Rebecca Grant: Biden’s horror in Afghanistan doesn’t blame our military, blames Blinken, Biden, Senate Democrats

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Don’t blame the US military for the grim scenes of Afghans hanging alongside a US Air Force C-17 transport plane at Kabul airport. This intelligence failure happened in Washington at the State Department and the White House. And it extends to the Senate where Senator Ben Cardin, D-Md., Supported Bidens’ withdrawal plan and Senator Chris Murphy, D-Conn. said it was better to “move on to other competitions that matter more than Afghanistan”.

Kabul Airport looks like the Alamo. America has not lost an embassy like this since November 4, 1979, when Iranian students invaded the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held hostages for 444 days.

“Sadly, the Afghan forces vacuum,” Blinken told CNN’s Jake Tapper over the weekend. Cynical or incompetent? Hard to say, and it makes little difference now.

Blinken should be fired, quickly. The Biden administration conducted a lengthy policy review that culminated with President Joe Bidens’ big speech at the White House on April 14, declaring he was sticking to the peace deal. “We’re not going to rush out,” Biden said at the time. “Well, do it responsibly, purposefully, and safely.”

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Biden doubled down on July 8, launching Operation Allies Refuge to bring 20,000 or more Afghans to America. “We will be by your side as you have stood by our side,” Biden said.

Obviously, letting the Taliban take control BEFORE the complete withdrawal of American troops was not part of the plan. Nothing Biden says now can cover up the epic failure of his foreign policy team. As a senior American diplomat and Bidens’ right-hand man, Blinken was responsible for ensuring that there were solid plans to protect Americans and carry out American policy. He failed. And if Biden himself persisted in withdrawing, it was still up to Blinken to protect his diplomats.

Blinken should go, as a step towards restoring American diplomatic credibility. Firing Blinken is the fastest way to show that Biden owns this crisis and will try to resolve it.

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It didn’t have to be that way. Ambassador Nat Howell kept the United States Embassy in Kuwait open after Iraq invaded Kuwait with tanks and heavy forces in August 1990. Howell led his staff for five months, drawing on the swimming pool after the electricity and water were cut off.

The intelligence failure on the collapse of Kabul was not due to a lack of raw information. All American spy drones in the Middle East have probably observed Afghanistan and Kabul.

No, the failure is due to sketchy planning and bad reactions from Biden and his team. They did not have the intelligence of the streets.

“Our diplomacy does not depend on the presence of American boots on the ground,” Biden said on April 14.

Well, in Kabul it is. The boots that count are those of Air Force pilots, loaders and security police, as well as soldiers and Marines who are struggling to keep Kabul Hamid Karzai Airport open.

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The airport is the last shred of American diplomacy after 20 years in Afghanistan. With it open, forces can enter and evacuees can exit. The United States has an elite military force that can restore order and hold this airfield. But they do require a political leadership that Blinken has apparently been slow to provide.

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Capitol Hill is not innocent either. Shame on those senators who sided with Biden and posed for photos with President Ashraf Ghani, who will not be missed. At least Senator Bob Menendez, DN.J. told Axios “the president has to determine if what is going on is what he planned”.

There has been a horrific account that the chaos in Kabul proves Biden was right to leave. Don’t buy it.

The real chaos intensified just a few days ago. It was time to secure the airport and plan the evacuations before the Taliban appeared on their motorcycles.

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The departure from Bidens for Camp David, the time of withdrawal in August, the inability to support the Afghan forces with airstrikes after last week or to secure the airport: it all stinks.

The only way the United States can begin to recover is to have new leadership from Foggy Bottom.

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