President Biden and his supporters have continued to dodge the question of leaving Americans behind as the final US troops departed Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA) in Kabul. According to Matt Margolis of PJ Media, America was aware it was occurring. One 82nd Airborne colonel texted that they were about to abandon Americans. The colonel reported a failed evacuation effort hours before American soldiers withdrew permanently.
Given the administration’s failure to evacuate, any Americans stuck in the Taliban-controlled Islamic Emirate are blamed. But their pro-government rhetoric makes them equally guilty. Any atrocities caused by their cowardice and ineptitude are entirely their fault, not the victims’. Moreover, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on June 7, 2021, that the US would not be going and that our embassy will remain in place. Between Friday and Monday, “a significant deterioration in security is improbable,” he adds. Given that Afghanistan fell on the weekend, the remark struck him as ironic at the time.
The US soldiers, as well as contractors, departed Bagram Air Base on July 5. NATO soldiers had evacuated the area a few days before. It resulted in an unusually well-equipped Afghan military. However, it affected its capacity to maintain and repair the planes and helicopters critical to maintaining air support. Additionally, President Biden briefed the nation on Afghanistan on July 8, 2021. He referred to the process as a drawdown and stated that the US military operation would finish on August 31. Biden said, “a diplomatic presence would be maintained, which led them to assume an embassy would be established.”
Biden stated that a “Taliban takeover of Afghanistan is not an inevitable conclusion. Because the Afghan Army is armed with 300,000 well-equipped troops and an air force, compared to the Taliban’s 75,000 moreover, it is not inescapable.” There is no compelling reason for Americans to flee. Biden limited Special Immigrant Visa applications to those who supported the US military and asked Congress to streamline the process. The rationale was that these Afghans would be jobless once Americans left, not that the Taliban may execute them.
However, how were Americans to comprehend the pressing need to flee? On August 15, the Taliban overran Bagram Air Base in a swift attack, seizing US-supplied weapons. President Biden’s assertion that his National Security staff was prepared for anything rings hollow. The administration wishes to convince people that the families are at fault for their condition. In reality, Biden should be blamed for poor evacuation.
