced in foreign policy, someone whose presidency would make the U.S. safer than it would be if Trump were reelected. However, their efforts to get Biden elected should not be forgotten.
Every celebrity, every politician, past or present, who endorsed him; every policymaker, past or present, who actively supported him — remember all of them the next time you read about the horrors occurring to women and children in Afghanistan.
They were all wrong.
