१८ ऑगस्ट, २०२१

"[I]t seems that the president simply didn’t want to appear to be abiding by the terms of a deal negotiated by his predecessor."

Mike Pence writes in "Biden Broke Our Deal With the Taliban/It’s a foreign-policy humiliation unlike anything our country has endured since the Iran hostage crisis" (Wall Street Journal).
In February 2020, the Trump administration reached an agreement that required the Taliban to end all attacks on U.S. military personnel, to refuse terrorists safe harbor, and to negotiate with Afghan leaders on creating a new government." 
As long as these conditions were met, the U.S. would conduct a gradual and orderly withdrawal of military forces. Unanimously endorsed by the United Nations Security Council, the agreement immediately brought to Afghanistan a stability unseen in decades. 
In the past 18 months, the U.S. has not suffered a single combat casualty there. By the time we left office, the Afghan government and the Taliban each controlled their respective territories, neither was mounting major offensives, and America had only 2,500 U.S. troops in the country—the smallest military presence since the war began in 2001. 
America’s endless war was coming to a dignified end, and Bagram Air Base ensured we could conduct counterterrorism missions through the war’s conclusion. The progress our administration made toward ending the war was possible because Taliban leaders understood that the consequences of violating the deal would be swift and severe. 
After our military took out Iranian terrorist Qasem Soleimani, and U.S. Special Forces killed the leader of ISIS, the Taliban had no doubt we would keep our promise.  
But when Mr. Biden became president, he quickly announced that U.S. forces would remain in Afghanistan for an additional four months without a clear reason for doing so.  
There was no plan to transport the billions of dollars worth of American equipment recently captured by the Taliban, or evacuate the thousands of Americans now scrambling to escape Kabul, or facilitate the regional resettlement of the thousands of Afghan refugees who will now be seeking asylum in the U.S. with little or no vetting. 
Rather, it seems that the president simply didn’t want to appear to be abiding by the terms of a deal negotiated by his predecessor. 
Once Mr. Biden broke the deal, the Taliban launched a major offensive against the Afghan government and seized Kabul. They knew there was no credible threat of force under this president....

Did Trump have it set up for orderly withdrawal? Perhaps Biden can't say why he didn't execute the Trump plan, but if he doesn't provide a reason, many of us will assume that he simply did not want to acknowledge that Trump had done something right. The burden of being in office is that we get to see how your approach worked, while your erstwhile electoral opponent can talk about what might have been. 

Your defeated opponent could refrain from talking about it. He could keep quiet and let the President retain whatever respect is left. To paraphrase Pence: It seems that the former President simply doesn't want to appear to be acceding to the approach to withdrawal adopted by his successor.

I'm quoting Pence's WSJ piece, but Trump is also speaking: "Trump releases 12 statements in five days attacking Biden while whitewashing his own role in Afghanistan withdrawal/Most agree there’s plenty of blame to go around for US mistakes in Afghanistan. Not Donald Trump" (The Independent).

६४ टिप्पण्या:

Sally327 म्हणाले...

That Trump is drawing fire away from Biden at this time is one of the many signs that he has poor political instincts. He should just keep his mouth shut and let Biden wallow in the quagmire.

Quagmire, that dreaded word. I remember President Bush being asked about that after we invaded Afghanistan, was he worried about getting caught in a quagmire there, like we did in Vietnam. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised at how messy it's been, extricating ourselves from the quagmire.

Big Mike म्हणाले...

Your defeated opponent could refrain from talking about it. He could keep quiet and let the President retain whatever respect is left.

Really? Why bother? Has the incumbent ever, even once, expressed respect for his predecessor? The phrase “you get as you give” describes a two-way street.

tolkein म्हणाले...

Your defeated opponent could refrain from talking about it. He could keep quiet and let the President retain whatever respect is left. To paraphrase Pence: It seems that the former President simply doesn't want to appear to be acceding to the approach to withdrawal adopted by his successor.

Why?

The President has made a terrible decision. Why not point out that there was a plan - and that the Biden Administration decided to do something different.

