The situation in Afghanistan is becoming increasingly dire for the Americans stranded there, and it seems inevitable that some will be left behind enemy lines when President Joe Biden pulls the rest of our military from the region on Aug. 31. But the Biden administration, seemingly preparing for this reality, is brushing it off with a new talking point: It’s not our fault, it’s theirs.
When asked why the United States did not begin evacuating our citizens and allies from Afghanistan sooner, the acting U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Ross Wilson said they were given more than enough warning to leave since March or April.
“Never in my 40 years of working, since I began working at the State Department, have I seen such strong language used. People chose not to leave. That’s their business. That’s their right,” Wilson told CBS News on Wednesday. “We regret now that many may find themselves in a position that they would rather not be in. And we are determined to try to help them.”
Putting aside the vileness of Wilson’s victim-blaming, what he says is just not true. Biden was telling people just last month that a Taliban takeover was “not inevitable” because the Afghan government and military were capable of standing up for themselves. He also disputed reports from the intelligence community that the Afghan government would collapse as soon as the U.S. was gone.
“The Afghan troops have 300,000 well-equipped, as well-equipped as any army in the world, and an air force against something like 75,000 Taliban. It is not inevitable,” he said in July.
The Americans in Afghanistan took Biden at his word. Our president assured them that his withdrawal would not result in chaos, and they believed him. It is not their fault that he lied; it is not their fault that he created the conditions that have left them stranded.
No one but Biden is to blame for this tragedy, and if even one American is left behind because of the decisions he made, he should be forced to own it.
