Biden tries to blame Afghanistan

Despite these mistakes, Biden said the US evacuation of more than 120,000 people from Afghanistan was an “extraordinary success.”

Biden spent no time dwelling on his own broken promises – including a vow to scare off any American citizen who wished to leave – and instead gave a provocative speech to end the States’ longest war. United, defending its handling of the exit, highlighting “corruption and embezzlement” within the Afghan government that the United States has spent far too much time supporting, accusing its critics of downplaying the costs of the armed conflict and asserting that the country must overcome the “war on terror” that began almost exactly 20 years ago.

“This decision on Afghanistan is not just about Afghanistan. It’s about ending an era of major military operations to remake other countries, ”Biden said. He took no questions.

Biden’s remarks were the president’s latest example of attacking Afghanistan amid an unprecedented wave of criticism from traditional Democratic Party allies and the media. In fact, Biden appeared all the more resolute and defensive as his detractors grew stronger, appearing convinced voters and history would ultimately reward him for ending the war despite the chaotic withdrawal.

His administration has spent weeks peddling polls showing voters support his political goal, confident the Beltway’s reaction to his decision was just the latest example of its disconnection from regular voters.

“I give you my word with all my heart, I believe this is the right decision, the wise decision and the best decision for America,” he said today.

Not everyone in the administration shared the confidence of the Commander-in-Chief. “I am absolutely appalled and literally horrified that we left Americans there,” an administration official told POLITICO. “It was a hostage rescue of thousands of Americans under the cover of a NEO [noncombatant evacuation operations], and we failed this mission without fail. Another White House official said the mission was not accomplished if they left the Americans behind.

The withdrawal from the war in Afghanistan represents the most significant failure Biden has faced in his presidency – a failure where he has repeatedly failed to deliver on his lofty promises and flawed predictions. Biden has long enjoyed proving his skeptics wrong and wrapping his activities in a sense of optimism. It has worked for him before, most recently with his zealous quest to win Republicans’ support for a bipartisan infrastructure deal.

After the massive bill passed by the Senate, he criticized critics who had long said his push was tantamount to trying to revive “a relic from an earlier age.”

“I never believed that. I’m still not doing it, ”the president said, returning a question to reporters to ask if they had learned any lessons from watching. him negotiate and offer that he had just finished reviewing 50 statements from “very serious press people that my whole plan was dead from the start.”

On several other occasions, however, he encountered problems or was eventually forced to change tactics. Biden maintained for months that the increase in the number of migrants arriving at the US-Mexico border was part of a seasonal pattern. “It happens every year on its own,” he said. But the numbers for the summer hit a two-decade high, with a record number of unaccompanied children arriving here.

Earlier, even after months of twisting from fellow Democrats who viewed the decision as unsustainable and morally reprehensible, the administration also refused to increase the 15,000-person ceiling on refugee admissions that had been set by the Trump administration. In the end, Biden backed down, agreeing to raise it to 62,500 for 2021.

In other areas where the outcome remains uncertain, he has been less willing to give. After meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this year, Biden criticized the media for being too unhappy with the possibility of achieving strategic stability between the two countries. “The country has put a different face to where we’ve been and where we’re going – and I feel good about that,” he said at the time.

“I mean, listen up, guys,” he added, telegraphing his frustration, “I’m going to drive you all crazy because I know you want me to always put a negative impulse on things.”

Yet even when he delved into valid critiques of the US occupation of Afghanistan, Biden still pushed the boundaries of optimism while appearing unwilling to admit that his earlier predictions were overly optimistic. “There will be no circumstance where you will see people being lifted off the roof of a United States embassy in Afghanistan,” Biden told reporters earlier this summer.

Then, digging the hole deeper, he added, “The likelihood of the Taliban invading everything and possessing the whole country is highly unlikely. “

He was wrong on both points.

When insisting on some of the predictions, Biden and his administration have repeatedly sought to shift responsibility elsewhere.

When asked on Tuesday whether the president, in noting the number of times American citizens had been warned to leave Afghanistan, essentially blamed Americans who had not been able to get to the airport in time for be evacuated, White House press secretary Jen Psaki replied: “I think what the president has made clear (…) is that our commitment remains, there is no end of our commitment to the American citizens who are in Afghanistan and who want to leave. “

Then she added: “It is also important that people take note and understand what the process has been and what we have been through over the past few months, and that is what the President explained.”