This is an awful thing that Biden has done. Emergency debates in the UK Parliament this morning, attempts to put something else in place, making arrangements for Afghans to be admitted to the UK for asylum. Biden just acted unilaterally, despite promises to the contrary, and this is seen so negatively in the UK - just read what the BBC has to say about it!

wendybar म्हणाले...

So Trump is supposed to shut up, while Delusional Joe blames HIM for Joes own F*ck up?? When did Obama ever shut up about HIS predecessor??

Darles Chickens म्हणाले...

Your defeated opponent could refrain from talking about it. He could keep quiet and let the President retain whatever respect is left.

Really? Why bother? Has the incumbent ever, even once, expressed respect for his predecessor? The phrase “you get as you give” describes a two-way street.


True enough. I do not recall Trump's predecessor, fellow by the name of Obama, passing up opportunities to deplore the Orange Man's performance.

tim maguire म्हणाले...

Whoever he may have lost, it seems Biden can still rely on The Independent to provide cover. Nobody is criticizing Biden for withdrawing, people are criticizing Biden for his handling of the withdrawal.

TreeJoe म्हणाले...

Stupidest of stupid. "Oh well my predecessor did this..."

Biden was VP for 8 years during our Afghanistan war. Trump was for 4 and negotiated exactly what Biden wanted - clear terms for exit. Whether you argue Biden extended it for 4 months for political reasons or not, the OUTCOMES are clear. Biden had responsibility for executing a clear withdrawal - he set his own timetable for crying out loud. No Malarkey. That wasn't part of Trump's plan.

He, and his SoS and his Pentagon, then publicly made pronouncements about what our drawdown and withdrawal would mean for Afghanistan and the Taliban.

And they were categorically and catastrophically incorrect.

Pointing fingers is the hallmark of the insecure. And they are feeling mighty insecure about their failures right now.

Left Bank of the Charles म्हणाले...

“By the time we left office, the Afghan government and the Taliban each controlled their respective territories …” in other words, the Taliban had already taken over large parts of the country.

Temujin म्हणाले...

Trump set up the parameters. Biden and his team threw them out. Further, Trump held a real threat over the heads of the Taliban. No one takes Democrats, like Joe Biden or Barack, seriously about holding feet to the fire. (Remember Barack's red lines in Syria? So do the Taliban.) So to say Trump's plan would not have worked is a nonsensical. We never got to see it implemented. I wish we had.

Biden and his team have been running non-stop, blindly to simply overturn as much of what Trump accomplished as they can. From oil drilling in the Arctic, to the Keystone pipeline, screwing with Alberta, Canada, shutting down domestic oil leases on Federal lands, eliminating our energy independence, begging Russia and OPEC for more pumping (they just laughed at us and raised prices instead, dumping Trump's immigration programs that had slowed illegal immigration down to a crawl to opening up the border to everyone and anyone- record numbers of people, raising taxes, spending like morons in a manner that will have to further raise taxes and chase companies out of the US, mortgaging the future for generations, and on and on.

Biden and his team are wrecking crews. They are doing exactly what they set out to do: Destroy this country.

Amadeus 48 म्हणाले...

Anyone who raises Trump, including Trump, is deflecting the blame for this from Biden. Trump left office on January 20, 2021. Biden owns this. It is his, body parts in wheel wells and all.

And it is going to get worse in other places like Hong Kong, Taiwan, Ukraine, and Silicon Valley.

Tank म्हणाले...

Trump and Pence had to speak up because people like Chuck and Left Bank want to say it would have been the same under Trump.

Chuck म्हणाले...

So apart from delaying Trump's May 1 pullout date until August (both dates were bad ideas, as the Pentagon warned Trump and Biden), what part of Trump's plan did Biden not follow? Are the Trumpists seriously going to claim that everything would have been okay if Trump's "plan" had been followed?

The Wall Street Journal, reporting back in April:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-rebuffed-commanders-advice-in-decision-to-leave-afghanistan-11618696597

(Events have proven the military commanders' predictions were right.)

