1 year later, Biden administration braces for spotlight on chaotic Afghanistan exit

[Artymoon]

1 year later, Biden administration braces for spotlight on chaotic Afghanistan exit

White House aides hope to mitigate further political damage from a moment that will remind Americans of an effort many of them consider one of Biden’s biggest failures.

www.nbcnews.com

The Biden administration recently began discussing how to handle the anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan next month to avoid missteps that could add to President Joe Biden’s political woes, according to six administration officials.

The Afghanistan withdrawal, by contrast, was one of the darkest chapters of Biden’s presidency. It marked a turning point, seven months after Biden took office, that raised questions among Republicans and Democrats about the competence of his administration. Indeed, the White House expects, and has begun planning for, congressional investigations into the withdrawal if Republicans win the House or the Senate in November’s midterm elections, according to people familiar with the matter.
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Can't believe it has already been a year. With the midterms looming, voters will be reminded of this retreat and the handling thereof. As the article suggests, investigations are likely to be launched into the abandonment of people and equipment should November not be kind to Democrats. Couple this with the energy woes and increasing inflation and it is set to be a bumpy 2nd half for the Biden administration.

 

[mrjurrs]

1 year later, Biden administration braces for spotlight on chaotic Afghanistan exit

White House aides hope to mitigate further political damage from a moment that will remind Americans of an effort many of them consider one of Biden’s biggest failures.

www.nbcnews.com

The Biden administration recently began discussing how to handle the anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan next month to avoid missteps that could add to President Joe Biden’s political woes, according to six administration officials.

The Afghanistan withdrawal, by contrast, was one of the darkest chapters of Biden’s presidency. It marked a turning point, seven months after Biden took office, that raised questions among Republicans and Democrats about the competence of his administration. Indeed, the White House expects, and has begun planning for, congressional investigations into the withdrawal if Republicans win the House or the Senate in November’s midterm elections, according to people familiar with the matter.
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Can't believe it has already been a year. With the midterms looming, voters will be reminded of this retreat and the handling thereof. As the article suggests, investigations are likely to be launched into the abandonment of people and equipment should November not be kind to Democrats. Couple this with the energy woes and increasing inflation and it is set to be a bumpy 2nd half for the Biden administration.

Is the president commander in chief? Yes
Did the president ask for options from the military? Yes.
After the c-i-c made a decision to withdraw, did he deny the military anything they needed to implement their orders? No.
Do soldiers die in war zones?

 

[Irredentist]

1 year later, Biden administration braces for spotlight on chaotic Afghanistan exit

White House aides hope to mitigate further political damage from a moment that will remind Americans of an effort many of them consider one of Biden’s biggest failures.

www.nbcnews.com

The Biden administration recently began discussing how to handle the anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan next month to avoid missteps that could add to President Joe Biden’s political woes, according to six administration officials.

The Afghanistan withdrawal, by contrast, was one of the darkest chapters of Biden’s presidency. It marked a turning point, seven months after Biden took office, that raised questions among Republicans and Democrats about the competence of his administration. Indeed, the White House expects, and has begun planning for, congressional investigations into the withdrawal if Republicans win the House or the Senate in November’s midterm elections, according to people familiar with the matter.
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Can't believe it has already been a year. With the midterms looming, voters will be reminded of this retreat and the handling thereof. As the article suggests, investigations are likely to be launched into the abandonment of people and equipment should November not be kind to Democrats. Couple this with the energy woes and increasing inflation and it is set to be a bumpy 2nd half for the Biden administration.

I'm just glad that we finally got out of that endless, pointless war. It's unfortunate that the withdrawal was so chaotic, but it was never going to be pretty. We made that bed, now we have to lie in it.

 

[Artymoon]

Is the president commander in chief? Yes
Did the president ask for options from the military? Yes.
After the c-i-c made a decision to withdraw, did he deny the military anything they needed to implement their orders? No.
Do soldiers die in war zones?

This was not a withdrawal, it was a retreat. And a hasty one at that which cost lives and billions in weapons and equipment left for an eager enemy. The CIC is just that - if he has incompetent people handling things then that reflects on him for not having the right people to do the job.

 

[Artymoon]

I'm just glad that we finally got out of that endless, pointless war. It's unfortunate that the withdrawal was so chaotic, but it was never going to be pretty. We made that bed, now we have to lie in it.

I too was glad we were getting out, but this exit was absolutely crazy. Our military might and leadership are much better than what we witnessed. As CIC, Biden will be reminded of this debacle relatively soon and I'm sure everyone is holding their breath that he won't say anything stupid.

 

[RetiredUSN]

Is the president commander in chief? Yes
Did the president ask for options from the military? Yes.
After the c-i-c made a decision to withdraw, did he deny the military anything they needed to implement their orders? No.
Do soldiers die in war zones?

Gen. Milley warned Biden of looming disaster in Afghanistan. The president didn't listen.

