White House Report on Afghanistan is Not Only a BIG Lie … it is a Damn Lie.
It is just another BIG bald-faced lie from Biden and the Democrats. According to a “Report” issued by the White House, the United States surrendered in Afghanistan because President Trump agreed to pull American troops out by a specific date. Ergo, Trump was 100 percent responsible for the fact that American troops were removed and the manner in which they were removed.
That narrative is suspended between misleading and outright lies.
It is true that Trump wanted to remove American military presence – a plan this writer vehemently opposed as dangerous to U.S. and Western security – and one which would further unsettle international order.
It is also true that Trump had proposed a tentative timetable CONTINGENT on certain agreements and milestones to be met by the Taliban – who were all but certain to take over the country. Trump postponed his original deadline when the Taliban failed to meet their commitments.
The entire situation was in flux when Joe Biden assumed the presidency on January 20, 2021. It is critical to understand that Biden was not bound by any proposals, plans, or actions of the Trump administration in terms of Afghanistan. There was no enforceable agreement. In fact, Biden used his first days in office to reverse a record number of Trump’s policies, agreements, and Executive Orders.
The decision as to when and how to surrender in Afghanistan – or to surrender at all – rested squarely and exclusively on Biden’s shoulders. He – not Trump – is 100 percent responsible for the tragic events in Afghanistan and the fallout that is still falling out.
Not only does the Report lay the blame on Trump, but it claims that the exit from Afghanistan was NOT chaotic. Speaking for the President, White House National Security Coordinator John Kirby said that they did not see chaos. Rather, he described that airlift as an example of a highly successful military operation.
Kirby justified the removal of troops because “The United States had long ago accomplished its mission to remove from the battlefield the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11.” He made that false claim despite the fact that the Taliban ARE an officially recognized terrorist organization – and al Qaeda maintains housed in Afghanistan to this day. You will recall that in 2022, a United States missile killed the leader of al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in Kabul.
It is important to keep in mind that the decision to surrender in Afghanistan was virtually a one-man decision – something Biden has promised to do before becoming President. The Biden plan was opposed by the military leaders in the Pentagon – both the timing and the entire idea of withdrawal. It was opposed by virtually every ally – especially those with a military presence fighting for the defeat of al Qaeda and the Taliban. Once America withdrew, the allies had no choice but to follow suit – but they did so with uncharacteristic public criticism of Biden.
In order for the American military to no longer “engage” with Taliban forces – and to surrender the key military base at Kandahar — Biden enabled the terrorist group to swiftly take over the entire country. Biden put the United States military in such a weakened position they had to rely on … (you may want to sit down) … the Taliban to provide security around the airport – the only spot of land in Afghanistan of which the American military was still in precarious control.
Biden left billions of dollars of American military equipment behind – and photo evidence shows some of that equipment being used by the Taliban to terrorize the local population. Much worse. Despite his oft-repeated promise, Biden left behind scores of American citizens and thousands of Afghans who worked with the American military – even those with emergency documents that were to assure their removal from the country.
Many of those friends – and their families — are being hunted down and killed to this day. Private individuals and organizations are still engaged in efforts to find and surreptitiously remove as many as possible of those left behind by Biden.
And most tragic of all, thirteen American militaries were killed in a terrorist bomb attack at the very gate of the airport – a facility being “protected” by the Taliban. That was more fatalities than America suffered – in total — in the previous 28 months of warfare.
We all saw the news reports of desperate Afghans storming the gates of the airport … that mother who passed her child over the wall that she could not climb … mobs chasing after military transports even as they began their takeoffs … those clinging to the crafts and falling to their death as the planes rose into the sky.
While Kirby showed images of packed aircraft filled with refugees, he did not show the planes that took off half empty in order to maintain that precision schedule Kirby lauded.
If the surrender in Afghanistan was not chaotic, then the only proper description left is catastrophic – not only at the moment but in terms of the monumental damage to the security of America through the loss of an ally in the region and critical intelligence benefits, but also to the image and prestige of the United States among allies and adversaries alike.
