Chaos in Kabul

Three weeks ago I wrote that it appeared to me that Joe Biden was sinking fast and he could soon sink even faster in the eyes of the American people.

Whoever is pulling the strings for Joe Biden must be getting a little nervous.

The American people are becoming increasingly uneasy and that usually portends trouble for the person in charge.

The biggest indicator is an ABC/IPSOS poll that was recently released that showed that only 45% of Americans are optimistic about where the country is headed over the next year. 55% are pessimistic.

In April, 64% were optimistic. That is a 19 point drop in three months.

I wrote at that time that Biden's advisers should be particularly worried in that I saw storm clouds rising on the horizon with the two issues that Biden had the highest marks---Covid response (63% approval) and the withdrawal from Afghanistan (55% approval).

I predicted that Biden could well go into a free fall if Covid cases continued to rise and/or Afghanistan is overtaken by turmoil, terrorists and the Taliban.

It is stunning how each has deteriorated so fast in the last 20 days.

It has been a steady diet of bad news on Covid since I wrote that post.

Cases have more than doubled in the last three weeks.

Cases are also more than double what they were last year at the same time when no one was vaccinated. 62% of the age 18+ U.S. population are fully vaccinated today. 72% have received at least one dose.

This has started raising more and more questions about the effectiveness of the vaccines to prevent Covid and the transmission of the virus in the United States and elsewhere.

This is not good news for Joe Biden.

However, the current Covid chaos is nothing compared to the upheaval that has swept over Afghanistan in the last three weeks and resulted in complete chaos that shook that nation's capital, Kabul, on Sunday as the Taliban invaded the city and overthrew the government.

Let's go back to July 8, 2021 (not even 6 weeks ago) and see what Joe Biden said about Afghanistan when questioned about the U.S. withdrawal plans.

Source: https://twitter.com/polarisnatsec/status/1426225950312837122

The following words are all taken from the official White House transcript.

I have a feeling that these words could end up in the History books summarizing the ineptitude of the Biden administration.

On whether a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan is inevitable.

On reports the intelligence community told Biden that the Afghan government would likely collapse after U.S. withdrawal.

About the possibility of whether we will see the U.S. embassy in Kabul abandoned in much the same way it happened in Saigon, Vietnam with helicopters landing on the roof to ferry its employees out of the country.

August 15, 2021 in Kabul.

PHOTO 1: US diplomat evacuate US from embassy via helicopter as the #Taliban enter #Kabul from all sides. #Afghanistan (2021)
Source: https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1426846783267909633/photo/1

Vietnam in 1975.

PHOTO 2: US diplomat evacuate US from embassy via helicopter as the PAVN & Viet Cong capture of Saigon, Vietnam (1975)
Source: https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1426846783267909633/photo/1

This is very bad for Biden.

This is very, very bad for the reputation of the United States of America and the security of the American people.

The is very, very, very bad for the people of Afghanistan, most particularly the females in that country and anyone who assisted the United States efforts over the years.

These tweets from Walid Phares say it better than I can.

Consider as well this statement by Biden that he could not do anything to expedite the visa process for the Afghan translators who assisted the United States because the "law doesn't allow that to happen."

The last I looked the law also does not allow over 1 million immigrants to cross our border illegally as they have over the last six months either.

How bad is all of this?

Consider what former General (and Director of the CIA) David Petraeus said about the situation (and this was before the government fell later in the day).

Or consider what former Ambassador Ryan Crocker (to both Iraq and Afghanistan) said about the chaos in Kabul to The Washington Post.

By the way, Crocker was appointed to be Ambassador of Afghanistan by President Obama.

Biden's advisers also know this is very bad.

You should expect to see some serious spin blaming Trump, DeSantis or anyone else they can hope to shift the blame to.

As an example, here is Andrea Mitchell of NBC  seeming to repeat a narrative she got from the White House about a "peaceful transition" as American personnel are choppering off the roof of the embassy.

I guess we will soon find out how peaceful those Taliban leaders are.

We will also find out how peaceful the Taliban proves to be with all of the military hardware left behind by the United States to the Afghan forces that is now in their hands.

Can Biden afford to allow that to happen?

Will our planes have to go in to destroy the planes, missiles and war material left behind so it does end up in the hands of terrorists to use against Americans?

Yes, it is chaos in Kabul.

Yes, it is very, very, very bad for so many (except China and Russia).

 I am reminded that Robert Gates (Secretary of Defense under Obama/Biden) once said this.

It appears that Biden's record is still intact.