Blame Joe Biden for the disaster in Afghanistan. Nobody else.

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I am the President of the United States of America, and the responsibility ends with me. It was President Joe Biden earlier this week, appropriating the rhetoric of former President Harry Trumans in a futile attempt to present himself as a standing man willing to take the heat to make tough decisions.

But Biden dropped the mask almost immediately. He spent most of the same speech blaming everyone, especially the Afghan army, for the Afghan debacle. In truth, the blame lies only with the reckless decision-making of its administrations.

Defenders of the administration originally tried to blame the shadow warriors of our nations, insisting that bad decisions were the result of intelligence failure. Yet we now know that US intelligence and military leaders have given sobering warnings about the deterioration of the situation in Afghanistan throughout the summer. Despite these warnings, Biden accelerated the exit from the United States, shutting down Bagram Airfield in July and removing essential foreign contractors who were helping maintain planes and supply chains for the Afghan military.

After pulling the rug out from under the Afghan army, it’s the last straw for Biden to then accuse them of not fighting hard enough. While the Afghan army has had its fair share of problems, this all-volunteer force certainly did not lack the will to fight. More than 60,000 people gave their lives in the struggle for freedom.

Biden claimed his hands were tied by the Trump administration’s deals with the Taliban. They were not. Biden, not Trump, has chosen to schedule a full start in the middle of the fighting season. Biden chose to shut down Bagram Airfield which provided logistics, security and strike means, including a greater ability to exfiltrate US citizens and visa applicants. Biden chose not to find a way forward for contractors to be protected and help maintain Afghan planes bought by American taxpayers. Biden chose bureaucratic intransigence in handling the backlog of Afghan Special Immigrant (SIV) visa applications prior to the withdrawal of US forces.

True leaders take responsibility for their decisions, including those that have led to untenable situations and require action. Biden didn’t.

Where do we go from here? Logistically, Afghanistan was a crucial location in the fight against terrorism. Biden spoke of counterterrorism capabilities on the horizon, but the loss of Afghanistan makes that extremely difficult, if not impossible. What negotiations or commitments have taken place since its announcement in April of the imminent US withdrawal that would provide significant levels of intelligence and counterterrorism capabilities?

Prior to the withdrawal, the United States should have clearly established and planned a timely intelligence, strike and search and rescue capability in the Afghan theater. This does not happen. With Al-Qaeda, the Haqqani network and ISIS terrorists already in the powder keg, nothing prevents Afghanistan from becoming a terrorist breeding ground again.

We were clear on the risks. We have foreseen every eventuality, Biden said in his speech. Obviously, the administration needs to be controlled and better planners. As former CIA Director and Obama Administration Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta noted, I was struck by the fact that they were crossing their fingers and hoping that chaos would ensue. not. And it doesn’t work like that.

The situation in Afghanistan is now quite dramatic. Biden is sending 6,000 US troops more than double those who were in the country before the withdrawal to secure the airport and help extract the 10,000 to 15,000 reported Americans remaining in the country. It is still not clear that there is an actual plan to achieve this. The places where the Taliban will give safe passage to those trying to reach Kabul airport cannot be comforting to those facing armed Taliban checkpoints in the perimeter.

The White House and the Pentagon have refused to commit to helping those still in Kabul after the August 31 deadline set by Biden earlier this year. Nor have they made any commitments to those outside Kabul.

It’s absurd. Every effort should be made to bring our people back to safety and to give the estimated 40,000 Afghans who fought and helped us to start anew elsewhere. As Senator Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) Noted, the message from the Americas, to our friends and to the Taliban, should be clear: We will move heaven and earth to bring every American from Afghanistan back to American soil, period. final. This is the only answer.

As we continue to watch the devolution of these poorly executed decisions, an unfortunate thought from a battle-proven President Truman comes to mind about Team Biden, this administration is going to be criticized and debated for years to come. to come.

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