Just a few days ago, the right-wing was screaming that we needed to extend our stay there for...however forever long. No one is saying that today.
The media also said it would be impossible to evacuate thousands of people in two weeks. It was actually done a day early. Joe didn’t waver. Not once. He stuck to the deadline.
120,000 people have been evacuated: Afghans, Americans, and now, FINALLY, our troops. It was the largest evacuation in human history, and done under a hostile regime along with an even more hostile terrorist cell trying to cause as much destruction as possible. Not to mention Joe still had to deal with a massive hurricane and the continued COVID crisis, while simultaneously having to combat the Republican’s destructive COVID misinformation campaign.
Joe was somehow expected to end the war and complete this massive evacuation with just the 2,500 American troops that were left from the previous administration, even though Trump released twice as many (5,000) deadly Taliban fighters to hinder them for absolutely no reason. Joe did it.
The success of the evacuation cannot be understated. The media loves to compare this effort to Saigon, but it’s not even close. Saigon held for months, and before the fall, only 7,000 were evacuated. Not one person was evacuated from Saigon after it fell. In contrast, all 120,000 people were evacuated after Kabul fell under the most dangerous of circumstances.
The imbalance of the media is striking, since Fox News solely exists to promote and fight for Republican office holders. If Trump were in office, the narrative right now would be how amazing this achievement is. The Democrats, by contrast, rely on the independent media to get out their message. The media, which hates being called biased, jumped on the bandwagon to condemn Biden’s tough call to get us out of there—a call that was long overdue. It’s infuriating to watch, since I remember these same media outlets cheering our invasion of Afghanistan, and not giving Bush any pushback over his clear lack of an exit strategy, nor saying one word when the mission devolved into a massively wasteful nation-building strategy.
The fact is that Presidents Bush, Obama, and Trump all acknowledged the futility of staying in Afghanistan, but none of them had the political courage to leave.
Biden did.
He was the only one that had a son who served there. He knew it was right to bring them all home. Before last week, even most Republicans agreed with that statement.
Biden believed in our military, and they showed the world once again that they can’t be underestimated. They are not, to use Trump’s words, a bunch of “suckers and losers.” If fact, it’s inconceivable that any other military force could have pulled off such an evacuation. Yes, there will be a new phase in Afghanistan, but it will be based on diplomacy. The US military has done their duty and beyond.
According to Secretary Blinken, America is holding the Taliban to their commitment to allow the remaining foreign nationals, visa holders, and at-risk Afghans to leave. Unless they want non-stop bombing and drone attacks while they try to establish control, they would be smart to adhere to their promise. We will see.
The fact is, this was a tough call, but the right call to make. Contrast Joe Biden with someone like Ron DeSantis. This is literally what a political supporter said about Ron:
Ron would let kids die before he did the right thing. Biden, on the other hand, was willing to take the big hit to his popularity to end the war. That is what a leader is, and he will be remembered for his courage.
What happened this past week was nothing short of a logistical miracle. And now, the last military plane and soldier has FINALLY left Afghanistan.
The war is over.
Thank you, President Joe Biden.