Debunking the attempt to blame President Trump for the Afghanistan fiasco.
Painting false equivalences is a tool that is frequently used by the left when they commit massive blunders that are both untenable and undeniable.
The most frequently used false equivalence used by the left is that all religious extremists are identical.
We know that in contemporary times there is only one group of religious extremists who kill blasphemers, who indulge in the savage practice of beheading, who subjugate women and compel them to coverup from head to toe, who perform honour killings, who practice slavery, who kill homosexuals, who amputate the offender's hands for theft and who persecute and kill followers of other religions.
Now for the situation in Afghanistan.
Biden and his allies realize that it is impossible to disguise or spin the situation to their advantage since the occurrences are unfolding right on our screens.
Hence they apply the false equivalence technique with claims that both President Trump and Biden are equally responsible for the catastrophe in Afghanistan. Some audacious propagandists even attempt to place the heavier burden of the blame on President Trump. The claim is that President Trump set the table and Biden took the tough decisions. You would be forgiven for presuming that these are works of a news parody organization.
This is a blatant attempt to put the Republicans on the defensive, especially during the mid-terms. Instead of lambasting Biden for his disaster, the left intends to place a hurdle and lure Republicans into a debate about who is culpable.
Where there is black and white they intend to introduce shades of grey so the burden of the blame can be shared. Since they cannot convince, they intent to confuse. It helps them that there are many casual news consumers and headline readers who believe anything they read without much thought.
Let’s use the pin of facts to pop the bulging balloon of propaganda.
Fact 1: During the Trump Presidency, Afghanistan had made fair progress, despite the Afghan government’s considerable inadequacies and corruption. It was relatively peaceful and there was respectable economic growth.
Fact 2: Women were relatively safe and could step out of their houses and even go work without fear, especially in the cities.
Fact 3: Schools and Universities were functioning with students, including girl students being able to attend.
Fact 4: Less money was spent by the US government and there were no US soldier causalities for over a year.
Fact5: President Trump’s strategy was to evacuate US personnel first, then the weaponry, finally the US armed forces would leave. All through the evacuation, the Bagram airbase would remain in US control.
Fact 6: President Trump’s peace deal with Afghanistan was strictly conditions-based. There were retaliations in various forms whenever promises were violated.
Fact 7: President Trump had made it amply clear to the Taliban that if they did attempt to subvert the course of democracy in Afghanistan they would pay with their lives.
Now for what Biden actually did.
Biden’s surreptitious and abrupt withdraw began with the US armed forces, quite soon the control of the Bagram airbase was relinquished.
Biden then proceeded to end all U.S. air support for Afghan forces, even depriving the Afghan military of most of the contract and maintenance support it needed.
Many Afghans who had worked alongside the US in the hope to bring peace and progress to their country woke up that morning to discover that their long-time allies had disappeared without notice.
The psychological impact especially on Afghan security forces of this abandonment can hardly be exaggerated. It caused them to feel hopeless and surrender which was the most significant contributor to the ease at which the Taliban could seize control.
The Taliban also knew that, unlike President Trump, there would be no sort of reprisals from Biden when they took over Afghanistan by force
Biden did not even keep his allies in the loop. Biden reportedly ignored British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s attempts to contact him for approximately 36 hours as the Taliban cemented its control over Afghanistan.
The result is the US and its allies all over the world are now at the mercy of the Taliban for evacuating its citizens. The worst among Islamic terrorists have made Afghanistan their abode. Billions of dollars worth of U.S. weaponry including Black Hawks and Humvees are now in the custody of the Taliban. It is likely that the Russians, the Chinese, and even the Iranians will exploit the chaos to their advantage. With a nuclear-armed terror state such as Pakistan as a neighbor, the situation in the region is likely to become highly volatile.
There were those who were hopeful that the Taliban 2.0 will do the right thing. But the Kabul airport terror attack that killed at least 60 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops, proved beyond any doubt that Afghanistan has descended into absolute anarchy.
In addition, the Taliban has ordered women to remain indoors. There also have been reports of women and children being attacked by the Taliban. There have been reports of journalists being brutalized by the Taliban. Taliban fighters also massacred nine ethnic Hazara men. The Taliban even admitted to killing an Afghan comedian. The incidences of brutality are numerous.
The resettling of Afghans who are in peril into the US is an act of kindness. But it could also be an act of extreme unkindness towards US citizens if these potential refugees are not properly vetted. Europe recently witnessed a sharp rise after their after accepting Afghan refugees without proper screening.
The biggest challenge is that owing to relative lack of development in Afghanistan, it is unlikely that their record-keeping of citizens was ever comprehensive, if it existed at all, this makes vetting almost impossible. Since allies were not included in the decision-making process to withdraw, the US may have no option but to accept the larger burden of refugees regardless of the outcome of the vetting. This is the riskiest and most dangerous aspect of the hasty withdrawal.
To sum it up, this is an unmitigated disaster at every level, the consequences of which may be felt for decades to come.
Even if we hypothesize that President Trump’s withdrawal plan and a peace deal were deficient. Biden had all the time and authority to develop plans of his own, set his own timelines, and implement them.
Let there be no more confusion, the buck stops with Biden.
Biden and only Biden is responsible for this unmitigated disaster.
Do not allow the propagandists and spin masters to convince you otherwise.
My article also appears here!
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