"Biden Deserves Credit, Not Blame, for Afghanistan"

[Fantine]

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/a...rves-credit-not-blame-for-afghanistan/619925/

Unlike his three immediate predecessors in the Oval Office, all of whom also came to see the futility of the Afghan operation, Biden alone had the political courage to fully end America’s involvement. Although Donald Trump made a plan to end the war, he set a departure date that fell after the end of his first term and created conditions that made the situation Biden inherited more precarious. And despite significant pressure and obstacles, Biden has overseen a military and government that have managed, since the announcement of America’s withdrawal, one of the most extraordinary logistical feats in their recent history. By the time the last American plane lifts off from Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 31, the total number of Americans and Afghan allies extricated from the country may exceed 120,000.

Former military officers and intelligence operatives, as well as commentators who had long been advocates of extending America’s presence in Afghanistan, railed against Biden’s artificial deadline... Some were Trump-administration officials or supporters who had negotiated with and helped strengthen the Taliban with their concessions in the peace deal and then had punted the ultimate exit from the country to the next administration.

I respect people who do the right thing even when it's not the popular thing. No other president had the courage to disentangle us from Afghanistan, including the Trump officials who strengthened the Taliban with their concessions and left Biden to clean up the mess.

I agree that no one predicted that the 300,000 man Afghan Army, trained and financed by the U.S., would collapse within days--even when we left equipment there to help them defend their government. And I put the blame on them. It is completely illogical to think that 300,000 American trained and funded soldiers with billions of dollars of high powered equpment could cave in a week.

I would like to see a little more of that spine in Biden in the future. On voting rights, on ending the filibuster---at least for something as important as saving our democracy. He needs to remember that the last president with his legislative experience--LBJ--was able to negotiate the Voting Rights Act that the Supreme Court shamefully shredded. LBJ enacted Medicare, Medicaid, and the Great Society.

And now, 60 years later, our society sure doesn't look so "great," when domestic terrorists storm state capitols and the U.S. Capitol to throw their weight around, when rogue governors thumb their noses at public health and threaten and coerce the school districts and businesses who care about the children and customers they serve. It doesn't look so great when we are the only industrialized nation without universal health care.

Our democracy has been under attack and there are those who would hijack it. We need a good legislative negotiator--but we need courage even more.

And so God bless you, President Biden, for your courage, for your willingness to take the heat from alt-right wing news networks. Keep it up.

 

[Sketcher]

The buck stops with him. He gets credit for the good he did, and blame for the bad. And he certainly deserves a lot of blame. However much Trump did, Biden cannot deny his share of responsibility and those that would do so for him are partisan to the point of complete dishonesty.

 

[friend of]

Afganistan would not have been what it now is, under Trump

 

[Fantine]

Afganistan would not have been what it now is, under Trump

He negotiated the exit--but had Trump completed it, there would be at least 116,000 more Afghan citizens who assisted us in the war effort who would still be in Afghanistan, in danger of imprisonment and possibly even execution.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

And so God bless you, President Biden, for your courage, for your willingness to take the heat from alt-right wing news networks. Keep it up.

You do realize it's not just alt-right outlets he's getting heat from about this right?

I think this is one of the few times you'll find outlets on both sides of the fence in agreement about something, which is, Biden botched this one.

Wanting to get out of Afghanistan was a noble goal, but the way he did it was short-sighted, and withdrawal before the the regional threats were amply suppressed just means that it'll become another terror factory again, and us and our allies will just have to end up going back in again in a few years.

 

[Pavel Mosko]

He negotiated the exit--but had Trump completed it, there would be at least 116,000 more Afghan citizens who assisted us in the war effort who would still be in Afghanistan, in danger of imprisonment and possibly even execution.

Or he would have done Operation Warp Speed II and gotten them all out.


Let's face Biden is the Easy Button President. He expects everything to be spoon fed to him, and when he screws up there is always a reason why Trump somehow is at fault.

 

[Desk trauma]

Afganistan would not have been what it now is, under Trump

Where does one get these alternate time line viewers?

 

[Fantine]

Or he would have done Operation Warp Speed II and gotten them all out.


Let's face Biden is the Easy Button President. He expects everything to be spoon fed to him, and when he screws up there is always a reason why Trump somehow is at fault.

He had no interest in getting Afghans out. He prevented them from getting SV1 visas.

 

[.Jeremiah.]

The buck stops with him. He gets credit for the good he did, and blame for the bad. And he certainly deserves a lot of blame. However much Trump did, Biden cannot deny his share of responsibility and those that would do so for him are partisan to the point of complete dishonesty.

Oh my.
Your significant partisan-ness is oozing out.

imo, a person who posts a “positive” thoughtful op, should not get crapped on with sour grapes.

 

[Lain Iwakura]

You do realize it's not just alt-right outlets he's getting heat from about this right?

I think this is one of the few times you'll find outlets on both sides of the fence in agreement about something, which is, Biden botched this one.

Wanting to get out of Afghanistan was a noble goal, but the way he did it was short-sighted, and withdrawal before the the regional threats were amply suppressed just means that it'll become another terror factory again, and us and our allies will just have to end up going back in again in a few years.