Some describe it as the greatest military and diplomatic blunder in American history – and they have a pretty strong case. But Biden is lucky to have a compliant left-wing media to give him cover and not call him out for his latest BIG lie.
But the fact is, the blood and the consequence of America’s surrender in Afghanistan is the buck that stops at Biden’s desk in the Oval Office.
So, there ‘tis.
Yes, I am biased. I wanted to end this decades old war for decades. We were mission accomplished, we were not going to install a vibrant democracy where citizens would die protecting said democracy, we were done and it was time to come home. After this many decades, any withdrawal would be…..a withdrawal. TRUMP’S agreement had nothing in it to make this better, TRUMP did nothing to make this better, TRUMP has never showed that he could actually do this any better.
Yes, the report seems to lie, or weasel worded at best.
No, it’s not all Biden’s fault yet he owns the final withdrawal. That is totally his fault.
Both men pledged to withdrawal from Afghanistan as part of their campaign pledges.
TRUMP set the wheels in motion that gave the Taliban 15 months to plan, prepare, put material in place, for our final withdrawal and their takeover of the government. TRUMP excluded the Afghanistan government from all negotiations and ignored all their comments and requests. TRUMP withdrew 10,500 troops, over 80% of our forces, emboldening Taliban planning efforts. All the while, the Taliban launched attacks in Afghanistan, none against the US, some responded to by TRUMP, but no changes to our plan. I can find no confirmation that TRUMP ever withdrew material as he brought our boys home.
I can not find where TRUMP ever delayed his withdrawal as suggested by Mr. Horist. I can not confirm this. It’s a major plank in Horist’s blame game. How did he delay this before he left office, and to what date did he delay this to? I see the Biden delay, but not the Trump delay?
The real issue starts with Obama in 2011 after Bin Laden’s death, mission accomplished, why another decade of police actions? Why doesn’t Larry touch on that? (because he’s a hawk that thinks we can install democracy, in our image, anywhere we want and the “people” will love it, nurture it, and make it grow….. Nope, that’s not reality.
At the time he made the agreement, TRUMP had 13,000 American soldiers in Afghanistan. Before he left office, he drew us down to 2.500 as the Taliban continues attacks. That is what Biden inherited from Trump. At that point, Biden can either cut n run OR start over. He can not remain as is. His hands are pretty much tied: either depart or dump 10,000 or more troops back in to start again.
Biden withdrawals, it’s messy, it’s on his watch. He owns it independent of his inheritance from TRUMP.
I can go deeper into details, but those are the big takeaways. Obama dropped the ball, ignored Afghanistan while thumping himself on the back for “job well done,” and did nothing to change things in Afghanistan for eight years. TRUMP then wrapped this gift for Biden but Biden freely accepted the gift, ripped open the package, and said thank you very much. They both own the departure, but neither owns the war. That’s a failure of Bush and then Obama, big time. Especially Obama who could have done this starting in 2011, a decade earlier. He’s the real owner of our Afghan withdrawal IMO.
Remember too, that TRUMP applauded Biden’s decision to leave Afghanistan at the time of Biden’s announcement to delay and then resume the TRUMP withdrawal which then became his to fail. And fail he did. And then he issues a lame report saying it ain’t so, Joe, it ain’t so. But Larry, leaving TRUMP out of it, letting him completely off the hook, is just being partisan, not in protection of Republicans, but in your hatred of everything Democratic. Another partisan hack job proven more by you willing to leave Obama out to be able to better deflect from TRUMP to Biden. Nice try.
Frank Stetson … You seem to agree on Biden’s role … but you misrepresent my opinion when you said I let Trump off the hook. I have written on several occasion in the past that I disagreed with Trumps policy on Afghanistan … promising a withdrawal … negotiating with the Taliban … even leaving out the Afghan leadership. I was critical of our war of attrition strategy from Bush on. But it was Biden that is responsible for the surrender and how it was carried out. You seem to be describing that Larry Horist you invented for your own convenience. You were certainly not describing this Larry Horist.
