British members of Parliament railed against President Joe Biden on Wednesday, lamenting his chaotic and dishonorable withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The complaints weren’t specifically targeted against Biden’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan. Instead, it was the feckless, unprepared, and callous method of Biden’s retreat that has sparked such anger.
One after the other, senior backbenchers took to their feet to express their concerns. Former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith lamented Biden’s “chaotic rush and despicable retreat.” Referencing China’s use of the chaos as a means to pressure Taiwan, Duncan Smith implored that “America must come back” to its position of global leadership.
Tobias Ellwood observed that it isn’t a collapse of Western security forces that we’ve seen over the past few days, but rather “it’s the leadership that is going.” Owen Paterson went further, asserting that Britain will “now have to deal with a weak American president.”
Tom Tugendhat deplored Biden’s “shameful” blame game against Afghan forces who had fought and died alongside Americans.
Labour member Chris Bryant asked what would happen to other U.S. and British allies who can’t make it to Kabul airport to evacuate. “What are the 15,000 meant to do? Hang around and wait until they’ve been executed?” Bryant asked.
The alarm here has two primary elements.
First, parliamentarians are realizing that Biden’s inaugural address pledge to be a “strong and trusted partner” and “repair our alliances” might not be worth all that much.
In addition, as with other close U.S. allies, it hasn’t escaped British notice that Biden’s response to criticism has been one of petulant rage. Rather than accept that mistakes have been made and attempt to mitigate them, Biden has sought to change the conversation and hidden to avoid questions from the media. Where he has taken questions, as with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, the president has shown a callous disregard for the humanitarian disaster and credibility crisis he has induced.
If top politicians from America’s closest ally are offering such harsh criticisms out loud, one can only wonder what other allies are thinking.
