Biden's Clueless Afghan Double-Cross
by Lawrence Kadish • August 18, 2021 at 12:30 pm
Globally, there is not a friend or foe who doesn't see that America's reliability as an ally has been demolished. Great Britain, which has troops in Afghanistan, was not even consulted.
Thousands of Americans awaiting instructions and with no way to get to an airport whose access is now controlled by the Taliban are still trapped inside Afghanistan. Pathetically, they are being told to "shelter in place." Interpreters and their families, who were promised that in the event of crisis they would be rescued, are not just trapped; reports are that members of the Taliban with "lists of names" are going door to door looking for allies of the U.S. military.
A strong argument was made for not pulling out at all. The objective was to ensure that America was never again attacked by a 9/11 type of terrorist group. To that end, the U.S. had a modest military footprint, like a small insurance premium, in Afghanistan.... The U.S. has, after all, had troops in Germany and South Korea for decades, and no one has been calling for their removal.
What must allies such as Taiwan or Israel be thinking now after watching poorly armed tribesman sweep aside an American ally we resolutely vowed to assist? Worse, what must America's adversaries, such as China, Russia, Iran or North Korea be thinking now? That such cut-and-run behavior signals the perfect opportunity to strike the Ukraine or Taiwan?
Communist China can see what America and the West did in response to its seizure of Hong Kong, its deceitful build-up of fake islands as military bases in the South China Sea, its attacks on northern India, its threats of a nuclear attack on Japan, its threats to attack Australia and its lies about the human-to-human transmissibility of its Covid-19 virus that have so far caused the deaths of more than 4,000,000 people worldwide and the devastation of countless economies -- exactly nothing.
The horror of President Joseph Biden's deliberate retreat from Afghanistan is so immense and its geopolitical impact so severe, we have to fully comprehend the extent of the disaster.
In insisting on an immediate withdrawal Biden apparently rejected the advice of Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III and Gen. Mark A. Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. According to the New York Times:
"Even as the number of American forces in Afghanistan steadily decreased to the 2,500 who still remained, Defense Department leaders still cobbled together a military effort that managed to protect the United States from terrorist attacks...."
Director of Central Intelligence William Burns also warned the U.S. Senate that a withdrawal would forfeit the ability to have human intelligence in the area to pick up what the Taliban, Al-Qaeda or Isis might be planning in their ongoing assault on the West.
