Commentary

As I read remarks critical of President Biden’s Afghan withdrawal failure, now by Democrats and the leftist media, I recalled the red flags about his Washington experience raised during the 2020 presidential campaign.

“For millions of Americans, Mr. Biden was the closest thing to a conventional, confidence-inspiring authority figure in the 2020 race next to Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Donald Trump,” wrote Wall Street Journal columnist Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.

When Biden finally emerged from his Wilmington, Delaware hideaway, he was anything but confidence-inspiring, but it didn’t matter.  That nasty Twitterer Trump had to go.

Even former President Obama couldn’t persuade Democrats they were making a mistake.  He once said, “if you wanted to see something really screwed up, give it to Joe Biden to do.”

“You don’t have to do this, Joe,” said Obama, politely trying to convince him not to run.

We were told that Obama picked Biden to be his vice president because of his Washington longevity and foreign relations resume, but we learned from Steven Livingston’s book, “Barrack and Joe,” that Obama considered Biden a Washington blowhard.  “While listening to one of Biden’s long-winded speeches, he wrote a note to an aide: Shoot. Me. Now.”

The mainstream media certainly knew all of this, but didn’t share it with their viewers?  They didn’t report about Hunter Biden, his lap top, and questionable connections.

Many voters went to the polls with no knowledge of Hunter’s activities and father Joe’s full knowledge of them.  A survey of some 2,000 voters in Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia and Pennsylvania revealed that 10 percent were unaware of Hunter Biden’s dealings.

It gives some credence to the charge that the media helped win the election for Biden. Nearly half of the voters cast their ballots by mail weeks in advance of election day.

It’s disgraceful that it took Biden’s mishandling of the Afghan withdrawal, and his blatant blaming of everyone but himself to reveal his true character.  Those who claim he was simply continuing Trump’s strategy are uninformed.

“In February 2020, the Trump administration reached an agreement that required the Taliban to end all attacks on U.S. military personnel, to refuse safe harbor and to negotiate with Afghan leaders on creating a new government,” responded former vice president Mike Pence. “As long as these conditions were met, the U.S. would conduct a gradual and orderly withdrawal of military forces.”

This agreement was unanimously endorsed by the UN Security Council, and a stability was in effect in Afghanistan, with no U.S. combat casualties in the following 18 months.

Taliban leaders understood the consequences of violating the deal would bring a swift and severe response.  The taking out of Gen. Qasem Soleimani and a major leader of ISIS left no doubt.

Why do you suppose Biden told the Wall Street Journal in 2020 that he planned to “withdraw all troops by the end of his first term, while maintaining a small number of special forces, only to begin an early departure of Afghanistan this month, allowing the Taliban to make a sweep across the country that ended in Kabul, where they commandeered a treasure trove of American weapons and vehicles?

His top generals urged him to keep a force of about 2,500 troops, the size he inherited, and he was given briefings about the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.  The Afghan Study Group, a bipartisan congressionally mandated panel, advised Biden to leave 2,500 troops there, and urged him to be flexible in his withdrawal timetable.

On the civilian side, Secretary of State Blinken and National Security Advisor Sullivan, were also wary of what was happening there, but neither had the guts to disagree with the president, who they knew had his mind made up.

As I read the remarks on the situation by former defense secretary and CIA director Leon Panetta, I recalled Biden’s boastful speeches to members of the state department and later to members of the G7, when he told them “America is back.”

“I’m sure the (recent) events are raising questions about our credibility and President Biden is absolutely going to have to deal with that,” Panetta said.

Now Biden has his work cut out for himself to, hat in hand, seek the support of the international community to help us temper Taliban rule. 

“Credibility is not divisible, and China, Russia and Iran have taken our measure,” wrote Condoleeza Rice in the Washington Post.

 Biden’s feeble “the buck stops here” is an unacceptable answer for accepting accountability.  He needs to admit that he made a strategic mistake that has led to tragic consequences for our national security and the Afghan people.

I’m not holding my breath.  He has yet to accept accountability for the thousands of illegals crossing our southern border, many of them with Covid, now being dispersed across the country. We are witnessing dereliction of duty in our commander-in-chief.

My only hope is that those Americans, who decided Biden was the man to provide leadership, have awakened and now realize that the man behind “America First” wasn’t so bad after all.

President Trump successfully met the challenge of making America respected again as he promised in his April 27, 2016 foreign policy speech, adding, “Americans must have confidence in their country and its leadership.”

Now, more than ever … may God continue to bless the United States of America.