Before even beginning on the human disaster unfolding in Afghanistan the context has to be taken into account. In early 2020 Trump unilaterally signed a "treaty" with the Taliban to pull American troops out of Afghanistan. He simultaneously was responsible for the release of five thousand terrorists several of whom were members of the ISIS K. A month later the processing of Special Visas for Afghani allies was stopped. He unilaterally withdrew American forces to a nominal two thousand five hundred. With this go ahead signal the unchallenged Taliban took over the provinces. When Biden announced the final withdrawal of a war he had wanted to stop ten years ago Trump claimed he had forced him into it and vehemently, with the support of the Fox echo chamber, opposed the settlement of any Afghani allies that America had promised shelter. According to the cult all the aforementioned and subsequent upheaval is owing to Biden's incompetence.
With everyone numbed by a daily digest of horror, largely as a result of climate change causing and exacerbating natural disasters, yet another human tragedy vies for the attention of the weary frustrated concerned. The difference between the Afghanistan tragedy and all the other catastrophes is the belief that there is a simplistic solution to the Afghanistan “problem”. All that had to happen was that the American President had to hang in a bit longer than the twenty years to prop up the corrupt Afghani Government whose forces had folded quicker than a tent, fight off the Taliban and the newly energized ISIS K for yet another month or so and then find a way for half of the Afghan citizenry to orderly march to the airport and this would never have happened.
For those that have forgotten, USA’s Bush and UK’s Blair removed the Taliban from their six year reign and replaced them with a succession of corrupt regimes. It just hasn’t worked out after two decades.
It is painfully obvious that the Afghanis are unable or incapable of sustaining democracy. This inescapable fact and the withdrawal of American and NATO troops has led to the heart wrenching scenes with desperate men clinging onto planes as they take off and women locking themselves indoors only to emerge covered from head to toe in burkas. Inevitably some are going to be left behind. In anguish the world points a finger at Biden. At least in this calamity there is a scapegoat. The blame too for the fact that the Taliban can’t control their sworn internal enemies ISIS -K, has to be squarely placed on Biden.
The fact is that this has been in an an astonishing logistical and diplomatic feat, under dangerous circumstances as over a hundred thousand souls, most of them Afghans, have been airlifted out of Afghanistan by August 25. That this is a scenario not of Biden’s design is totally ignored. Also largely unreported is that for months the State Department has been advising American citizens to leave. Sadly the predictable terrorist attacks have begun as witnessed at the airport which of course Biden will be blamed for.
BIDEN’S CHALLENGE IN THE USA
As the world reacts in anger at the fact that Joe Biden the American President is not doing enough to stop Afghanistan from slipping back into the Middle Ages they have no insight into the fact that he is fighting on the home front to maintain power and influence against the forces of darkness in his own country. The latter led by Donald Trump don’t give a hoot about the Taliban in fact they are directly responsible for the current mess and as far as they are concerned the Afghanis, all of them, can rot in hell. If Biden doesn’t come out on top in the USA, Western values will totter. Populism will have triumphed in the world’d most powerful and rich country.
In addition the nay sayers are totally underestimating the political and practical balancing act that Biden is effecting at the moment between his domestic and international challenges. Afghanistan ranks fourth in Democratic priorities at the moment in their political struggle. Firstly there is the massive voter suppression efforts by Trump’s GOP cult. Secondly is the rampage of Covid which the cult are in fact flaming and then blaming Biden for not ending. Thirdly, is their humungous financial packages which will go a long way in closing the gap between the have and have nots.
Joseph Biden, who has been President of the United States for less than nine months, as a result of the chaotic scenes to rescue Americans, foreign nationals and Afghani allies, has had his Presidency written off as a disaster. The fact that the tragedy unfolding in Kabul is even remotely being regarded as a pivotal point in his fifty year long political career is reflective of the superficiality of analysis of reality and the instantaneous media world that currently exists. It is the equivalent of taking one frame out of a movie reel and claiming that defines the story. The frame itself is blurred and needs a timeous process to evaluate and analyze the true picture represented in that fragment. That will be done by at least five Congressional investigations. Incidentally as the picture begins to appear slowly into focus victims are being airlifted out of Kabul in unprecedented numbers and the CIA Director has already been in one on one talks with the Taliban. All this while a mind boggling logistical feat is being effected under the most dangerous circumstances as the Taliban’s enemy ISIS- K has just shown with its suicide bombings.