In striking candor from a top presidential adviser, Gen. Mark Milley told senators the withdrawal 'was a logistical success but a strategic failure.'

www.usatoday.com

 

[Irredentist]

I too was glad we were getting out, but this exit was absolutely crazy. Our military might and leadership are much better than what we witnessed. As CIC, Biden will be reminded of this debacle relatively soon and I'm sure everyone is holding their breath that he won't say anything stupid.

I actually don't think our military or our leadership are any better at all than what we witnessed. The entire campaign in Afghanistan was wrongheaded and poorly executed from the very start, and our chaotic retreat was a fitting way for it end, in order to better showcase the complete and utter failure of interventionist foreign policy.

 

[Rawley]

Can't believe it has already been a year. With the midterms looming, voters will be reminded of this retreat and the handling thereof. As the article suggests, investigations are likely to be launched into the abandonment of people and equipment should November not be kind to Democrats. Couple this with the energy woes and increasing inflation and it is set to be a bumpy 2nd half for the Biden administration.

Just wait until the real investigations start. Biden will not finish out his first term.

 

[Artymoon]

I actually don't think our military or our leadership are any better at all than what we witnessed. The entire campaign in Afghanistan was wrongheaded and poorly executed from the very start, and our chaotic retreat was a fitting way for it end, in order to better showcase the complete and utter failure of interventionist foreign policy.

Yes, Afghanistan was an uphill battle from the get go. Our cultures are too different to think that we could occupy and expect the entire country to be overjoyed to be bestowed the gift of western thinking.

 

[Artymoon]

Just wait until the real investigations start. Biden will not finish out his first term.

If November goes for the R's, I imagine there will be several. Biden has literally aged in dog years since his election so I can't imagine him having the stamina to withstand a constant barrage.

 

[Rawley]

If November goes for the R's, I imagine there will be several. Biden has literally aged in dog years since his election so I can't imagine him having the stamina to withstand a constant barrage.

Nah. He was old and had the same cognitive issues during the campaign. Why do you think they wouldn't let him out of the basement?

 

[Artymoon]

Nah. He was old and had the same cognitive issues during the campaign. Why do you think they wouldn't let him out of the basement?

No doubt. Next year will interesting for sure.

 

[RaleBulgarian]

This was not a withdrawal, it was a retreat. And a hasty one

Biden absolutely deserves criticism for the terrible handling of our exit from Afghanistan, but try sticking to facts.

It was a withdrawal and it wasn’t a hasty one.

 

[RaleBulgarian]

Just wait until the real investigations start. Biden will not finish out his first term.

Wanna bet?

 

[Chillfolks]

I don’t understand why he would want to draw much attention to the withdrawal considering how it went. Approach it more from a concern over the future instead of reliving the past angle and move on. It’s not an albatross any Democrat needs a couple months before an election

 

[Xanderman]

This was not a withdrawal, it was a retreat.

It was a planned withdrawal. Retreat from what? The country had more than enough security forces in place that we had been training and supplying for decades. It isn't Biden's fault that they threw up their hands and gave up their weapons because they preferred Taliban rule. You can lead a jackass to water but you can't make him drink.

And a hasty one at that which cost lives and billions in weapons and equipment left for an eager enemy.

That's a lie. "Billions in equipment"?

Several Republican members of Congress and former President Donald Trump have cited a grossly exaggerated figure of $85 billion worth of equipment they say has now fallen into the hands of the Taliban. But that figure — actually $82.9 billion — is the total amount spent on the Afghanistan Security Forces Fund since the war began in 2001.

Only a portion of that is equipment. And military experts say much of the equipment has been used up or is otherwise inoperable; the military has moved or destroyed some of it as well.

For those reasons, and others, Anthony H. Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies told us, “The figure is statistically rubbish.”

Nonetheless, numerous Republicans have cited it, including Trump, who has done so repeatedly.

“They’ve left $83 billion worth of equipment behind, including brand new Apache helicopters, thousands of Humvee vehicles with armor guard, equipment that nobody has ever even seen before, it was so sophisticated,” Trump said at a rally in Alabama on Aug. 22.

Trump is a lying moron, and all you're doing is mimicking him. You should get out more. Turn off FOX. Get educated.

Some soldiers died in a terrorist attack during the pull out but that was about it. Much to the chagrin of FOX News their constant predictions that Americans would be kidnapped, tortured and killed never came to fruition.

Weird how they never made a stink of the 66 Americans who died in Afghanistan during Trump's four years in office.

The CIC is just that - if he has incompetent people handling things then that reflects on him for not having the right people to do the job.

The job was done amazingly well if you consider the facts. Not a single US civilian was killed. It was the largest evacuation in world history done in a record amount of time. And the only reason civilians felt threatened was because the Afghan security forces gave the country over to the Taliban. The reason Biden pulled out when he did was because that was the deadline agreed upon between the Taliban and Donald Trump. An inconvenient fact you folks always leave out.