And, because this simply cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often, there is Trump back in June, appearing at the rally event in Ohio, claiming he had made his withdrawal plan irrevocable:

“I started the process, all the troops are coming home, they [Biden] couldn’t stop the process. 21 years is enough. They [Biden] couldn’t stop the process, they [Biden] wanted to but couldn’t stop the process.”

Watch the video for yourselves at the link below. The Twitter user who posted the video made the presumptive edit that Trump's "they" was Biden. It might also have been the military and diplomatic establishment. And to me, that distinction is meaningless insofar as people who were a lot smarter than Donald Trump were advising against the rapid pullout, and they have now been proven right.

https://twitter.com/KimHenke1/status/1427282148243955725

Left Bank of the Charles म्हणाले...

“There was no plan to transport the billions of dollars worth of American equipment recently captured by the Taliban … “ Is Pence saying the Trump plan was to take back the equipment we had given the Afghan National Army as we left the country? Wow.

Lloyd W. Robertson म्हणाले...

For the U.S. Afghanistan is the easternmost outpost of the "Middle East," Fertile Crescent and Persian Gulf, region. Pakistan is also a factor, as in the killing of Osama. For the Brits Afghanistan was always the northwestern frontier of "India," which included today's Pakistan. In both cases there are a lot of initiatives by the Western country, some well-meaning, others not so well-meaning, and somehow the old country stays the same or gets a bit worse. Most of us hope there is a kind of natural drift toward Western ideas and progress, for women and the poor. The U.S. was extremely successful in "nation-building" in Germany and Japan during and after World War II. The Machiavellian conclusion would be that you might have to commit some blood-curdling deeds, and then try not to think about them again.

Chuck म्हणाले...

tim maguire said...
Whoever he may have lost, it seems Biden can still rely on The Independent to provide cover. Nobody is criticizing Biden for withdrawing, people are criticizing Biden for his handling of the withdrawal.


Well the morons in TrumpWorld are trying to thread that needle, because they have to. This pullout was Trump's idea and the "process" (Trump's word, see above) had been somehow made irrevocable by Trump. So says Trump.

exhelodrvr1 म्हणाले...

The Taliban has always controlled large portions of the territory.

tim maguire म्हणाले...

Chuck, Trump hasn't been president for over half a year. Why are you still so obsessed with him? Why try to make everything about about a politician who is no longer in office? Will there ever come a point where you just move on and deal with what is before you?

Iman म्हणाले...

C’mon, people! What could biden do? His hands are tied and his back has been against the wall for some time now. He had no choice but to fuck things up. The airport’s surrounded. Suggestions welcome.

There are only 15,000 American citizens in Afghanistan at this time. The Taliban are known to be a friendly and reasonable people. What could go wrong?

Koot Katmandu म्हणाले...

It is really unknowable if Trump would have done a better job on the withdraw. But I think he would have. Trump uses leverage to get people to do what he wants. I can not imagine Trump withdrawing military assets -big league leverage- so early in the process? It seems the only leverage we have now will be money? It is gonna take a lot of pallets of cash to get them out now.

Big Mike म्हणाले...

There appears to be a vocal minority of Never-Trumpers who insist, with no evidence besides their own perfervid wish-casting, that Joe Biden followed Donald Trump’s plan for disengagement. The latest Rasmussen poll show that the American people (remember “We the People ...”), by a margin of nearly 2:1 think the USA is on the wrong track. That will only worsen. Never-Trumpers bear a large responsibility for that, as do the Democrats who in their entire party could find no one better than Joe Biden to be their Presidential nominee.

Koot Katmandu म्हणाले...

It is really unknowable if Trump would have done a better job on the withdraw. But I think he would have. Trump uses leverage to get people to do what he wants. I can not imagine Trump withdrawing military assets -big league leverage- so early in the process? It seems the only leverage we have now will be money? It is gonna take a lot of pallets of cash to get them out now. @

Howard म्हणाले...