Mr Horist, your preoccupation with the “invented Larry Horist” seems pretty big headed. Especially for the guy who lost to Spanky the Clown. No wonder that you want to cancel drag. You seem to surrounded by those who misunderstand your writings differently than you intended and seem to ascribe to the theory this it’s all their fault. And then you call them names for it. Brilliant!
Bear in mind, I wanted to be out of there. Wanted it since Bin Laden’s demise. There is no good way to withdrawal with the enemy still on the field. This one could of gone better, much better. But it could of gone worse, we have done far worse in withdrawal before. I am glad we are out. I am glad our kids are not dying there anymore and honor the ones who did, right up until the bitter end. We had just cause to be there, we were just foolish to stay this long.
I really don’t think that I said that you disagreed or agreed with Trump’s Afghanistan cut n run policy or any policy. You seem to be describing a Frank Stetson you invented for your own convenience. You were certainly not describing this Frank Stetson, who I invented. And not in my likeness; Frank is much better looking :>)
I think I said: “TRUMP’S agreement had nothing in it to make this better, TRUMP did nothing to make this better, TRUMP has never showed that he could actually do this any better.” At least that’s the quote; you apparently heard something completely different in Horist-land where clowning around is not allowed.
Think of it in football terms where Trump fumbles the ball, Biden picks it up, but can’t get it across the goal line. They both are players in what happened as are Bush and Obama.
Yes, Biden owns the withdrawal and it could have gone better, much better. Trump set the stage for disaster, he gave the Taliban 15 months to plan, prepare, and prepare. A head’s up if you will. To make it even easier for the Taliban, he drew down 7,500 men and left only 2,500. My high school could of fielded more soldiers. During the 15 month Taliban planning horizon, the Taliban often attacked, never us, just those Afghans. Once in a blue moon Trump would lob something back, but the Taliban saw no real resistance from Trump as long as they just attacked the Afghans and not us.
That’s the scenario Biden got handed, so what’s he do to? He could:
Delay, but with 2,500 men what would that accomplish? At that point, a lie to the Taliban would have just increased the attacks against us. He did delay for a few months to attempt to get his act in gear, but not too many.
Delay and increase troop numbers to re-establish the control that Trump surrendered — yeah, sure. A do over.
Slowly withdrawal in a more orderly fashion which would probably have been worse than his choice given we only had 2,500 men there; I guess he could bring them all back for a slow withdrawal too, but probably would just increase the attacks on us given what would be perceived as lies to the Taliban.
He could cut n run hoping they wouldn’t attack and he could pull it off. And, if you look at it objectively, he almost pulled it off. Even with the disastrous withdrawal, he only missed it by that much. It was far better than Nixon’s capitulation of Vietnam. And yeah, if you rail on Biden without noting how Trump’s stupid plan made withdrawal so much harder, yeah, you let Trump off the hook, even if you disagreed with previous Afghanistan policies. I do have to say this is kinda at odds with your “hate the man but love the policies” mantra. You’ve been doing that with more and more policies lately. And leaving Bush and Obama out is just as bad.
I think from Biden’s vantage point, how could he (or even Trump) not know that the Taliban was in place, equipped, and ready to roll across the county in days, if not hours. How could he not know, not prepare for that? Even if he had air-dropped 4,000 guys for a week or so, it would have probably gone better. Just not sure how our intelligence could have let him down OR, if they go it right, how he could not listen.
But again, bottom line: Trump set the stage and Biden muffed the swing, however the seeds were planted by Bush and Obama. It’s Vietnam all over again, except with Trump and Biden doing a better job than Nixon (wasn’t that on your watch :>) And Trump, who pledged during his campaign to get us out of there, didn’t. Instead, he fumbled the ball and instead, he set up the next guy to miss the goal line.
