In an act reminiscent of the “51 former intelligence professionals” who lied about the provenance of Hunter Biden’s laptop to run interference for Joe Biden, a group of former military officers under the flag of “National Security Leaders for America” has released a statement blaming former President Donald Trump for the Afghanistan withdrawal debacle and absolving Joe Biden and Kamala Harris of all blame.
He repeatedly fails to take responsibility for his own role in putting service members in harm’s way. Without involving the Afghan government, he and his Administration negotiated a deal with the Taliban that freed 5,000 Taliban fighters and allowed them to return to the battlefield. Then, he left President Biden and Vice President Harris with no plans to execute a withdrawal, and with little time to do so. This chaotic approach severely hindered the Biden-Harris Administration’s ability to execute the most orderly withdrawal possible and put our service members and our allies at risk. Nevertheless, President Biden with the support of Vice President Harris ended America’s longest war, oversaw the largest airlift in U.S. history, and brought our troops home.
In this context, boasting about the “largest airlift in U.S. history” is akin to Winston Churchill bragging about the “biggest sealift in history” or Saddam Hussein flexing about “the biggest impromptu cross country auto race in history.”
The letter is signed by ten people you’ve never heard of.
- Admiral Steve Abbot, USN (Ret)
- Brigadier General Steven M. Anderson, USA (Ret)
- Major General Peter S. Cooke, USA (Ret)
- General Larry R. Ellis, USA (Ret)
- Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps John L. Estrada, USMC (Ret)
- former Ambassador Major General Randy Manner, USA (Ret)
- Vice Admiral Dennis V. McGinn, USN (Ret)
- former Assistant Secretary of the Navy General Lloyd W. Newton, USAF (Ret)
- Major General Marilyn Quagliotti, USA (Ret)
- Rear Admiral Michael E. Smith, USN (Ret)
Kamala has been trying to escape the stench of the Afghanistan withdrawal fiasco for years but has been unable to do so without disavowing her claim to have been the “last person” in the room with Biden when the decision was made.
BACKGROUND:
Kamala Harris Is a Surprise and a Leading Contestant in the ‘Who Lost Afghanistan?’ Sweepstakes
Taliban Celebrates 3rd Anniversary of Takeover With Parade Featuring Equipment Biden/Harris Left Behind
White House Provides Unfortunate Money Quote for Kamala Harris As She Distances Herself From Joe Biden
Harris Campaign Releases Desperate, Shameless Statement About the Trump Admin and Afghanistan
After the crap show of Kamala ignoring the Abbey Gate bombing anniversary and sending minions out to attack the Gold Star families that supported Trump, it is safe to say that whatever damage that could have been done to her over Afghanistan has been done. Her choice of a “stolen valor” virtuoso like Tim Walz has not helped stop the bleeding.
Beyond the politics of the situation, this statement is a quintessential example of “If you point a finger at someone, three fingers are pointing back at you” (that doesn’t apply to Infantry officers because we only use the “knife hand”).
The argument’s premise is that Trump left Biden and Kamala with no plan for withdrawing from Afghanistan. The fact is that Trump signed the withdrawal agreement with the Taliban on February 29, 2020. For graduates of Baltimore public schools and others challenged by mathematics, that is 534 days before the Kabul airlift began. If there was no plan for the withdrawal, that really isn’t the direct responsibility of the guy who left office 207 days prior to the event. The responsibility for planning the operation lay with the Defense Department, specifically within the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
If Biden didn’t have a plan, then it is the fault of service leaders who refused to do their duty and, in this telling of events, sat on their hands and refused to plan for a US withdrawal from Afghanistan. (During the big drawdown of the Army after the USSR went belly up, the Army refused to plan for a force reduction because it was felt that if word got out that we were planning, then the political people would think we were fine with the idea and make us do it. If we didn’t plan, the reasoning went, we might not have to do it. I can see the same logic in effect in executing the end of our adventure in Afghanistan.) That would mean the very people blaming Trump for the disastrous US withdrawal from Afghanistan include some of the people who were responsible for that withdrawal.
Thanks to the efforts of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, we know there was a plan, but Biden and the “last person” in the room overruled it.
Blistering House GOP Report on Afghanistan Withdrawal Concludes Biden Ignored Advisors, Lied to America
The clowns behind this letter claim that “Donald Trump is a danger to our national security and our democracy.” The real danger to our national security is pampered, perfumed princes who can’t be bothered to do their job, whether it be creating a coherent plan for leaving Kabul or resigning in protest over stupid decisions that put young troops at risk. The real threat to our democracy are military officers who trade on their rank to tell lies in the name of partisan politics.