So far it's a relatively peaceful transition of power. Soon, Trump's hand selected Taliban founder will unite the country. Mission accomplished.

Tom T. म्हणाले...

Again, this is Biden's *supporters* saying he's helpless in the face of events, which is breathtaking. But we know that's not true. A few months ago, they were breathing about how they'd taken control and imposed their own schedule, and confident that the former Afghan government would remain in place for a couple of years. With the extra time they granted themselves, they apparently did no contingency planning and took no steps towards an orderly evacuation of the Afghans who worked for us. They decided to close Bagram precipitously, leaving only one route out of the country. They have no idea how many Americans are still in the country. If Biden supporters really think their guy is powerless and unable to plan for the possibility of bad things happening, what was the point in voting for him?

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Chuck - you got what you wanted. An incompetent corrupt asshole running the show.

You can dream that Trump would have screwed it all up - but considering all of his successes - we doubt it. You should seek psychiatric help for your obsession and hatred of Trump and his supporters..

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Chuck - who is president right now?

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

This reminds me of apocryphal (I think) stories of when one Hollywood studio mogul takes over for another. The first thing they do is cancel every old project and start with their own.

If the old mogul's movies are a hit, the new guy looks bad. If they are bombs, the new guy looks like an idiot.

The key is to have new material that will do well at the box office, or a plan when exiting a country as the case may be...

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Wrong again Chuck - Trump wanted to end a useless war - just like we all do. Trump was held back by the bureaucratic military complex.

Biden F*ed it up. You know - YOUR GUY. Your corrupt crook. YOUR President. Your Potemkin empty old not-Trump vessel.

If Trump's so-called plan was so bad - why would Biden feel the need to implement it? Laughable BS excuse. Biden has trashed everything Trump did.

Lawlessness is on the rise, illegal entrants flowing across an open border, ICE told to stand down, Kamala raising funds for criminals... etc.. Your team.

Trump is gone. Get over it.

Pookie Number 2 म्हणाले...

So apart from delaying Trump's May 1 pullout date until August (both dates were bad ideas, as the Pentagon warned Trump and Biden), what part of Trump's plan did Biden not follow?

One hesitates to answer a question that is so obviously asked in bad faith, but the difference is the willingness to deter violent opposition to an orderly withdrawal, best seen in Biden’s characteristically wrong advice regarding taking out bin Laden, versus how Trump confidently and correctly solved the Soleimani problem.

c365 म्हणाले...

Pence's article is nonsensical. The Taliban went in the offensive when they were ready. Not because Biden announced troops would stay for 4 months and suddenly leave. The fact that we withdrew in the midst of attack Talibana across the country is shameful. The fact that Pence is trying to spin an attacking Taliban as a result of a temporary Biden troop extension is wrong. The reality is the Taliban used the UN and Trump brokered ceasefire to bide their time and regroup.

We negotiated with the group that gave haven to 911 terrorists. This is unforgivable.

Mikey NTH म्हणाले...

"Your defeated opponent could refrain from talking about it. He could keep quiet and let the President retain whatever respect is left."

I think that courtesy exists so long as the current president doesn't start assigning the blame to his predecessor. Break that deal, suffer a response. Just like with the Taliban. Sorry Joe, this is your problem to solve now.

Roger Sweeny म्हणाले...

Chuck, I have been reading stories recently that the same people who were warning against a quick pull-out were refusing to draw up plans for an extended pull-out. Not honest refusal but the million bureaucratic things you can do to keep things from happening.

And, what do you know, the quick pull-out was a disaster.

Biff म्हणाले...

The one thing that Trump's opponents cannot abide is that Trump refuses to cede the narrative to them.

Twenty years ago, I was complaining that Bush tried to "stay above it all" to maintain the dignity of the office, while his opponents constructed the narratives that eventually became the conventional wisdom without any real challenge.

Pookie Number 2 म्हणाले...

Why try to make everything about about a politician who is no longer in office?

