Biden in Afghanistan: Drop Dead

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President Biden told the world on Monday that he did not regret his decision to withdraw quickly from Afghanistan, nor even the chaotic and incompetent manner in which the withdrawal was carried out. He is determined to retreat, rebellious to surrender and confident in the merits of submitting the country to jihadist rule. We doubt the world will see it the same way in the days, months and years to come.

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Mr Biden refused to accept responsibility for the botched withdrawal while blaming others. He blamed Donald Trump’s peace deal with the Taliban and again falsely claimed he was trapped. He criticized his three predecessors for not leaving Afghanistan. He blamed the Afghans for not having fought enough, their leaders for having fled and even the Afghans who helped us for not leaving sooner. The only group he obviously didn’t blame was the Taliban, who once harbored Osama bin Laden and could protect his terrorist successor.

The president took a look at the horrific scenes unfolding in Kabul and in particular at the airport, but again without addressing the mistakes that led to it. If the United States had not abandoned the Bagram air base, now controlled by the Taliban, the United States would no longer have to fight to control the commercial airfield in Kabul.

The chaotic scenes at the airport, with Afghans hanging from a US military plane and two falling from the sky to their deaths, will be the indelible images of this debacle. They echo 9/11, with people falling from the sky, which Mr. Biden did not anticipate when he chose the 20th anniversary of 9/11 as his withdrawal deadline.

Instead of taking responsibility, Mr. Biden has played on the sentiment of Americans who are fed up with foreign military missions. It’s a powerful argument to talk about sending a child to risk their life in a foreign country, and no doubt it will resonate with many Americans. This is a question every president should ask himself.

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