It is also worth pointing out that Trump promised to withdraw all Americans from Afghanistan by Christmas of 2020. He made this remark in November 2020, just a month prior. But like most of his claims, he never intended to fulfill. The reason is because he didn't have the balls to do it. Biden did.

 

[Cosmik Debris]

1 year later, Biden administration braces for spotlight on chaotic Afghanistan exit

White House aides hope to mitigate further political damage from a moment that will remind Americans of an effort many of them consider one of Biden’s biggest failures.

www.nbcnews.com

The Biden administration recently began discussing how to handle the anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan next month to avoid missteps that could add to President Joe Biden’s political woes, according to six administration officials.

The Afghanistan withdrawal, by contrast, was one of the darkest chapters of Biden’s presidency. It marked a turning point, seven months after Biden took office, that raised questions among Republicans and Democrats about the competence of his administration. Indeed, the White House expects, and has begun planning for, congressional investigations into the withdrawal if Republicans win the House or the Senate in November’s midterm elections, according to people familiar with the matter.
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Can't believe it has already been a year. With the midterms looming, voters will be reminded of this retreat and the handling thereof. As the article suggests, investigations are likely to be launched into the abandonment of people and equipment should November not be kind to Democrats. Couple this with the energy woes and increasing inflation and it is set to be a bumpy 2nd half for the Biden administration.

The withdrawal didn't go well.

For some reason we never heard anything when the 2800 other soldiers died in A-stan for nothing.

How many have died since we left?

How many would have died if we stayed?

 

[Roadvirus]

The withdrawal didn't go well.

The understatement of the century. The Saigon/Pittman Apartments comparisons alone was a PR disaster for Biden.

 

[Xanderman]

The understatement of the century. The Saigon/Pittman Apartments comparisons alone was a PR disaster for Biden.

To the extent that the U.S. government could have done better—how should we think about that? Four different administrations have been involved in prosecuting this war. ​

This entire process really came to a head under the Trump administration. Trump wanted to meet with the Taliban at Camp David right around this time in 2019, around the time of the anniversary of 9/11. He was focused on the “art of the deal” and he didn't realize how short-sighted his approach was. One of the things that the Taliban requested—which the Trump administration folded on—was that they would not negotiate with the United States if the elected Afghan government was present.

So what does this do? Well, it means that the United States abandoned the democratically-elected government of Afghanistan for the “art of the deal.” Without the active involvement of the Afghan government—and without a sustained commitment to supporting the elected Afghan government—it set the stage for a very messy final withdrawal.

 

[Rawley]

Wanna bet?

A dozen Krispy Kremes

 

[Buckeyes85]

This was not a withdrawal, it was a retreat. And a hasty one at that which cost lives and billions in weapons and equipment left for an eager enemy. The CIC is just that - if he has incompetent people handling things then that reflects on him for not having the right people to do the job.

Please walk us thru your supposed distinction between this being a retreat vs. withdrawal?
And you are aware the equipment left behind was not US Military equipment, but had been transferred to the Afghan government over the course of many years?

 

[RaleBulgarian]

A dozen Krispy Kremes

Mmmm … I loves me some Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

You’re on!

 

[Rawley]

Mmmm … I loves me some Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

You’re on!

Got a brand new one over by my daughter's place.

 

[AGENT J]

1 year later, Biden administration braces for spotlight on chaotic Afghanistan exit

White House aides hope to mitigate further political damage from a moment that will remind Americans of an effort many of them consider one of Biden’s biggest failures.

www.nbcnews.com

The Biden administration recently began discussing how to handle the anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan next month to avoid missteps that could add to President Joe Biden’s political woes, according to six administration officials.

The Afghanistan withdrawal, by contrast, was one of the darkest chapters of Biden’s presidency. It marked a turning point, seven months after Biden took office, that raised questions among Republicans and Democrats about the competence of his administration. Indeed, the White House expects, and has begun planning for, congressional investigations into the withdrawal if Republicans win the House or the Senate in November’s midterm elections, according to people familiar with the matter.
----------------------------------

Can't believe it has already been a year. With the midterms looming, voters will be reminded of this retreat and the handling thereof. As the article suggests, investigations are likely to be launched into the abandonment of people and equipment should November not be kind to Democrats. Couple this with the energy woes and increasing inflation and it is set to be a bumpy 2nd half for the Biden administration.

nobody educated, honest, and objective left right and center blames Biden for "the withdrawal" and global gas prices/inflation LMAO

so claiming otherwise will be meaningless to anybody but batshit insane uneducated nutters

now with that said, if there's legit investigations and factual evidence of illegal conduct of ANYBODY that should be made public and pursued to the fullest

 

[Helix]

He didn't withdraw as fast as the orange precious himself had planned to. History is not editable. Had Tweety's coup attempt been successful and he actually followed through on the withdrawal that he had planned, the right would consider it a great accomplishment. I have also supported immediate withdrawal on this site before that, so I wouldn't be pretending that I never said that, either.