Over the weekend, people across the world watched as President Biden allowed the Taliban to take control of more than 20 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces. Within a matter of hours, the Taliban took control of the U.S Embassy in Kabul, seized the presidential palace, and began firing on the Kabul Airport as thousands of Americans, Afghans and other innocent people in the area desperately fled for their lives. Images and videos coming out of Afghanistan showing civilians literally holding onto jets as they take off from the Kabul Airport are gut wrenching.
President Biden ran on a platform of “restoring” America’s image on the world stage, but the only thing he’s managed to restore so far is the Taliban’s hold on Afghanistan. This hasty withdrawal also granted the Taliban unrestricted access to all kinds of American military equipment, which they have already begun using against innocent civilians we abandoned.
All leaders are imperfect and make mistakes, but never in my lifetime have I seen an American president be so wrong about so much. This past April, President Biden said, “We will not conduct a hasty rush to the exit. We’ll do it responsibly, deliberately, and safely.” Just a few weeks ago, President Biden went so far as to say that a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan was not inevitable and said there were no parallels between this situation and the withdrawal from Saigon in 1975. This past weekend proved just how utterly wrong President Biden and his administration are on foreign policy.
While the chaos in Afghanistan continues to unfold, President Biden is refusing to lead. When President Biden finally returned to the White House after vacationing at Camp David, his address to the nation was utterly disappointing and infuriating. He blamed numerous people for his failed withdrawal from Afghanistan, took zero responsibility for his role in this crisis, and offered no clear strategy moving forward. Countless Americans and American allies are running for their lives, but President Biden is offering them almost no support.
Efforts to fight terrorism in the region for the past two decades were undone in a matter of hours thanks to President Biden’s weak and dangerous foreign policy. In his first real test on the world stage, Biden has fallen completely flat and has severely damaged America’s standing in the world. The brave men and women who have risked their lives serving our nation in Afghanistan deserve much better than President Biden passing the buck and offering no explanation for his abject failure. It’s time for President Biden to start acting like a real leader.
Jerry Carl represents Alabama’s First Congressional District. He lives in Mobile with his wife Tina.
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