MOSHE HILL OPINION COLUMNS AUGUST 28 2024
This week marked the third anniversary of the disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Stories that make Democrats look bad (or Republicans look good) are usually forgotten by the media, and Afghanistan is no exception. This was the single greatest foreign policy disaster in decades, comparable to the attacks on the embassy in Benghazi in 2012, the hostages being taken in Iran in 1979, or the last helicopter out of Saigon in 1975. This was not only a defining moment in the Joe Biden presidency, but a harbinger of what a Kamala Harris presidency will look like.
By the numbers, the Afghanistan debacle is horrific. Thirteen U.S. servicemembers were killed and 18 more injured in a suicide bombing on August 26, 2021, at the Kabul airport’s Abbey Gate. The attack, carried out by ISIS-K, targeted the crowded area where evacuations were taking place. More than 170 Afghan civilians were killed in the attack with 200 more injured. In their rush to leave, the Biden-Harris administration left behind 100-200 American citizens, around 2,000 U.S. green card holders, and between 60,000 and 100,000 allies who helped the United States during the 20-year Afghanistan War. All of these people were now under the control of the Taliban instantaneously because of the incredibly moronic decisions on how we left the country.
Unspoken, but no less tragic, is the situation in Afghanistan since the United States gave the country back to the Taliban. The 19.2 million women in Afghanistan were again subjected to Sharia law, meaning that women and girls are banned from attending secondary schools and universities, and most are barred from working outside the home. Additionally, women must be accompanied by a male guardian (mahram) when traveling long distances and are required to wear a full-body covering, such as a burqa or hijab, in public. Access to healthcare has also become more difficult, with restrictions on female healthcare workers and gender segregation in medical facilities. Furthermore, women are excluded from political participation and hold no significant power or representation in the government, marking a significant rollback of the rights they gained over the past two decades.
Starvation in Afghanistan has become common, with millions suffering as the country’s economy has collapsed, international aid has diminished, and sanctions have exacerbated the situation. By late 2021 and 2022, the United Nations and other agencies warned that over half of Afghanistan’s population—about 23 million people—were facing acute food insecurity, with nearly 9 million at risk of famine.
To add to the disaster, Biden-Harris approved a drone strike that murdered 10 civilians, including several children, thinking that they were targeting a member of ISIS-K. The White House initially tried to cover this up, claiming that the strike was successful, but, like with the story of Joe Biden’s senility, when it was clear that the lie wouldn’t take hold, they were forced to reveal the truth.
Joe Biden’s presidency never recovered from Afghanistan. He came into office in a wave of media-driven enthusiasm, reaching approval ratings of 55%. When Afghanistan happened, his polling went into negative territory and he never saw a positive number since.
This is not just a stain on Joe Biden; it’s a stain on Kamala Harris. Vice Presidents are usually not key decision makers in these situations, but both Biden and Harris proudly and repeatedly touted Kamala’s role in Afghanistan. As per Politico in April 2021, “In an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on ‘State of the Union,’ Harris was asked about being the last person in the room regarding major decisions, something that Biden has said is important to him in his working relationship with the vice president. Harris confirmed that was the case regarding the move to pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by Sept. 11.” (Side note: There’s someone uniquely despicable about using the date of the greatest attack on American soil by terrorists harbored by the Taliban in Afghanistan as the deadline for giving back Afghanistan to the Taliban so they can harbor terrorists.)
Now, the media is attacking Donald Trump for pointing out Harris’s role. The ABC News headline of “Trump tries to connect Harris to the chaotic Afghanistan War withdrawal on anniversary of attack” became an instant joke on social media, yet another example of media bias against Trump and in favor of Harris. It is also indicative of how Trump draws attention to important events, because the headline came out after Trump was laying wreaths in Arlington National Cemetery to honor the fallen. This was, of course, called a “stunt” by the Left.
Compare this, however, to the most iconic Biden images after the attacks, which was Joe Biden checking his watch during the ceremony where the slain service members were brought back to be buried. There were at least three separate times where Biden checked his watch, a move that is the height of disrespect for our fallen soldiers. Trump gets attacked more for honoring soldiers than Biden does for dishonoring them.
It’s not hyperbolic to claim that if Trump won in 2020, those soldiers would be alive today. While Trump was planning a U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, his plan came from a position of strength, not weakness. Congressman Wesley Hunt recounted a story of the negotiations that Trump had with the Taliban leader. During these negotiations, Trump told Taliban leaders that he would kill them “if you harm a hair on a single American,” prompting the translator present with them to appear stunned. “And Trump goes, ‘Tell him. Just tell him what I said!’” Hunt said on The Sage Steele Show, “Reached into his pocket, pulled out a satellite photo of the leader of the Taliban’s home, and handed it to him, got up, and walked out the room.” No such threat came from Biden-Harris, and no such retaliation occurred after.
In fact, nothing occurred after in terms of consequences. No one was fired or asked to resign in the aftermath of the Afghanistan debacle. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, U.S. Central Command general Kenneth McKenize, and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin all kept their jobs, facing zero accountability for this massive failure. But lack of accountability is something that Biden and Harris excel at.
The aftermath of Afghanistan is not limited to the humanitarian disaster in that country. Its repercussions could be felt around the world. Biden and Harris’s weakness gave Vladmir Putin the green light for invading Ukraine, knowing that America was weak. It gave China the green light for threatening Taiwan. It gave North Korea the green light for resuming ballistic missiles tests. It gave Iran the green light for resuming the funding of Hamas, leading to October 7. It was a signal to the world that the strength that America displayed during the Trump years was gone, and the ambitions of the dictatorial and despotic would go left unchecked.
This week, we’re not just marking the anniversary of those who were killed. We’re marking the anniversary of the moment when the United States, under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, deliberately removed America’s teeth on the world stage. The wars and deaths that followed in the intervening years are all a result of this one cataclysmic failure.
