Photo: Bloomberg via Getty Images The White House’s usual calculus was no longer cutting it by Monday night, a fact that was becoming undeniable with each new wave of desperate reports from Kabul.
When Biden returned early to the White House from a long weekend at Camp David, he felt compelled to again explain the duty he felt to finally end the unpopular two-decade war, declaring: “I will not pass this responsibility on to a fifth president, I will not mislead the American people by claiming that just a little more time in Afghanistan will make all the difference.
But the clarity of Biden’s goal and administration officials’ insistence that he faced a binary choice with one clear, popular option did little to explain the images of thousands of Afghans crowding onto the Hamid Karzai International Airport tarmac, desperate to get out.
But those same talking points raised the ire even of Democrats supportive of Biden and the withdrawal. Of particular concern was a line claiming: “Many have asked why we did not evacuate more Afghanistan civilians, sooner. Part of the answer is that many did not want to leave earlier: Many Afghans to whom we gave visas to come to the U.S. chose to stay in their country, still hopeful.” There was a crush of Afghans trying to get out, and no one should have been surprised, these lawmakers say.
Joe took the position, plain and simple, that we have to get out of Afghanistan. I reminded him that the president and Hillary and indeed, I think, Joe himself had talked about a residual presence like Iraq, which he said he’d been working on most of the last year, that we would need congressional appropriations to train the army and the police and give economic assistance, we wouldn’t get any of that if women were sent back to the black years and the dark ages.
Still, as more scenes from the airport in Kabul hit cable news, frustration simmered as they couldn’t make this case more clearly: “There’s no good way to talk about it, and there’s no good way you can describe this as anything other than Afghanistan’s version of the fall of Saigon. It’s mortifying,” said a second senior Senate Democratic aide. “It’s what we’ve always wanted, to end this endless war, and it does seem like there are no Americans being threatened,” said a third.
gdebenedetti I'll take 20 years of bad intel for $500, Alex.
gdebenedetti What's wrong about it?Nothing we are getting out and the defence contractors can start looking around for the next debacle.
gdebenedetti Investigate, Pelosi. The fact is the Afghan people obviously didn’t want democracy. If so they would have it now. “This was less an issue of Afghan military capabilities and more a reflection of Afghan leadership, cohesion and willpower.”
gdebenedetti Another take: people don’t really care.
gdebenedetti (cough) Trump (cough)
gdebenedetti Perhaps you can look at history. Britain, Russia, the USA vs Afghanistan and especially vs the Taliban and tribes
gdebenedetti
gdebenedetti Humanity, respect for allies, honor, they weren't there, when Biden decided what to do. Now, the women, children and men put on danger, and that's his fault. Biden, who the world used to think was kind of different from Trump, has lost any hedge he had global governance wise.
gdebenedetti Good grief, this is a bad take. Yes, there's chaos, but the Taliban already controlled almost all of the country. The writing was on the wall since the former guy's administration. Pres. Biden ended what nobody else had the courage to end, Pres. Obama included.
gdebenedetti Try harder to make Americans buy the bull$hit you're selling. Sorry, Joe is not responsible for the fall of Saigon.
gdebenedetti Lack of common sense...
gdebenedetti What's wrong? He did it fait accompli.
Lifelong dem here. Reading this made me wish I still owned a bird cage. Taliban in chg+Afghan prez flying off to Dubai w/$169M in his pocket were results of Trump/Pompeo shenanigans. No one w/sense is blaming POTUS for not being able to turn that sow’s ear into silk. (YMMV 😉)
Olivianuzzi gdebenedetti I'm not worried.. I just wonder how many lost wars and global embarrassments will it take for us to learn our lesson.
gdebenedetti 🙄
Olivianuzzi gdebenedetti PICK A LANE!
gdebenedetti I’m a Democrat and I don’t feel this way at all. In fact, no one I’ve spoken to on zoom or in my community feels this way about Biden. The media is so out of touch with the public in this issue. Do a piece on the untenable situation Biden inherited from The Mobster.
Olivianuzzi gdebenedetti Ummmm. It was sabotaged. By Trump admin.
Olivianuzzi gdebenedetti If Trump did it the republicans would be praising him and blaming it on the Afghans.
Olivianuzzi gdebenedetti It was a set up. Trump/Pompeo made a deal to hold off the Taliban until after 2020 election as to not make Trump look bad.
Olivianuzzi gdebenedetti Huh?
Olivianuzzi gdebenedetti Bullshit
gdebenedetti 'A massive policy fail': CIA warned White House of swift Taliban takeover CIA warned of rapid Afghanistan collapse. So why did U.S. get it so wrong? No spin can cover the fact that Biden is a global embarrassment.
Olivianuzzi gdebenedetti Relax.
Olivianuzzi gdebenedetti I think it went like anyone sensible expected.
gdebenedetti .gdebenedetti's report on the response of nervous Democrats to President Biden's Afghan withdrawal was featured today in One Great Story, our reading recommendation newsletter. Sign up here to get it nightly:
gdebenedetti It was a pre-negotiated setup. Just ask Pompeo.
gdebenedetti The country expects more out of Democrats than it does out of Republicans. And that’s OK, because Democrats deliver. But this was very poorly done. Milley wears rose colored glasses. He needs to retire.
gdebenedetti We can't all agree on one decision. If US Army stays in Afghanistan many will clamour about how expensive it is. If the US Troops left yet many are still complaining because its gives the Taliban more advantages. Let Afghanistan rule themselves the way they like.
gdebenedetti Tragic. After 20 years, there must be generations of people who have helped the US.
gdebenedetti This is asinine. It didn't go wrong. It was inevitable. Stop trying to make something out of nothing. Typical clickbait.
gdebenedetti 'are wondering how President Biden’s Afghan withdrawal went so wrong' Because it was a political stunt and not based on intelligence.
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