In an unsurprising announcement, the Biden administration has revealed that they reviewed their own actions and found themselves to be largely without fault in the mishandled Afghanistan withdrawal, choosing instead to blame the previous administration. This is an insulting attempt to absolve themselves of responsibility for the failures that caused the deaths of 13 servicemembers, as well as the abandonment of tens of thousands of people and tens of billions of taxpayer dollars-worth of military equipment. Despite having promised that as president, he would "take responsibility instead of blaming others," Biden has no interest in owning up to the choices he made.
The report excuses the withdrawal failures by claiming that the Biden Administration’s "choices for how to execute a withdrawal from Afghanistan were severely constrained by conditions created by his predecessor." The report also claims that his predecessor "provided no plans" to Biden for a withdrawal from Afghanistan. This shows that the Biden administration was unable to rise to the responsibility of creating their own plan based on the reality of the situation, believing instead that they should have been provided a plan from someone else. If they had been, would they have followed it, considering it would have been Trump’s plan?
The report conveniently disregards the fact that Trump set withdrawal terms to maintain control of the globally-strategic Bagram airbase and give Americans leverage against the Taliban to ensure a safe withdrawal. Conversely, Biden announced a date for total withdrawal, relinquishing America’s ability to maintain safety and order during the withdrawal. Additionally, his decisions were made against the advice of military advisors, placing responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the man who made the final catastrophic decisions—Joe Biden.
HOUSE FOREIGN AFFAIRS CHAIR VOWS TO CONTINUE BIDEN AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL PROBE
The White House had retired Rear Admiral John Kirby announce the report, a choice intended to lend credibility to the report’s conclusions by having the endorsement of a military veteran. Instead, this display makes a mockery of the servicemembers, allies, equipment, and years of sacrifice lost in a devastating withdrawal. Far removed from the servicemember who swore an oath back in 1986 to serve and protect the American people, Kirby has spent almost a decade playing the part of a partisan politician for the Obama and Biden Administrations, as well as the mainstream media. His loyalty is to the D.C. politicians he now serves and protects, not the American people.
During the press briefing, Kirby was asked point blank, "Who is going to get fired over this?" Astonishingly, he admitted, "The purpose of it is not accountability." In fact, the purpose of it is for politicians to shift blame away from themselves to avoid facing the consequences of their choices, evidently with complete disregard for the American people’s demands for accountability.
With either brazen dishonesty or staggering ignorance, Kirby also insisted that there was no "chaos" during the withdrawal. Presumably, Kirby and the Biden Administration would prefer people forget about the 1,000 American citizens and 80,000 allies abandoned to be slaughtered in Afghanistan as time for evacuation was squandered. They would prefer you overlook the hurriedly abandoned U.S. embassy, as well as the treasure trove of sensitive military equipment and classified technology that we were forced to surrender to the Taliban. They hope you will disregard the 20 million women and girls could now face a life of sex slavery at the hands of violent terrorists. Kirby and the Biden administration want you to know that while they may have caused these things by mishandling the Afghanistan withdrawal, none of it was as bad as the evidence proves and they have decided it wasn’t their fault anyway.
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I know better. I was there doing what they couldn’t -- or wouldn’t -- do. I experienced the chaos. My team managed to rescue a woefully small portion of the people abandoned to violent terrorists in the government’s frantic rush to meet Biden’s reckless withdrawal deadline. I watched as the Taliban took full advantage of America’s powerlessness by brazenly perpetrating heinous crimes. I even experienced the D.C. politicians’ disinterest in and disregard for the reality of the situation as they actively thwarted my team’s efforts to mitigate the disaster they had created.
As a fellow veteran, it saddens me to see a former military leader abandon citizens for personal and political gain. To me, it’s almost treasonous. I’m also alarmed that this kind of brazen denial of reality and responsibility is now commonplace for the supposed leaders of the free world. After witnessing and contributing to the sacrifices made for Afghanistan over the last 20 years, it’s insulting to hear this politician and the leaders of our nation defend and even act proud of the disaster which cost so much for America, Afghanistan, and the world. Nations around the globe, including our enemies, watched the withdrawal disaster unfold, as well as the subsequent devastating consequences. Now, they watch as the leaders responsible for the disaster declare themselves absolved of responsibility. It is behavior like this which undermines America’s reputation as a global superpower and world leader. Americans must demand accountability to protect our nation and the world.
