Since the swift takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban, Democratic TV journalists have been on the attack against President Biden. They question “why did he do this, and why didn’t he do that”? They are blasting these criticisms from the studios of Democratic-friendly media joining with the right-wing rantings against Biden. Labels like “debacle,” “embarrassment,” and “stain” are being used, giving credibility to the attacks against Biden by Republicans. Generals and intelligence professions say the negative projections about Biden’s action, our future standing in the world with allies, and the end result of the withdrawl are premature and unfounded.
President Biden’s decision to end the Afghanistan War has a 62% approval rating with Americans. He is the only president who had the courage to rip the bandaid off and do what George W. Bush, Barack Obama, And Donald Trump couldn’t do, which is to bring Americans home from another war that no longer had a purpose. Since 2009, President Biden is on record declaring America should no longer put its soldiers in harm’s way in a country whose government is unwilling to commit to fighting on it’s own for its freedoms.
Ambassador Matthew Dowd appeared on MSNBC today and said Trump’s deal with the Taliban set the stage for the collapse of Afghanistan. He said the collapse of the Afghan government has been coming for year’s and Trump’s “surrender deal” set the withdrawal up to be chaotic. In the The Washington Post today, the Trump deal with the Taliban was said to include;
- A U.S. promise to get out of Afghanistan in 14 months
- Agreement by the Taliban not to allow Afghanistan to become a haven for terrorism
- An agreement by the Taliban to have peace talks with the Afghan government and to consider a cease-fire
- The United States would release 5,000 Taliban prisoners. The Taliban would release 1,000 U.S. prisoners
- A verbal promise by the Taliban to be responsible for any individual or group that might attack the United States from Afghanistan
The Post described this deal as “sweet” for the Taliban. The agreement required us to take the Taliban’s word, a terrorist group, on faith. Trump’s incompetent deal-making skills were evident in the wording of the agreement which only expected the Taliban to promise to prevent any person or group from threatening the security of the U.S. One gaping problem, say scholars (including some from the Trump administration): The peace agreement came with no enforcement mechanism for the Taliban to keep its word. Trump’s incompetence and ego- driven hunger to be seen as a powerful deals maker created a naive deal based on trusting a terrorist group. Trump also gave in to the Taliban’s request to have the U.S. reduced to 2,500 and for allied troops to be significantly reduced as well. This deal with the Taliban continued Trump’s pattern of trusting the promises and pronouncements of dictators and enemies over U.S. intelligence and traditional diplomatic practices.
President Biden took decisive and brave action in ending America’s involvement in a war that couldn’t be won and accomplished what three former presidents didn’t. Instead of receiving criticism for the challenges that the former president set in motion, President Biden should be thanked and supported.