RUSH TO JUDGEMENT ON BIDEN
In America there is also been a rush to judgment by some liberal pundits to show how truly unbiased they really are by hammering Biden.The world wide reaction illustrates further that political pundits wherever they regard what is happening in America as more important than their own homegrown politics. The tragedy playing out in Afghanistan is a small piece of a large dysfunctional puzzle and focussing on it as if it is the be all and end all of whether Biden is a bumbling idiot or the man of the twenty second century and potentially the most transformative American president of a life time is disingenuous and destructive.
Take a deep breath everyone before sounding off. Biden on the American and world stage has reversed a trend in the West of populism that has spread as rapidly as the Covid virus. He is navigating a return to almost normalcy in a world that is undergoing an economic, industrial. political, ideological and social revolution, in addition to coping with the greatest pandemic in a century. This he has done in an America that is witnessing an attempt to overthrow its democracy by one of the two political parties, one of which now operates as a white supremacy cult. He is battling to unite the country over their heads and has already forced the representatives of the Republican party into a significant bipartisan piece of legislation. He has attempted to rejoin the world and is in word and deed committed to combatting climate change. In America he is trying to effect historic transformative programs to combat the deficiencies the free market has created.
BIDEN AFGHANISTAN POLICY EVACUATION AND COOPERATION
Jay H.Ell blogged last week on the Afghanistan crisis and outlined that the fix was in for the chaos that has ensued. (Blog: BIDEN’S AND THE GOP CULT’S CHOICES ON AFGHANISTAN AND COVID). There really was very little Biden could have done to prevent what has transpired. The moment he actually started withdrawing his troops inevitably half of Afghanistan would want to get out. The Afghani government was corrupt, the army were not prepared to fight and the President fled so what was Biden supposed to do?
Biden has for over a decade believed, stated and campaigned that the American philosophy of Neo colonialism, albeit it for altruistic nation building. was counter productive, paternalistic and wrong. This is now being interpreted as abandoning the world. Biden in the teeth of criticism has owned his decision to evacuate by August 31. His explanation as to how he derived at that outcome is interpreted in some quarters as placing the blame on his intelligence and military. The fact that he is not defensive about his actions and his repeated assertion that the buck stops with him gives the lie that he is trying to duck responsibility.
The Biden administration has put out comprehensive documentation as to the fact that they were in constant contact with American allies, NATO, the UN Security Council and the G7. In one of his several public appearances, Biden clarified, “….everyone of them knew and agreed with the decision I made to jointly end involvement in Afghanistan…”
Biden, on August 24, had yet another publicized meeting with the G7, the outcome of which he announced in yet another effort at transparency. He stated that the troops would be withdrawn on August 31, (to keep the Taliban happy) but has asked the Pentagon to make contingency plans, (to answer the concerns of the G7 and everyone else). Secretary of State Blinken clarified what Biden meant in no uncertain terms - the rescue of those eligible will continue past August 31 should it be necessary. In an obvious diplomatic sop he withdrew some of his troops as of August 24, by which time he had airlifted a staggering hundred thousand out of Kabul. He mobilized commercial as well as military aircraft in the effort. In addition the CIA were flying helicopters all over the country to bring refugees to the airport.
Anthony Blinken Secretary of State in an interview with Fox News outlined some of the further contacts that the Biden Administration has had with nations and the work behind the scenes prior to the evacuation.”… we have a hundred and thirteen countries, thanks to our diplomacy, put on a clear understanding as to the Taliban’s requirements,…..(there has been) deep appreciation from our allies and partners for what we have done to bring our allies and partners out of harm’s way……”
Ned Price of the administration listed the countries that had offered to create transitory refuge and or accept the refugees. These included Bahrain, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Kazakstan, Kuwait, Qatar, Tajikistan, Turkey, UAE, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Albania, Columbia, Canada, Costa Rica, Chile. Kosovo, Mexico, Macedonia, Rwanda, Poland, Uganda and Ukraine.
The continued presence in Afghanistan was as result of George Bush’s nation building effort, Obama never had the political heft to reverse it and Trump’s solution was to sabotage it and then kick the can down the road. Then he stopped the Special Visa application process to produce the crisis it did. Biden had the courage of his and every one else’s convictions and is now blamed for the mess.