Anyone who critizes the Biden administration is, de facto, alt-right to some people.

 

[Pavel Mosko]

He had no interest in getting Afghans out. He prevented them from getting SV1 visas.

He prevented them from getting visas because the conservative end of the country was sick and tired of the country being flooded with illegal aliens, as well as legal green card holders etc. competing with US job holders etc. Not to mention other incidents of the past: dealing with Muslims like grooming gangs, the major Assan shooting and other incidents that happened in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And this is one area where a president can push back from the open borders, give away the candy store approach of the Democrats where people are always rewarded for breaking the law etc. and we end up spending more on foreigners than we do on our old Vietnam War veterans and other homeless.


But if he had been re-elected it would have been another story.

1) Because most people in the media are not looking to sympathize with him, cut him breaks, do nice fluffy stories about his ice crème preferences quite the opposite in fact.


2) The basic idea that you should help people who help you is pretty much universal, aka the law of reciprocity, and I believe he would have followed it based what I have seen of him. It might surprise people that he does have basic compassion that other people have. This could be easily seen in his reality TV show board room sessions.


3) But if that wasn't working their are various Republican Veteran law makers on the hill that would have set him straight.


4) His own ego about having a great accomplishment that you can brag about is probably one of the biggest reasons for him to do it and do it well.


I really believed he would have done the following if reelected.

1) Expedited the Visa process early this year

2) Begin making facilities at bases, especially over seas ones to house the refugees as they wait for a background check.

3) He would have started attacking the Taliban when they began blitzing out of the mountains and violating the agreement, he would not scrap the agreement but say, "We need a few more months, if you hold the line were cool but if not were going to bomb you even more".


And yes I do believe with that basic approach we would have gotten out of the War Trump style with much less problems, and I totally believe the media would be less enthusiastic in its coverage than how they tried to pat Biden on the back for our air lift capabilities that have been well established for decades.

 

[Sketcher]

Oh my.
Your significant partisan-ness is oozing out.

imo, a person who posts a “positive” thoughtful op, should not get crapped on with sour grapes.

Deflecting blame isn't positive, and the last two weeks were a national tragedy with Biden on watch and not doing all that he could to mitigate it. Whether it was failure or disinterest, or how much of each remains to be seen.

 

[Pommer]

Where does one get these alternate time line viewers?

They’re right next to the Obama time-machines.

 

[Fantine]

Refugees seeking asylum aren't illegal aliens (more properly called undocumented residents.)

And I agree with the 900 or so psychiatrists who said malignant narcissists had no feelings for others. i think many called Trump transactional.

 

[Lain Iwakura]

Charity by immigration isn't a real thing.

 

[Sketcher]

Refugees seeking asylum aren't illegal aliens

I agree.

And I agree with the 900 or so psychiatrists who said malignant narcissists had no feelings for others. i think many called Trump transactional.

This has no bearing on Biden's mishandling of Afghanistan.

 

[Pommer]

Charity by immigration isn't a real thing.

Remember the St Louis!

 

[hedrick]

Failure to grant visas was a longstanding mess. Troubled Visa Program for Afghan Interpreters May Do 'More Harm Than Good,' Study Finds
It’s very unlikely that Biden could have fixed it in a couple of months.

So either he had to extend our stay for an indefinite time or live with the fact that Afghanis we should have rescued would be left behind. I’m not sure what I would have decided. There are things a president can simply order and they happen, and things he can’t. Telling troops to leave he can order. Making the State Department efficient he can’t.

You can certainly argue we should have stayed until we could fix the program, or ordered a huge fleet to take anyone out of Afghanistan who claimed to worked for us (while taking over the whole road system to get them to the airport). I won’t argue with either. But sometimes there is no good alternative.

 

[Fantine]

I agree.

This has no bearing on Biden's mishandling of Afghanistan.

The previous poster said Trump would have gotten everyone out, when Pence's aide clearly said there was never any intent to help the Afghans.

 

[Pommer]

Failure to grant visas was a longstanding mess. Troubled Visa Program for Afghan Interpreters May Do 'More Harm Than Good,' Study Finds
It’s very unlikely that Biden could have fixed it in a couple of months.

So either he had to extend our stay for an indefinite time or live with the fact that Afghanis we should have rescued would be left behind. I’m not sure what I would have decided. There are things a president can simply order and they happen, and things he can’t. Telling troops to leave he can order. Making the State Department efficient he can’t.

You can certainly argue we should have stayed until we could fix the program, or ordered a huge fleet to take anyone out of Afghanistan who claimed to worked for us (while taking over the whole road system to get them to the airport). I won’t argue with either. But sometimes there is no good alternative.

Left spin: Biden’s brilliant foreign policy plan bought us another three months to get out of “Dodge”, making sure that we had incapacitated everything we had still left over there, (that it was ours to destroy).

Right-Spin: Trump (had been rightly reinstalled as President (for life) [just kidding!], he would have made the Taliban back down and give us another three years to withdraw, thereby securing a Nobel Peace Prize (that OBAMA got for “being Obama!)).