Critics Against Joe Biden As US Withdraws From Afghanistan

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Joe Biden campaigned on a promise to end America’s longest war, but his presidency is more likely to be recalled for presiding over the violent overthrow of the Afghan government by the Taliban.

Republicans have sought to capitalize on what is emerging as the biggest setback for Biden’s presidency ahead of next year’s election in which control of Congress is at stake.

“President Biden’s decisions send us rushing into an even worse sequel to the humiliating fall of Saigon in 1975,” Mitch McConnell, the Senate’s top Republican, said Thursday. McConnell said the advance of the Taliban raised the specter of Islamists celebrating the 20th anniversary of September 11 by “burning down our embassy in Kabul.”

Fellow Republican Lindsey Graham tweeted a warning: “It will only be a matter of time before our homeland is again threatened by Afghanistan.”

The cover of the New York Post, a conservative tabloid, put it more simply: “Biden’s Saigon”, headline the headline. “We are abandoning women to the savagery of the Taliban. “

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Biden, who has long opposed nation-building missions and the orderly influx of troops under the Obama administration, said US soldiers were at risk of attack if they stayed past the deadline negotiated under former President Donald Trump.

A Democratic aide said many Republicans who supported the withdrawal under the Trump administration were now simply playing politics and “trying to confuse the president.”

U.S. officials argue the fall of Kabul could still be avoided and are in talks with the Taliban in Doha, despite rapidly escalating ratings from security officials.

“The president is firmly focused on how we can continue to execute an orderly withdrawal and protect our men and women serving in Afghanistan,” said Jen Psaki, White House press secretary. “He doesn’t regret his decision.

So far, Biden does not appear to have undermined national political support on his side following the disaster. Although some pro-national security Democrats initially appeared to break ranks, with New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen saying she was “very disappointed” with the pullout, none of her colleagues were publicly critical last week. .

A State Department official deleted a Friday morning tweet saying she woke up with “a heavy heart, thinking of all the Afghan women and girls I worked with during my time in Kabul.” She said the United States was powerless to protect them and risked losing everything. The State Department told the Financial Times that she deleted the tweet “on her own will.”

The Washington Post spoke for many left-wing critics when it ran an op-ed Thursday titled, “Ruined or lost Afghan lives will be part of Biden’s legacy.”

Critics have targeted the administration on the speed of its withdrawal and on its refusal to use the word “evacuation” to describe the withdrawal of embassy personnel under the protection of infantry battalions which officials say could. involve several flights per day.

They also say the United States risks turning out to be an unreliable ally, despite Biden’s boast that “America is back.”

“History can hold President Joe Biden and his administration personally responsible should the worst happen,” John Allen, former commander of US forces in Afghanistan, said in an opinion piece on Friday.

Video: How the 20 Years War Changed Afghanistan | FT Film

Human rights activists, including some members of the Biden administration, have warned that Taliban atrocities could amount to war crimes and that women and girls would face a gruesome fate with the return of the ultra-conservative Islamist regime if the Taliban were taking control.

“[I]It’s easy to wonder if history will blame the United States for the humanitarian and human rights disaster there, ”said Andrea Prasow of Human Rights Watch. She added that many parties were to blame, but the United States itself had committed human rights abuses and rarely put the interests of the Afghan people first.

Security experts also argue that a Taliban victory could enable the very jihadist threat against the United States that the 2001 American invasion was intended to address.

The Biden administration, meanwhile, blamed the Trump administration for having tied its hands, Afghan security forces for not fighting, and the Taliban for not negotiating.

Biden cited the near collapse of al Qaeda, which carried out the 9/11 attacks, as his decision to step down. But although a UN report in June said al Qaeda’s number had fallen to a maximum of 500, it said the group had retained close ties with the Taliban and had a presence in 15 provinces. Afghans.

“[I]If the Taliban are successful, it is likely that Al Qaeda will operate with them, ”a US official told FT.

Experts say the jihadist threat would be felt most immediately in the region, in countries like Pakistan and India, before Al Qaeda or the local branch of Isis – arch enemies of the Taliban who have a foothold in eastern Afghanistan – cannot set their sights on the United States.

“There will be a backlash in Pakistan,” said Hasan Askari Rizvi, political scientist in Lahore. “If there is a Taliban government in Kabul, it will embolden extremist Islamic groups in Pakistan. “

Indian officials are also concerned that the success of the Taliban may increase militant activity in Kashmir, as happened when the Taliban previously ruled Afghanistan in the late 1990s.

Officials believe Biden’s policy of withdrawal helped propel him to victory in 2020, and national support for his decision to step down after more than 2,400 U.S. dead and 20,000 injured is still high .

Two-party public support has waned slightly as the Taliban has strengthened. Politico-Morning Consult polls reviewed by the White House showed support for his decision fell to 59% last month from 69% in April.

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Taliban victories, a humiliating exit, new atrocities and the fall of Kabul could further degrade this support. And pollsters say a terrorist attack on American soil could change everything.

“Joe Biden’s re-election in 2024 may hinge on whether the Taliban acts aggressively against the United States during this period,” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, adding that his approval rating among the independents were in decline.

Meanwhile, there is still strong bipartisan opposition to interventions abroad.

“Afghanistan is something that is going to mean a lot to the elites,” said Sean McElwee of Democratic pollster Data for Progress. “But that won’t be some sort of high priority for your average voter.”

Additional reporting by Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad

Follow @KarinaManson on Twitter

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