IN AMERICA THE PROXY POLITICAL WAR IS OVER COVID
Joe Biden functions in a split America and as the de facto leader of a rudderless world. However to be able to do anything anywhere he has to maintain power. His own political party represents a spectrum in itself. At present it is narrowly in control of the legislature which does not function on a parliamentary system along strict party lines. He has to cope with powerful factions on the left and right that can upset his majority in the blink of an eye. This in addition to battling a cynical opposition that is quite prepared to abandon reality in an attempt to retain power and keep America a white autocracy. They are even prepared to pretend that Covid 19 does not represent a threat as literally tens of thousands are dying like flies around them. It is in this milieu that the evacuation of Afghanistan is taking place.
The rest of the world cannot understand why the Kabul calamity has not been front and center in American politics. It has been on the front pages of other international media. The consensus of the American population is that America needed to get out for a host of reasons. The news, in the teeth of Kabul, is on Covid and its resurgence and the fact that it has become politicized. It is now the proxy for the battle between the cult and Biden. The former believe that if Biden cannot contain the pandemic, as it is the central focus of his agenda, they will win the mid terms and takeover the legislature. So when he offers a booster dose before the world has received two it has a political overtone as well as a medical significance. Those that are screaming at at him for doing so and claim that it is further evidence of him abandoning the world again have not the vaguest understanding of the American political situation. Currently Biden is donating more vaccine doses than the rest of the world put together, If the Secretary General of UNO wants that to stop then the way to do it would be to let Biden lose the legislature.
How Biden has conducted the proxy war with the Republicans has in itself been an object lesson in restraint, organization and political genius. In America’s byzantine system of government he has been in no position to issue mandates. In any case that would have been just the battleground his adversaries would have enjoyed. Instead he has fought a public health battle. Furthermore he hasn’t belittled those who have for political reasons refused the vaccine or claimed that it is their selfish right to decide. The President hasn’t not made political capitol out of the fact that some of his most vociferous antagonists have come down with the virus. It is only now when the desperate Republican Governors have introduced legislation to prevent school boards for mandating mitigating strategies has he enjoined them just to get out of the way if they don’t want to help
For the moment Biden’s approval numbers have dropped a few percent. This is not for his handling of Afghanistan but, perversely, because he has not controlled the pandemic in the Republican areas that have wrested control of the management.
BIDEN AND AMERICA
America is far far far from being perfect, - just go through Jay H. Ell’s archive of blogs. In relation to the world it is like a rich paternalistic well meaning uncle who, more often than not, when doling out his largesse lets you know it is it’s way or the highway. So an ambivalent world accepts the handouts while it is resentful at some of the impositions and its dependence of American leadership.
The US is a strange mixture of ingenuity generosity graft inequality and aspirational commitment to reach a perfect Union. It has see sawed throughout its history between the poles of white supremacy and being a leader in inclusiveness as reflected by the election of two succeeding Presidents - Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
For better or for worse the trait that exists in America for entrepreneurship and inventiveness has resulted in it being the richest and most powerful country in the world. For the moment the outcome of power between America’s two factions hangs in the balance. Jay H Ell is of the belief that having Joe Biden at the helm allows it the best possible hope to bend the ark of history in the right direction. He is poised to join the Roosevelts, Reagan and Johnson as being one of the transformative Presidents of the past century and a half.
It is almost insane to begin to write Biden off for a disaster he didn’t create. In fact he was trying to undo America’s hubris in thinking it can enforce its value system by a concoction of its own perceived interests and enforcing Western democracy through the barrel of a gun.
AT THE END OF THE DAY
In an unsettled world where the Western democracies are fighting for survival, Islamic fundamentallsm is growing stronger in certain Shia and even Sunni sectors, America sees its greatest threats from China and Russia. All this taking place at the time of a media and digital revolution while climate change threatens the planet.
There is no doubt that Biden’s America will take a hit over his Afghani stance. It will take another defeat of the Trump cult to convince the world that “America is Back”.
The Taliban will find running Afghanistan a different kettle of fish than twenty years ago with a far more sophisticated, educated, politically aware citizenry and women who no longer know their place. Not to mention ISIS - K who have been challenging them since 2014.
It has to be the toughest for those who lost love ones in this twenty - year war. Like all those left behind on the side that lost a war there has to be wondering whether their sacrifice was worth it. Certainly the pain of the family of the thirteen soldiers who have just succumbed to a terrorist attack. If it is any consolation their President has vowed to make them pay. They can rest assured that he will.
I look forward to your informative, intelligent comments!
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