Biden "Forcefully" defends Afghan withdrawal
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Former POTUS speaks:
Former President Donald Trump on Saturday evening blasted his succesor’s strategy for exiting Afghanistan, saying it was driven by
“weakness, incompetence, and total strategic incoherence.”“Joe Biden gets it wrong every time on foreign policy, and many other issues,” Trump said in a statement issued by his office. “Everyone knew he couldn’t handle the pressure. Even Obama’s Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, said as much.”
Trump said his administration left behind a plan to keep pressure on the Taliban while U.S. troops withdrew, and that it was disregarded. He suggested the sudden surge by the Taliban across Afghanistan was due to that failure.
Biden “ran out of Afghanistan instead of following the plan our Administration left for him— a plan that protected our people and our property, and ensured the Taliban would never dream of taking our Embassy or providing a base for new attacks against America,” he said.
Former Pentagon chief of staff Kash Patel told Just the News on Friday that Trump’s plan included continuing U.S.air power to keep the Taliban in check and try to force them into negotiations.
“What a disgrace it will be when the Taliban raises their flag over America’s Embassy in Kabul. This is complete failure through weakness, incompetence, and total strategic incoherence,” Trump said.
And, like everyone else in the last week, he offers no opinion as to what should be done.
"Don't do that," is not good criticism, unless you can append it with "do this instead."
@george-k said in Biden "Forcefully" defends Afghan withdrawal:
Former POTUS speaks:
Former President Donald Trump on Saturday evening blasted his succesor’s strategy for exiting Afghanistan, saying it was driven by
“weakness, incompetence, and total strategic incoherence.”“Joe Biden gets it wrong every time on foreign policy, and many other issues,” Trump said in a statement issued by his office. “Everyone knew he couldn’t handle the pressure. Even Obama’s Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, said as much.”
Trump said his administration left behind a plan to keep pressure on the Taliban while U.S. troops withdrew, and that it was disregarded. He suggested the sudden surge by the Taliban across Afghanistan was due to that failure.
Biden “ran out of Afghanistan instead of following the plan our Administration left for him— a plan that protected our people and our property, and ensured the Taliban would never dream of taking our Embassy or providing a base for new attacks against America,” he said.
Former Pentagon chief of staff Kash Patel told Just the News on Friday that Trump’s plan included continuing U.S.air power to keep the Taliban in check and try to force them into negotiations.
“What a disgrace it will be when the Taliban raises their flag over America’s Embassy in Kabul. This is complete failure through weakness, incompetence, and total strategic incoherence,” Trump said.
And, like everyone else in the last week, he offers no opinion as to what should be done.
"Don't do that," is not good criticism, unless you can append it with "do this instead."
I'm pretty sure that embracing The Force would work.
Failing that, re-arranging G.I. Joe and Barbie in amusingly erotic positions never fails.
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The Speaker Speaks:
“The President is to be commended for the clarity of purpose of his statement on Afghanistan and the actions he has taken.
“The Taliban must know that the world is watching its actions. We are deeply concerned about reports regarding the Taliban’s brutal treatment of all Afghans, especially women and girls. The U.S., the international community and the Afghan government must do everything we can to protect women and girls from inhumane treatment by the Taliban.
“Any political settlement that the Afghans pursue to avert bloodshed must include having women at the table. The fate of women and girls in Afghanistan is critical to the future of Afghanistan. As we strive to assist women, we must recognize that their voices are important, and all must listen to them for solutions, respectful of their culture. There is bipartisan support to assist the women and girls of Afghanistan. One of the successes of U.S.- NATO cooperation in Afghanistan was the progress made by women and girls. We must all continue to work together to ensure that is not eroded.
“Once again, I want to acknowledge the clarity of purpose of President Biden’s statement and the wisdom of his actions. Congress shares the President's concern for Afghans who have assisted U.S. efforts in country, and we passed Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) legislation to provide for their relocation on a strong, bipartisan basis.
“Most of all, we join the President in acknowledging the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform and their families.”
Once again, I really don't have an opinion on what should have been done. Afghanistan has been a clusterfuck for centuries. The US is simply the latest nation to partake in it.
But...
The Taliban must know that the world is watching its actions.
I suppose a strongly-worded letter is to follow.
Had Trump or Obama done this, the negative press would have been just as bad. Well, in Trump's case, much worse, LOL.
But they didn't, and you know where the buck stops.
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Gotta wonder what our allies, the Pakistanis think of all this.
Probably winking and smiling.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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Was listening to NPR on the way back from Indy. Apparently Pakistan’s intelligence has orchstrated and supported the Taliban’s rapid takeover.