One fascinating phenomenon that we’re going to see over the next few months is how #NeverTrumpers deal with their guilt for lying to themselves and others about Biden’s hideous character and utter, undeniable incompetence.

Those with the least integrity will pretend that Trump would have displayed the same weakness as Biden.

jaydub म्हणाले...

Excerpt from the book Call Sign Chaos, by General Jim Mattis regarding his meeting with then Vice President Joe Biden in the summer of 2010 ..... (chapter 15, page 207)

"I found him an admirable and amiable man. But he was past the point where he was willing to entertain a "good idea". He didn't want to hear more; he wanted our forces out of Iraq. Whatever path led there fastest, he favored. He exuded the confidence of a man whose mind was made up, perhaps even indifferent to considering the consequences were he judging the situation incorrectly."

Sound familiar?

Chris Lopes म्हणाले...

Not being a supporter of Orange the Clown, I have no inhibitions about laying blame for this on going cluster fornication at his door step if I could. The thing is, I can't with any intellectual honesty. Whatever plan he had or didn't have is really beside the point. He wasn't the one who made the decisions in the end, that was Biden.

Whatever deal Trump made with the Taliban, it was Biden who decided to end things this way. Ultimately, the body parts in the wheel wells and all the rest have to be the responsibility of the guy who actually holds the office, not some make believe boggy man who is no longer there. The f*ck ups that happen on Biden's watch are Biden's.

Drago म्हणाले...

"I'm getting sick an tired of hearing about morality, our moral obligation...the U.S. has no obligation to evacuate 1—or 100,001—South Vietnamese." —Sen. Joe Biden, 1975 https://t.co/9G0bmkdTjJ

According to marxist-supporting LLR Chuck and lefty Left Bank, this statement from 1975, which perfectly reflected Joe Biden's personal beliefs then and perfectfully mirrors his actions now, was caused by Donald Trump.

We are about 15 minutes away from Pelosi establishing an impeachment committee to impeach Trump for Bidens actions/inactions in Afghanistan.

Chuck म्हणाले...

tim maguire said...
Chuck, Trump hasn't been president for over half a year. Why are you still so obsessed with him? Why try to make everything about about a politician who is no longer in office? Will there ever come a point where you just move on and deal with what is before you?


tim, you're gonna need to have a talk with this guy:

Meade said...
Step 1 Harris resigns and Biden appoints Trump Vice President. Trump is sworn in and Biden resigns.
Step 2 President Trump leads a unified nation.
Step 3 America becomes great again, good again, strong again, competent again, true to her friends again. And the American people become proud again for many generations into the future.

Step 4 (optional) Trump wins re-election in 2024, serves until 2029, saves the world and is remembered in history as our best and most beloved President.

8/16/21, 7:43 PM


https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6329595&postID=7430449127401717033

Original Mike म्हणाले...

"To get rid of Trump, some people felt it was necessary to say things about Joe Biden that aren't true--that he is competent, for example, compassionate, caring, even wise. For some to say it, they had to find a way to make themselves believe it. Now reality has come crashing in."

Not for everyone. Some will never acknowledge reality.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

"Anyone who raises Trump, including Trump, is deflecting the blame for this from Biden."

As Bush and Cheney laugh all the way to the bank...

Drago म्हणाले...

Howard the antifa fanboy: "So far it's a relatively peaceful transition of power."

Just a few beheadings, burning alive a couple folks, shooting of women who weren't wearing burkas outside, rounding up children as child sexual slaves for taliban fighters, whippings in the streets, cutting off access to the airport so those who could leave cannot.

"relatively peaceful" to describe the taliban (probably poets and austere religious scholars, eh Howard?) has become the new "mostly peaceful" to describe the antifa riots which caused over $2Billion in damages across hundreds of cities and 60 deaths/killings.

All of which Howard praised and lauded....right up until the moment he decided none of it ever happened so it was all a "myth".

That means we are just weeks away from Howard claiming the taliban is a myth, if he is to be consistent.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

I stand with Meade on the desire to improve America.

Biden is a nightmare.

