Putting on a Show is Not Leadership

Just an update from this morning’s post regarding Afghanistan and Biden.

So Joe flew in from vacation, gave a speech that did not address the real issue, and flew back out again.  Back to a vacation that seems to be more important to him that his job as leader of this country.  And so we go back to black out silence from the White House.

The speech was off point.  Biden’s assertive claim that “the buck stops here” was meaningless in light of the fact that he took no responsibility whatsoever for the disaster of this pull out. 

Rather, Biden (as predicted) blamed everyone but himself:  Trump, the Afghan military, the Afghan leaders, even the Afghan people themselves.  Perhaps even the people of America as he seemed to think we needed some sort of schooling about the history of American involvement in Afghanistan.

Trying to deflect from the real issue, Biden presented this crisis as if it were about the choice to stay in Afghanistan or pull out.  That is a different question from the issue of the actual circumstances of the pullout itself.  (Or, maybe he doesn’t really understand what today’s issue is)

Since the beginning of our involvement in Afghanistan the American people have been divided on whether or not we should be there and if so, how long we should remain.  Four presidents have presided over that question.   Previous presidents have worked to decrease the size of our military presence there.  Trump had a plan to pull out our troops which he was doing slowly, and with a plan that included severe response if the Taliban acted to take over the country.  Every former president’s plans regarding Afghanistan have been met with criticism, but they have not resulted in the ruinous consequences that we are seeing today.

While Biden can point to other presidents as having some responsibility for what happened throughout America’s time in Afghanistan, he cannot place blame for the actual manner in which the pull out was handled on those prior administrations.

Biden alone made the decision to fully pull out at this moment.  He can do that as president, even against the advice of his own military advisors.  While he focused on the question of whether or not we should remain in Afghanistan and spent most of the time defending his decision to pull out, that is not the issue today.

Biden’s decision to pull out ended the pending question of whether or not we should remain in Afghanistan. 

The current issue is the atrocious lack of planning and foresight of the Biden administration in carrying out that pull out decision. 

Biden’s pull out began in the middle of the night with no warning to our Afghani allies.  The Taliban acted in a way that was apparently predictable to most military and foreign affairs experts.  Those predictions were carried to Biden, but he either did not understand or ignored them and simply pulled out with no plan.

This calamitous pullout is catastrophic for human rights in Afghanistan – for women, children, LGBTQ+, and others.  It is a death sentence for many Afghanis.  It is a gift to terrorists such as Al Qaida. 

Biden in his speech asserted his concern for human rights in Afghanistan – yet at this point and with the Taliban in control, it will be close to impossible for him to do anything for those rights.

Biden also said we would get both our personnel and our allies out, from the airport.  Does he understand that the airport is not yet secured and that there is only one road into the airport which is controlled by a Taliban roadblock?  Does he know that many whom he says we will fly out are not at the airport having been told by his administration to shelter in place?  Does he even know there is no plan?

Biden gave a speech full of tough words and crocodile tears and statements of his concern for human rights and assertions of what a great leader he is.  He put on a show that I think the American people are smart enough not to fall for.

I think that Biden has no real idea at all what is going on and he has no plan (never had a plan) for the actual pull out that he decided to order.  He belatedly floats in from vacation, gives a speech that ignores the real issue and deflects blame on everyone but himself, and floats back off to who knows where.  He claims to be a humanitarian, that humanitarianism is the core of his foreign policy, but ignores that the manner in which this pull out was executed is devastating for any humanitarian cause.

The situation in Afghanistan is frightful, the horribly executed pull out is the cause, and the blame for that falls entirely upon Biden – yes, the buck for that does stop with him, if only he would acknowledge that.

I am left with the same question that I had when I wrote this morning’s post:  Do we even have a President?  At this point my answer is:  Certainly not a competent one.