The Kabul Airport
We needed to leave Afghanistan. But there is a way to withdraw and this wasn’t it.
Monday, just before 3:30 PM ET, the last of our heroic soldiers left Kabul. The last American soldier to board the last U.S. flight out of Afghanistan was Major General Chris Donahue, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division.
Not long after, celebrating Taliban jihadists, dressed in American military uniforms thoughtfully supplied to them by President Biden and the Pentagon brass (SARCASM ALERT), fired their weapons in the air and rushed into the Kabul airport hangars to inspect their new military equipment.
Other videos poured out of Afghanistan showing Taliban fighters celebrating in the streets of Kabul. Investigative journalist Lara Logan posted a video reportedly showing house-to-house executions taking place in Kabul, no doubt aided by Biden’s “kill list.”
One can only imagine what is going on in the outback of the country, where there are no cameras.
This was a chaotic, deadly and humiliating withdrawal. It was poorly planned by the Biden White House and, sadly, even by some military leaders. Nearly 90 retired admirals and generals are calling on Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman General “Thoroughly Modern” Milley to resign.
I want to make two important points here.
First, I believe we needed to leave Afghanistan. But there is a way to withdraw and this wasn’t it. Donald Trump never would have allowed a withdrawal like this.
President Biden had seven months to plan this, to ensure that all Americans were evacuated first, and to ensure we did not have to endure a modern version of Custer’s Last Stand.
Second, the failure of this mission is not on the backs of the 6,000 men and women in uniform who courageously executed the assignment as best as they could. Brave pilots and crews flew in and out of the Kabul airport 24 hours a day, dodging gunfire and rockets.
There are hundreds of photos and videos of Marines, weapons at hand and eyes fixed on the crowd knowing that any moment could be their last. But moments later those same Marines are cradling an Afghan baby or comforting an Afghan woman. They did their jobs!
On August 18, 2020, Jill Biden said, “We just need leadership worthy of our nation, worthy of you.” She’s right, but her husband isn’t it.
The Dover Airport
Joe Biden had better stay away from airports because he has created firestorms of controversy at two airports in recent days. The events on the tarmac at Dover Air Force Base are getting more coverage in the mainstream media, and what we’re hearing now should destroy the Biden presidency.
The Gold Star families told multiple media outlets that Biden didn’t look at his watch once, but multiple times. Their testimony was so convincing that the New York Post devoted its front page to this simple headline: “DISHONOR.”
Many of the families reported that Biden talked more about the loss of his own son Beau, who died of brain cancer, rather than the fallen heroes he was supposedly there to honor.
One exasperated father pulled out a picture of his deceased Marine son and said, “Don’t you ever forget that name. Don’t you ever forget that face. Don’t you ever forget the names of the other 12. And take some time to learn their stories.”
A family on Fox News could barely contain their anger and disdain.
By the way, America’s ever vigilant social media giants, who tolerate the Taliban, had no problem stripping a Gold Star mother of her Instagram privileges because she did not hesitate to express her thoughts about the “fake president” occupying the Oval Office.
Biden Lied
Joe Biden lied to the American people. He lied to the American citizens desperate to get out of Afghanistan. Consider this excerpt of Biden’s interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News just two weeks ago:
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 there’s American citizens left, we’re gonna stay to get them all out.
Did you notice how George Stephanopoulos had to prompt Biden to say that Americans wouldn’t be left behind? After George’s little nudge, Biden unequivocally said, “We’re gonna stay to get them all out.” Well, Biden lied.
Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) blasted Biden, saying, “He kept his promise [to withdraw] to the Taliban and broke his promise to the Americans.”
U.S. military forces are out of Afghanistan. Our embassy is closed. And while Biden Administration officials suggest there may be 200 Americans still remaining in Afghanistan, the truth is no one really knows the exact number of Americans who are stranded in Afghanistan.
Those Americans whom Biden abandoned are now dodging ISIS and Taliban terrorists.
This is a national disgrace and a scandal of epic proportions that truly demands the severe remedy of impeachment.
The PR Campaign
Monday, the White House strangely recognized the final withdrawal with only a written statement. They have known for some time now when the withdrawal would be complete. Why didn’t the White House have a speech ready yesterday? I suspect they couldn’t agree on what words to put in Biden’s mouth.
While we sent this report out before Biden spoke yesterday, he is expected to try to spin this defeat into some kind of victory. We’ll have some thoughts on his address in the next report.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken was supposed to speak live at 5:00 PM Monday. Instead, the State Department posted a video more than an hour late. One Fox News reporter described Blinken’s statement as “a hostage video.”
What is it with the inability of top administration officials to show up at the time they announced to speak to the American people?
Having served at the highest levels of government myself under two presidents, I can tell you that such delays signal disarray, disagreement and an obsessive reading of polls to determine how to spin the latest disaster.
The Fallout Begins
What the camera can’t capture is the fallout that is taking place in the minds of our enemies. After watching Biden’s weakness in recent weeks, North Korea has restarted its nuclear weapons program. It’s a certain bet that our enemies in Beijing, Moscow, Damascus, Caracas, Havana and Tehran will be making similar calculations.
Even more difficult to measure is what’s going on in the minds of thousands of Muslim extremists living in the heart of Western Civilization in Europe and the United States.
They see the events in Afghanistan as proof that Allah is great. They feel called to prepare the way for the return of the Islamic messiah to begin his rule on earth after killing all Christians and Jews.
This concept, which is preached in thousands of radicalized mosques, is a total mystery to our Ivy League-educated diplomats and military leaders, who tend to do purely secular analyses.
They can’t fathom that every concession by the United States and every perceived or real defeat is taken as proof by radicalized Islamists that Allah is great and will soon rule the world.
We saw an example of this mindset in Texas Monday.
Imran Ali Rasheed was investigated for three years by the FBI, making him another “known wolf.” Over the course of that investigation, the FBI couldn’t find enough proof to prosecute him.
So, Monday night, he got into a Lyft car and killed the driver. He then drove to a police station and opened fire in the lobby. As usual, the FBI offered a minimal amount of information, indicating only that Rasheed was “inspired by a foreign terrorist organization.”