Chris Lopes म्हणाले...

@Chuck

Mead was simply day dreaming. Given the total crap fest of the current (as in actually in charge at the moment) administration, it's understandable he might want to go back to an era of mean tweets and 2$ a gallon gas. Again, not liking Trump doesn't mean Biden is doing a good job. Deal with the reality that is, not with the billionaire with bad taste living rent free in your head.

Drago म्हणाले...

And, naturally, the taliban have been and continue to, as Howard puts it, "relatively peacefully" shoot indiscriminately into crowds around the airport and beat people with poles and chains.

Remember how Howard claimed it was a war crime worthy of UN intervention when the US Park Police cleared Lafayette Square? Howard wailed and wailed and wailed about that as murderous exercise with (his words) "chemical weapons", but the actual shooting of people around the airport and beating women and children and men just standing about with chains and poles?

"relatively peaceful".

Also, lots more 10 year old child bride "trophies" for the taliban soldiers.

If a certain lunatic retired nurse from WI were still around she would call that "spark of divinity" mass child sexual slavery.

We all know that lefty funded and lefty representative The Lincoln Pedophile Project was very much into child sex grooming (LLR Chuck was one of their biggest boosters and advocates at Althouse, and, despite the exposure of this activity, STILL is!) so perhaps that explains why Howard and Chuck are so busy whitewashing the talibans 7th century thinking and methods.

Sebastian म्हणाले...

"Perhaps Biden can't say why he didn't execute the Trump plan"

Perhaps! But then, he can't do a lot of things.

"if he doesn't provide a reason"

Ah, a reason! That would do the trick.

"let the President retain whatever respect is left"

You mean, like they did with Trump? So Tump should now give respect to the man who called him a clown in a presidential debate?

Not trying to be snide--I know Althouse is not defending Joe here, but perhaps she could run the post by Meade?

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

I predict that Joe will win in 2024 and 2028.

Joe will die in 2023. But the powerful oligarch chi-com virus CIA/FBI & tech-brains will create a method to keep Joe on permanent embalming fluids with his mouth controlled seamlessly by a device to keep his jaw and voice activated. Head will nod at command and control. In fact, Joe's cognitive skills will improve.

when the people criticize zombie-Joe - the powers that be will merely laugh. Why look at Joe's tough skin. He is impervious to criticism. Hunter will continue to rake in big chi com bucks, smoke crack and f*k hookers while blaming all our woes on Russians.
Media concur. Antifa-Kamala will morph into Taliban and rule our streets. It's for your own good.

Iman म्हणाले...

Drago? You are a very funny, insightful fellow! Always a chuckle…

Big Mike म्हणाले...

Again, not liking Trump doesn't mean Biden is doing a good job.

A somewhat honest Trump hater? Diogenes can snuff out his lamp!

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

Can Of Cheese for Hunter asked the right question from Chuck:

"Chuck - who is president right now?"

The answer to this question explains all of Chuck's (and Left Bank's and Howard
s, too) spinning in these threads. The answer is, "The person Chuck supported and voted for." Indeed, Chuck spent all of last year telling us that competence was going to return when Biden won. Now Chuck has to face the fact that Biden is utterly incompetent, but he can't admit that because he supported and voted for Joe Biden because of the need to return competence to D.C.

Chuck doesn't have the decency to admit he was wrong about the competence of Joe Biden, even though Obama himself knew Biden didn't have any, and said so.

cubanbob म्हणाले...

Respect is earned and in fifty years of public service Joe Biden has never once earned respect, not then, not now. He has no character and no integrity. Trump has every right to point out how Biden screwed this up just like Obama screwed up Iraq and Libya. Biden has yet to show he made a good faith effort to execute Trump's plan. His ego came before the national interest. Too bad Meade's daydream won't become reality.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

"In fact, Joe's cognitive skills will improve."

Now that's funny : )

Narr म्हणाले...

Can we drop the historically incorrect line that we successfully built nations in Germany and Japan after WWII?

We did no such thing. We REBUILT nations that were already nations, and wanted to put the past behind.

