President Joe Biden arrives at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, Monday, Aug. 16, 2021. Biden will address the nation on Monday about the U.S. evacuation from Afghanistan, after the planned withdrawal of American forces turned deadly at Kabul’s airport as thousands tried to flee the country after the Taliban’s takeover. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Scenes of chaos coming out of Kabul have placed a stain on the Joe Biden’s foreign policy objectives. Despite the disorder, an air of denial has descended on the administration’s senior military and foreign policy officials in recent media appearances.
When asked by ABC how the withdrawal could go so wrong and why images were reminiscent of America’s withdrawal from Saigon in 1975, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken denied the similarities to Vietnam at all.
“Let’s take a step back; this is manifestly not Saigon,” he stated. “The fact of the matter is this: we went to Afghanistan 20-years ago with one mission in mind and that was to deal with the people who attacked on 9/11. And that mission has been successful. We brought Bin Laden to justice a decade ago. Al-Qaeda, the group that attacked us, has been vastly diminished.”
However, Republicans disagree that the mission has been accomplished successfully. Congressman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) was asked for his comments on the disastrous withdrawal. He did not hold back in placing the blame squarely on Biden and said if Donald Trump were still in the Oval Office then the withdrawal would have happened in an orderly manner.
Jordan also slammed Biden for going to Camp David. As a result, Biden was missing in action without any statements or press conferences for days while Americans are still trapped in Kabul.
President Trump released a statement of his own on the situation, demanding Biden resign for his failure to protect American interests.
.@POTUS45:
“It is time for Joe Biden to resign in disgrace for what he has allowed to happen to Afghanistan, along with the tremendous surge in COVID, the Border catastrophe, the destruction of energy independence, and our crippled economy.” pic.twitter.com/4ZSDTYubAm
— Natalie Harp (@NatalieJHarp) August 15, 2021
Congressman Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) echoed President Trump’s statement. He too called on Biden to resign, saying the administration has been failure after failure since January. The Republican also called for Kamala Harris, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to resign alongside Biden.
Even those Republicans who have been accused of maintaining an anti-Trump bias have been extremely harsh in their criticism’s of Biden’s tragic withdrawal. For instance, congressman Peter Meijer (R-Mich) was up-front with how poorly he thought Biden handled the withdrawal.
“There had been every, every assessment and every assurance that the Biden administration, that the Pentagon, that the State Department, Intelligence Community gave, you know, what’s clearly based on massive error,” Meijer asserted. “And at this point, this is an intelligence and strategic policy failure of historic proportions.”
As the administration scrambles to remedy their mistakes in Afghanistan, the fight at home over the legacy of the 20-year war and its disastrous ending is just beginning.
Source: One America News Network