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This debacle ultimately falls on the 80+ million people who elected these idiots. You knew these two were not qualified to sit in these seats but you voted for them anyway, because your TDS was stronger than your intelligence.
Jimmy Carter is smiling today. Why? Because today, he is no longer the worst president ever.
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This debacle ultimately falls on the 80+ million people who elected these idiots. You knew these two were not qualified to sit in these seats but you voted for them anyway, because your TDS was stronger than your intelligence.
Jimmy Carter is smiling today. Why? Because today, he is no longer the worst president ever.
@improviso said in Biden "Forcefully" defends Afghan withdrawal:
This debacle ultimately falls on the 80+ million people who elected these idiots.
The press has been brutal, to be sure.
However, Trump, and Obama before him, made noise about withdrawing. I don't know if it would have been different had they done it. Perhaps it might have been slower, but the actual result would have been pretty much the same.
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@improviso said in Biden "Forcefully" defends Afghan withdrawal:
This debacle ultimately falls on the 80+ million people who elected these idiots.
The press has been brutal, to be sure.
However, Trump, and Obama before him, made noise about withdrawing. I don't know if it would have been different had they done it. Perhaps it might have been slower, but the actual result would have been pretty much the same.
@george-k said in Biden "Forcefully" defends Afghan withdrawal:
Trump, and Obama before him, made noise about withdrawing. I don't know if it would have been different had they done it. Perhaps it might have been slower, but the actual result would have been pretty much the same.
How could it have been otherwise? Mik said the key thing IMO: "There are only two possible outcomes - we stay or we go. Was there any possibility of a positive outcome by staying or had all that could be accomplished been done? It's been 20 years."
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@george-k said in Biden "Forcefully" defends Afghan withdrawal:
Trump, and Obama before him, made noise about withdrawing. I don't know if it would have been different had they done it. Perhaps it might have been slower, but the actual result would have been pretty much the same.
How could it have been otherwise? Mik said the key thing IMO: "There are only two possible outcomes - we stay or we go. Was there any possibility of a positive outcome by staying or had all that could be accomplished been done? It's been 20 years."
The issue is not the withdrawal but the manner in which it was executed. Piss poor planning or lack of ANY planning. Probably the latter.
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The issue is not the withdrawal but the manner in which it was executed. Piss poor planning or lack of ANY planning. Probably the latter.
@improviso I'm way out of my wheelhouse when I ask this; how should it have been done in your estimation? I ask not to set up a debate, but because I really don't know. Daddy never taught me how to evacuate from a country.
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"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@catseye3 said in Biden "Forcefully" defends Afghan withdrawal:
how should it have been done in your estimation?
Just off the top of my head...
First and foremost, I would not have telegraphed our intention to leave in 3 months as Biden did. First rule of war: Never tell the enemy what you intend to do.
I would have placed the 5000 troops at the airport to secure it first, rather than deploy them as the Taliban were entering the city.
I would have waited until the winter when the Taliban retreat to Pakistan, rather than in prime fighting season.
I would have had all the visa's ready for all the Afghan's that helped us.
I would have had just a skeleton crew at the Embassy, not the full compliment of Americans as usual.
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@catseye3 said in Biden "Forcefully" defends Afghan withdrawal:
how should it have been done in your estimation?
Just off the top of my head...
First and foremost, I would not have telegraphed our intention to leave in 3 months as Biden did. First rule of war: Never tell the enemy what you intend to do.
I would have placed the 5000 troops at the airport to secure it first, rather than deploy them as the Taliban were entering the city.
I would have waited until the winter when the Taliban retreat to Pakistan, rather than in prime fighting season.
I would have had all the visa's ready for all the Afghan's that helped us.
I would have had just a skeleton crew at the Embassy, not the full compliment of Americans as usual.
@improviso said in Biden "Forcefully" defends Afghan withdrawal:
First and foremost, I would not have telegraphed our intention to leave in 3 months as Biden did.
This sounds so sensible as to be self evident!
I've been wondering: Where were the White House military advisors in all this? Where were the experienced Pentagon voices that would have been able to plan this better? The people whose job it is to provide advice and guidance? Could the decision have been so impulsive and sudden that the smart heads were caught off guard?
I would have placed the 5000 troops at the airport to secure it first, rather than deploy them as the Taliban were entering the city.
I would have had all the visa's ready for all the Afghan's that helped us.
Tough to do all this secretly, though . . .
Success is measured by your discipline and inner peace. – Mike Ditka
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One of the leaders of the Taliban spent 7 years in Guantanamo and was released by Obama.