I recall something PJ O'Rourke said in an appearance here shortly after the First Gulf War--which he had covered for one of the mags. Asked about nation-building in Iraq (this was before it was clear that Saddam would survive the drubbing), he put it nicely--

In Germany and Japan it was a matter of locating the decent people that were left and putting them in charge if possible. Who are the decent people in Iraq?

We didn't know then, and we don't know now.

Mike (MJB Wolf) म्हणाले...

Yancey nailed the point well at 1:58, and a whole lotta people who told us noble lies about Joe because Trump was such a threat to World Order need to hear a resounding WE TOLD YOU SO now and as often as possible until we get that 25th Amendment ripcord pulled.

Skippy Tisdale म्हणाले...

When Chuck pots in bold, you know he's scrapin'.

Greg The Class Traitor म्हणाले...

Trump is just following the Obama doctrine: attack your successor whenever you can.

What you give is what you get. Obama spent the years of his Presidency blaming everything on Bush, while Bush "showed class" by shutting up and not responding.

Obama spent the years of his post-Presidency trying to take credit for all of Trump's successes, while attacking him over the political party's differences.

I don't recall any Democrats publicly taking Obama to task for his destruction of norms.

So the norm is gone, and Trump not only can attack Biden, he should

Greg The Class Traitor म्हणाले...

Yancey Ward said...
Chuck doesn't have the decency to admit he was wrong about the competence of Joe Biden, even though Obama himself knew Biden didn't have any, and said so.

That's not a strong enough statement.

What the Trump bashers won't admit is that Trump was a far more competent President than Biden, or Obama. That Afghanistan is a sh!t-show right now because of Obama and Biden, and that if Trump had remained in teh White House teh Saigon replay would not have happened.

The question that should be put to them is "are you happy with your vote?"

So long as the answer is "yes", they own the Biden sh!t-show, and no amount of distancing will cut it.

It was a trinary choice: Support Trump / oppose Biden, support Biden / oppose Trump, or sit on the sidelines and do nothing.

If you chose B, then you chose those people falling from the planes. And so long as you defend chasing B, you own those deaths

steve uhr म्हणाले...

Pence’s brain works overtime when he writes an op Ed for the Journal. Who can forget his June 2020 missive “There isn’t a Coronavirus Second Wave”

Greg The Class Traitor म्हणाले...

TreeJoe at 6:44 AM hits it on the nose.

Biden* made the decision, made the plan, told us what would happen, carried it out, and utterly f'ed it up, while completely blowing off our allies in the process.

None of that is on Trump, in any reasonable world. It's all on the "unilateral Joe" Biden Administration.

Chuck म्हणाले...

...Chuck doesn't have the decency to admit he was wrong about the competence of Joe Biden, even though Obama himself knew Biden didn't have any, and said so..."


I've spent the last several days criticizing Biden and his Afghanistan pullout. I've afforded him no excuses. It's an inexcusable decision, and an eternal embarrassment to the United States of America.

What I don't understand is the Trumpists somehow claiming that a Trump withdrawal would be different from a Biden withdrawal. How? Why? Would an earlier withdrawal have been better? That's what Trump says he wanted. Would later have been better? If so, when did Trump change his mind about that. Should there have been more troops in Afghanistan in June, July and August? Or fewer? Would Biden's withdrawal timetable have been different, if Trump hadn't done what Trump himself claims; that he made an Afghanistan withdrawal irreversible. (I don't know about that, you'd have to ask Trump what he meant.)

For the umpteenth time; I'm not defending Biden. It was colossal stupidity and hubris on the part of Trump to go down this humiliating path, and it was dumb and weak on the part of Biden to not reverse the course, as I believe he could.

Chuck म्हणाले...

Skippy Tisdale said...
When Chuck pots in bold, you know he's scrapin'.


It's a block-quote of Meade. So maybe that makes you correct. Scrapin'.

Greg The Class Traitor म्हणाले...

