Reality Sets In
“I am absolutely appalled and literally horrified we left Americans there,” one administration official told POLITICO. “It was a hostage rescue of thousands of Americans in the guise of a NEO [noncombatant evacuation operations], and we have failed that no-fail mission.” Another White House official said that the mission isn’t accomplished if they left Americans behind.
Over the past few years, Politico has decidedly drifted left in its editorial biases. It always was. It has gotten more pronounced. But even Politico cannot avoid capturing what really happened in Afghanistan. What makes it even more notable is that the quotes come from those inside the White House.
Two weeks ago, Joe Biden told George Stephanopoulos that the United States would stay in Afghanistan past August 31, 2021, if there were still Americans needing extraction.
BIDEN: The commitment holds to get everyone out that, in fact, we can get out and everyone that should come out. And that's the objective. That's what we're doing now, that's the path we're on. And I think we'll get there.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So Americans should understand that troops might have to be there beyond August 31st?
BIDEN: No. Americans should understand that we're gonna try to get it done before August 31st.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But if we don't, the troops will stay--
BIDEN: If -- if we don't, we'll determine at the time who's left.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And?
BIDEN: And if you're American force -- if there's American citizens left, we're gonna stay to get them all out.
Based on the President’s own words and objectives, the United States failed.
We left behind a three year old American citizen from Sacremento. We left behind his family. We left behind others. Now, despite their promises of amnesty, the Taliban is going door to door killing people they promised to spare.
Now sources inside Afghanistan, as well as some who recently fled, have told the BBC that Taliban fighters are searching for, and allegedly killing, people they pledged they would leave in peace.
Several sources confirmed that Taliban fighters last week executed two senior police officials - Haji Mullah Achakzai, the security director of Badghis province, and Ghulam Sakhi Akbari, security director of Farah province. Video footage showed Mr Achakzai was kneeling, blindfolded, with his hands tied behind his back before he was shot.
America failed, but it is important to remember why we failed. We failed not because our military was incapable, but because the military’s Commander-in-Chief was unwilling. The man who the press said was empathetic has left behind Americans and created a hostage situation.
This is a failure of leadership. But that failure extends further.
Yesterday, I interviewed Josh Youssef of Help the Persecuted. Josh told me how the Biden Administration thwarted their private relief and rescue efforts in Afghanistan. He said other nations were far more willing to help than the United States. His organization is still trying to extract 200 Christian families from Afghanistan. The Biden Administration has not been unresponsive but has actively obstructed the rescue effort.
This isn’t misfeasance, but malfeasance.
Reality is setting in. Joe Biden is not fit for the job of leader of the free world. Even members of his White House staff are willing now to whisper that Biden failed.
I'm 62. Started becoming politically aware in my teens in the 70's. Carter became President when I was 17 years old. Everything from an information stand point was different then. At best, he was ineffective, at worse, he cost this country lives and respect around the world.
He was a poor leader, that lost the respect of his own party in a very short time, with the Kennedy's undercutting every chance they got. Pride in being an American was at an all-time low. Morale was low, with very few people feeling optimistic about the future. We were lost.
Biden stood up in front of the country yesterday and took an unapologetic tone and spent time justifying his actions and basically took little or no responsibility for Americans being left behind. Left behind! "WE" don't do that - ever....
He has consistently misled and lied to the American people. (Georgia voting law is the first that comes to mind). I do think yesterday catches up to him. He was basically saying, do not let your lying eyes persuade you. What you see on TV isn't what has really happened. The Kool-Aid Drinkers will believe whatever comes out of his mouth, but the rest know the truth.
And here is what scares me. I do not know if he is saying these things after the fact, knowing that he is lying or if because he is so senile that he actually believes it.
History is repeating itself. But this time with a President that has far less intelligence than President Jimmy Carter, and with little or no morale fiber.
President Carter is not longer the worse President of my lifetime.
Glenn Beck set up a charity years ago and one project was resettling people whose religious views made them victims of genocide (Christians, Muslims, etc). The charity paid for the resettlement costs and training so they could be productive citizens in the host country. Our government went out of its way to make it impossible to fly out people and put pressure on host countries not to take them.