President Joe Biden desperately wants the public to believe his withdrawal from Afghanistan was a success. The chaos, the lies, the 13 U.S. lives lost, the $68 billion worth of military equipment left behind, and the 250-plus Americans who are stranded in the region say otherwise.
During his Tuesday speech announcing the end of the Afghanistan War, Biden deflected criticism for his handling of the humanitarian crisis that he created himself. He claimed that the United States was able to evacuate 90% of the Americans he had stranded in the region. While it is an objectively good thing that the U.S. rescued 90% rather than, say, 80% or 20%, that is not a success. Biden created the conditions that made this evacuation necessary in the first place, and he failed to complete the evacuation. As I wrote before, any subsequent effort by Biden to make the situation better is nothing more than damage control.
Hundreds of Americans are stuck in Afghanistan with no way of getting out. That’s success? Biden suggested that they chose to stay because of ties to the region. It is impossible to believe that the majority of these citizens would willingly choose to stay, and indeed, we know that at least some of them did not — they were impeded by the Taliban when attempting to reach the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan.
The fact is, every single decision Biden made during this withdrawal contributed to the chaos and the disorderly nature of the retreat. He pulled air support prematurely from the Afghan military, which contributed to their precipitous collapse. He gave away Bagram Airfield and turned down an offer by the Taliban to keep all of Kabul, allowing the terrorist organization to take over the city and set up checkpoints that have prevented our citizens and allies from getting to the airport. He exposed our troops to a suicide bombing attack that could have been prevented.
This was the worst kind of failure. Biden can change the subject, but he can’t change that.