Left Bank of the Charles said...
“By the time we left office, the Afghan government and the Taliban each controlled their respective territories …” in other words, the Taliban had already taken over large parts of the country.

Why yes, as opposed to now, when the Taliban essentially control the whole thing.

Advantage: Trump

Chuck said...
So apart from delaying Trump's May 1 pullout date until August (both dates were bad ideas, as the Pentagon warned Trump and Biden), what part of Trump's plan did Biden not follow?

So aside from unilaterally violating the agreement (and thus freeing the Taliban up to do the same), Biden closed down the air base we would have used to attack the Taliban any time they violated the agreement.

Thus letting everyone know that there would be nothing to restrain the Taliban, so you'd better cut a deal with them before you have nothing left to deal. See: selling cities to the Taliban

Here, Lefty and Chuck, let's turn it around:

Please list all the things Biden did right in this pullout. If your answer is "he didn't do anything right, he f'ed it up from beginning to end, and proved that he's far less competent than Trump", then no need to respond.

Drago म्हणाले...

pro-marxist LLR Chuck: "I've spent the last several days criticizing Biden and his Afghanistan pullout. I've afforded him no excuses. It's an inexcusable decision, and an eternal embarrassment to the United States of America."

LOL

LLR Chuck's "effectiveness" in pushing the far left democratical agenda at Althouse always depends on the reader not being able to remember anything LLR Chuck has vomited up over the course of time because, as with all those on the far left like LLR Chuck who simply want a permanent one-party democratical autocracy, LLR Chuck's continuous stream of lies will change in substance over time and LLR Chuck is desperate for the reader to not have that context.

For instance, instead of criticizing Biden, all LLR Chuck has done over the previous few days is offer protection for his Beloved Biden by pretending that Trump is solely responsible for this debacle because according to LLR Chuck (and his bookend buddy Howard) Biden was helpless in the face of Trump's prior planning and simply had to abide by every crossed T and dotted i.

This latest "protect all democraticals at all times" ploy by Chuck is a lie and, as time as goes on, the pathetic lies become even more sad and more weak and more devoid of substance.

That's why LLR Chuck is so angry. His FakeConservative online persona at Althouse has been exposed and obliterated and so he stomps his little lefty feet in anger and despair.

Drago म्हणाले...

steve uhr: "Pence’s brain works overtime when he writes an op Ed for the Journal. Who can forget his June 2020 missive “There isn’t a Coronavirus Second Wave”'

Shorter steve uhr: Please, for the love of all this is Holy, pay no attention to anything the democraticals have done in the last 7 months! Lets talk about anything else as people are falling off US aircraft and women and children of American allies are being beaten in the street and the children hauled off as child sex slaves...which, as Howard has noted (and LLR Chuck has completely agreed with), were "relatively peaceful" beatings of women and children in the streets and "relatively peaceful" executions of men and women in the streets and "relatively peaceful" child sexual slavery).

I have to hand it to the Althouse lefties and LLR-lefties, they really are going to keep running with those 2 lines of attack:

1) It is all Trump's plan and Trump's planning and Trump's fault.
2) The Taliban are "relatively peaceful" just as antifa was "mostly peaceful" until it became a myth.

Amazing.

Greg The Class Traitor म्हणाले...

So, Steve Green at Instapundit posted a good graphic about Afghanistan:

https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/468798/

Anyone with 1/2 a brain's shutdown plan:
Wait until winger
Maintain operations
Evac Level 2 Civilians
Evac Level 1 Civilians
Evac vetted Afghan Nationals
Spike / disable / destroy anything we don't want to leave behind
Evac US Military Personnel
Terminate Kabul Airport operations
Terminate Bagram Airbase operations


The Biden Team's shutdown plan:
Terminate Bagram Airbase operations
Shutdown all operations w/; Afghan military
Evac US Personal
"Magic"


Now, can you lefties just say "Biden totally fucked this up, and I'm embarrassed I voted for him"?

Or is it that you have no shame?

Lem Vibe Bandit म्हणाले...

Pence nails it.