Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska has hit home with a series of blunt critiques of the Afghanistan-withdrawal policies of both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Both presidents and their top national security aides deserve all the criticism Sasse gives.
Sasse consistently opposed Trump’s determination to withdraw from the south Asian country without a lasting peace, and last November described it as a “weak retreat” that is “not grounded in reality and will make the world a more dangerous place.” He cannot be accused of merely piling on in retrospect.
As the world watched the disaster that Sasse long predicted unfold, his press releases on the subject have been scathing. On Aug. 10, the senator said: “Terrorists exploit weakness. No one should pretend they’re surprised the Taliban is winning now that we abandoned our Afghan partners. No one should pretend to be surprised when girls and women are brutalized. And no one should pretend to be surprised when the Taliban yet again provides safe harbor to terrorists plotting international attacks. Our troops served America and our allies admirably, but the last administration and the present administration chose to give up the fight.”
On Aug. 15, Sasse said, “The unmitigated disaster in Afghanistan — the shameful, Saigon-like abandonment of Kabul, the brutalization of Afghan women, and the slaughter of our allies — is the predictable outcome of the Trump-Biden doctrine of weakness. History must be clear about this: American troops didn’t lose this war — Donald Trump and Joe Biden deliberately decided to lose.” And: “America’s leaders didn’t tell the truth that our small, forward-deployed force of a few thousand was the backbone of intelligence and special forces’ successful work to decapitate terror organizations. The looming defeat will badly hurt American intelligence and give jihadis a safe haven in Afghanistan, again. America will regret this.”
Later that day, as the jets leaving Afghanistan were surrounded by frightened Afghans wanting safe passage, Sasse added: “The mission at this point ought to be simple: bolster American troops and firepower until we can get flights running around the clock. The Taliban must not dictate when every last American, our courageous Afghan partners, and their families are off the tarmac.”
And finally, today, Sasse wrote for National Review that Biden “cowers at Camp David” as “the Taliban are humiliating America.” After describing the unfolding horrors, he wrote that “gross incompetence has given the Taliban a terrible opportunity to slaughter our allies. …This bloodshed wasn’t just predictable, it was predicted. For months, Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee have warned the Biden administration that this would happen. Now the administration is acting like this is a surprise. It’s shameful, dishonest spin.”
And: “America’s retreat is a major propaganda coup for the jihadists. The Taliban will claim to be a ‘superpower-slayer.’ The Taliban helped their allies stage the 9/11 attacks almost exactly 20 years ago, and after our retreat they’ll be able to brag about humiliating us again. Make no mistake: The Taliban will exploit every image of American retreat.”
The headline aptly captured the message that this ignominious defeat is “Worse Than Saigon,” where U.S. helicopters infamously evacuated people from the American Embassy in Vietnam as locals pleaded for rescue.
Sasse ended with a plea to rescue as many as possible of the 88,000 Afghan allies who have applied for asylum. He is right that the need for asylum arose only because Trump and especially Biden mangled a successful mission and even more right that we have a moral obligation to meet that need for as many souls as possible.
