The Patriot Post® · Biden Abandons Afghanistan to Taliban

This should come as no surprise, but Afghanistan has descended into chaos since President Joe Biden ordered a complete American military withdrawal in the coming weeks. The retreat — and yes, that is exactly what it is — has been so rushed and poorly managed that all the gains made by the U.S.-led coalition over 20 years may come to naught in a matter of months. All the American blood and treasure may yield nothing. The situation is a disgrace to the Patriots who served there, especially as we’re just one month shy of the 20th anniversary of 9/11.

The Taliban has reemerged with a vengeance, executing a lightning offensive that has led to the seizure of 10 provincial capitals so far this week, the assassination of a government media official friendly with the foreign press, and an attempted assassination of the Afghan defense minister in Kabul that killed eight and wounded 20.

The Islamofascist regime that Americans were told would never return to power in Afghanistan looks poised to do just that. The Taliban controls or is contesting 80% of the districts in Afghanistan — after controlling just 73 of 421 in April. The Pentagon estimates Kabul could fall in the next three months, and the car bomb meant for the defense minister is but one of many acts of violence in the capital. Sporadic attacks that are coordinated to confuse and wear down Afghan security forces have already killed several civilians. In outlying districts, it’s back to the same old horrors where women are being shut out of facilities and stripped of their rights. People who helped the Americans are disappearing, ending up in jail, or in some cases killed right in the street.

Nevertheless, Biden says, “I do not regret my decision.”

The Taliban was already on the rebound when Biden announced America’s abrupt exit earlier this summer. The midnight withdrawal from Bagram Air Base during our Independence Day holiday was particularly shameful, but it was indicative of Biden’s overall policy toward Afghanistan. The action was ill-informed; the Taliban was going to be a problem, not a partner. The timing was also too abrupt.

We had to get out of Afghanistan at some point, and there are worthwhile debates to be had about when and how, and what we could have done differently. What Biden has done is pretty much everything that should not have been done. The pullout has been so sudden that the weary Afghan security forces didn’t even have a chance to prepare for the coming onslaught. The State Department has called on all U.S. citizens to leave Afghanistan without delay.

If that doesn’t evoke memories of the last helicopter leaving Saigon, we don’t know what does.

Almost laughably, The Wall Street Journal reports, “U.S. officials said they didn’t expect the takeover of any provincial capital until fall at the earliest.” We’re not sure what’s worse — the feigned surprise, or the expectation that the Taliban would take over in the fall.

Shame on anyone who didn’t see this coming. We and plenty of others issued warning after warning. The truth is that they did see it coming, and Team Biden chose to leave anyway.

Far from what the Obama-Biden-Clinton team has wanted us to believe since 2009, the Taliban is resurgent. And it aims to reintroduce its medieval, tyrannical society back to the country. It’s already happening in the reconquered territory.

Biden thinks he can negotiate with the Taliban. (To be fair, so did Donald Trump.) Ignoring for a moment the ineptitude of our president on most matters presidential, there is nothing to be gained from negotiating. There is nothing we can give the Taliban that it can’t already take by force. It has no need to negotiate. The Taliban calculated on Biden being a soft touch, and it was right.

One of Joe Biden’s biggest faults, one he shares with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, is that he buys his own hype. He thinks he is more respected overseas than he truly is. He’s mesmerized, like Obama and Clinton are, by the congratulatory propaganda pumped out by the Leftmedia. As a consequence, these three have tended to believe they can negotiate their way out of any foreign policy scrape. That’s not going to happen here.

Perhaps Afghanistan is a fluke for Biden. It has been a particularly vexing issue for four presidents. Maybe there’s someplace else where his so-called negotiating skills will pay off. Neighboring Iran, for instance.

Just kidding. Iran is 10 weeks away from acquiring weapons-grade materials to build a nuclear weapon, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz told diplomats from UN Security Council states last week. So, make that nine weeks. This comes at a time when the Islamic regime now appears to be resuming attacks on ships in open waters, disrupting oil production and shipping.

Iran, like the Taliban, smells weakness on Biden. One of his first acts in office was to try to revive the nuclear deal that Iran has consistently broken since it was fostered. In two months, the very purpose of a nuclear deal will be moot.

Biden’s ineptitude, on these and many other foreign policy issues, has made America, its allies, and the world significantly less safe than when he took office.