Larry, Frank is spot on here, and you are (as per usual) providing a biased one-sided story. The idiot in chief set this whole mess in motion by negotiating with the taliban without including the duly elected afghan government Incredible stupidity (but trumps foreign relations dealings resulted in one shitstorm after another). Then before trump left office, he had reduced troops in Afghanistan to 2500, hardly enough to deal with an orderly withdrawal. In addition there were no plans made by the Trump administration for how to proceed with our leaving Afghanistan, which was to be accomplished by May 2021 (I will go further than Frank did on this, you are lying Larry when you say trump was delaying our departure). After Biden took office, he delayed the departure to august so some planning could be done for our evacuation. There were definitely mistakes made and it was chaotic. If I were in charge, I would have scrapped the whole deal and started over. Biden didn’t, likely not wanting to look as untrustworthy as trump who extricated the US from two major agreements-which in the case of the Iran nuclear agreement have made the world much less safe. Perhaps he should have sent some of the troops back that trump withdrew in January 2021-guaranteed there would have been major criticism on that move. Bottom line, Biden bears some responsibility for the mess we found ourselves in during august 2021, but the majority of the problems were set in motion by trump…
Mike f … You are peddling bs as usual. Bottom line: Biden was not constrained by anything Trump did, The options were all Biden’s … period,
Larry, As I pointed out, I would have handled things differently, because I know trump was an idiot to negotiate exclusively with the taliban and not including the legitimate Afghan government. However, unlike the great Larry Horowitz, I can see both sides of the issue. Biden did not want to pull the foreign policy blunders that his predecessor did, causing other countries to not trust negotiations with the US, so he stuck with the deal negotiated by trump. You are an idiot to place all the blame on Biden (but we know your hatred of the democrats makes it impossible for you to give a rational opinion regarding what is happening in our government. Did you ever once knock trump for something he had done while in office? The answer is a resounding no, because to do so would possibly affect his reelection. All your criticisms have come after he is out of office, when you hoped he would not be on the ballot again…)
Mike f … There you go again with your anti-Semitic reference. And you ask if I have knocked Trump in response to my comment knocking Trump’s Afghanistan policy. Put the two together and you are a ignorant bigot.
Larry, I take no offense with you being Jewish-the question is-why does it bother you so much? In typical Horowitz fashion though, you rewrite your own history-while trump was president did you ever criticize anything he did? And if you are criticizing him now, why can’t you own up that a significant amount of the blame for our Afghanistan withdrawal lays with trump? There would have been a significant price to pay for Biden to totally renegotiate the treaty and bring more troops back to Afghanistan-both of which would have been required to have a smoother exit. Totally one-sided on your part..(no surprise there)
Mike F: stop with the Jewish. Larry has answered and there is no need for you to stay in the demeaning-name-calling gutter with him. At least step up on the curb with me :>)
Otherwise, you just support him continuing doing what he likes to do.
We might not be able to change his behavior, but you don’t need to copy. That, while it may be funny, is not productive.
Mike f … I do not take offense. I have a great deal of respect and admiration for the Jewish community — and have written that in past commentaries. The question is … Why do you change my name to of generally Jewish name as part of your pejorative attacks. You obvious associate being Jewish with negative qualities. The implication is obvious.
It astonishes me when anyone treats Biden’s lying as news. The fact that Biden lies is history and current events, not news. Biden lying should be treated as being expected. Biden is a serial liar; that’s a documented fact.
Robin, where’s that document?
It’s not this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veracity_of_statements_by_Donald_Trump This guy even has a wiki dedicated to his database.
Robin Boyd … as usual, Frank distracts. He does not address the record of Biden lies that any half-wit could find in an online search. Frank is Captain contrary and does a bit of misleading and lying on his own by misrepresenting what I write. It is his pitiful obsession.
Larry, you are lazy and support laziness in others. Its your magnificent obsession.
IF you have the balls to say “Biden lies,” then at least be man enough to show them. But no, you just divert, distract, and blame, name, blame, name, shame, blame. Your claim to blame fame: “I said it, you prove it.” Sorry, do your own work.
I did not say BIDEN LIES —- YOU DID. So, Captain Been Spanked, SHOW ME.
It’s a magnificent obsession fyi, of the Rock type. Gotta love Jane.